Evening star., 1943-09-26

d
amount Of confusion in the public mind
as to how we stand in the war. This
confusion reflects, in fact. the diverse
points of view which are being presented
by our leaders in Washington and is
being increased by the reading of the
generally optimistic reports from the
various battlefronts.
The surrender of the most unpro-
ductive part of Italy was hailed as a
great achievement. 1t caused the spread
OF wave OF optimism which resulted
in Secretary Of the Treasury Morgen-
thau tearing the few remaining hairs
from his head because he feared that
his Third War Loan drive might be af-
fected by the feeling that the war was
practically over.
There Is no question that the col
lapse of Italy has been helpful. 1t en-
abled the British forces to enter the
Italian boot and facilitated the task of
Gen. Clark's 5th Army.
But 1t cannot be interpreted by the
widest stretch of imagination as sig
nal victory which would bring the war
nearer its end.
President Roosevelt has painted a
less rosy although most encouraging pic
ture. He warned the people that there
still is hard road ahead but also that
plans for an all-out offensive had been
completed. At Casablanca, Washington
and Quebec the Allied military leaders
have formulated definite and concrete
plans. Some of them have already been
put into effect; others are being trans
lated from blueprints into positive ac-
tions.
Enemy Has Plans Also.
This was hailed again as definite in
dication that the. end of the war was
around the corner. We must bear in
mind, however, that the best conceived
and perfectly applied plans can some
times go wrong. The fact that we have
completed plans for victory based on the
skill of our military leaders, the brav-
cry OF our forces and the tremendous
mass of war material which is being
placed at the disposal of our fighting
men, does not necessarily mean an early
triumph
The enemy also has his own plans. and
he possesses production ability which
the frequent bombings of Europe have
not yet sufficiently affected to justify
belief that we already have him at our
mercy. And this applies to Europe as
much as 1t applies to the Far East.
A quick victory can come only if the
morale of the people in Germany and
Japan deteriorates as much as it has
deteriorated in Italy. Mussolinis coun-
try is the perfect example of what can
happen to nation which is war weary
and has no confidence IN itself.
At present it would be a mistake to
believe that German or Japanese morale
Is being shot to pieces. In the Reich
there is, of course, stronger opposition
to Hitler-or, to be more correct. a less
blind confidence in the Fuehrers lucky
star. But according to information re-
ceived by the Allied staffs, this attitude
does not extend to the military leaders
OF Germany
hence, the German soldiers, regardless
OF what they think of their formerly
beloved Fuehrer," continue to fight with
their old determination This is obvious
to those responsible for the high strategy
OF the Allies. All our plans for the future
thus must be based on the fact that we
have to expect determined opposition
from an enemy skillful in the art of war
1are. This opposition may be sometimes
translated in an upset of our perfectly
planned blueprints and number of un-
expected setbacks must be anticipated.
Position Is Difficult.
The Allied plans for number of at
tacks against the European fortress and
Tor concerted action against the Japa-
nese are based on the knowledge that
We are not dealing with a spent" enemy.
This makes the position of our fighting
men more difficult than heretofore. No
one can minimize the ability of our COM
manders in the field or the valor of the
Allied troops. They are all excellent. But
so Tar, in Europe, our victories have not
been difficult. In Tunisia we faced a
Nazl-Italian force lacking air defense
and In precarious position as far as
supplies were concerned. 1t gave up as
soon as it realized that further resistance
was useless.
In Sicily the victory was made less
difficult by the fact that the war-weary
Italians surrendered by the thousands at
the mere appearance of an American de-
tachment. There have, of course, been
instances when even the Italians fought.
But on the whole there was a greater
enthusiasm on their part to give up than
to oppose US.
The Germans, however, fought we'll
and surrendered only when they realized
that they were doomed. And even then
they managed to save at least 80 per cent
OF their force by transferring it across
the Strait of Messina to Italy. The Her
mann Goering Division which opposed
the British 9Th Army at Catania was
again in action three weeks later against
Gen. Clark's forces at Salerno.
The battle for the Salerno beachhead