The Wilmington morning star., 1944-03-13
TODAY and TOMORROW
By WALTER LIPPMANN

Inc ueAt USSL ti41uS " hlOWuli
is, as the saying goes, to know
that you do not know. Finland j:
a case in point We know the So
Wet terms for an armistice, ane
We know that in conformity with
the Anglo-Soviet treaty the Rus
SLAMS have consulted the British
and that the British have approved
the terms. Our temptation. then, is
to express az opinion, to say wheth'
er they are hard or mild terms. to
talk about the Atlantic Charter and
to profess to sec in them con-
firmation of our hopes or our fears
about Soviet policy.
But in fact we lack the essential
information or with to have any
sure opinion about these terms. The
Soviets nave offered the Firms the
choice of rounding up and intern
ing the German troops now IN Fin
land, or Of letting the Red Army
come in to deal with these Ger
man troops. Now obviously if Fin
land is to get out of the war, the
German troops in Finland have to
be disposed of But in order to
Judge whether the Firms can do
what the Italians could not do, we
have to know the real strength and
the position Of the German troops.
Only if we know that are We en-
titled to an opinion on whether, as
the price of not being occupied by
the Red Army. the Soviets have
ask the Films to do the possible
or the impossible.
Even in official quarters in Wash
ington there are widely different
estimates of the military situation
in Finland. There are some who
believe the German forces to be
only two or three divisions. say
$4,000 to go, 900 troops in all. Others
believe that there are five to eight
German divisions, say 1901
troops. The Finnish Army is esti-
mated at $4,000 to 100000 men,
and Finland is not now wholly mo-
bilized. Obviously it makes great
difference whether the Films out
number the Germans as seven is to
one, or only as three is to one. At
the higher ratio they might arrest
the Germans and intern them, at
the lower ratio. considering the
desperation of the Germans and
the inevitable half-heartedness Of
the Firms, it might take a hard
campaign inside of Finland before
the Germans were 'interned."
1t is no less important to know
where the German troops are, and
where are the Finnish and the So
Wet troops. In Washington it is said
that the bulk of the German COM
bat troops are in the northern part
Of Finland, above a line running
east from the top of the Gulf of
Bothnia. If that is correct, then
the battlefield with the Germans
would be away from the main Fin
nish cities unless the Firms, like
the Italians, allowed the Germans
to occupy their cities. All this
would clearly have a great bearing
upon how badly devastated Fin
land would be. and upon whether.
if the Red Armv came in to deal
with the Germans, it would be &C.
cupying the populated region Of
Finland or fighting in the much
less populated northern territory.
Finland is not the only case
where, without knowledge Of the
military situation and Of opera
tional plans. opinions about poll
tics and theology are unwarranted.
The vexatious problems Of the
Balkans and Turkey are simply un-
Ineligible without military know
ledge which, even if the common
tators had it. could not be discuss
ed freely without terrific danger
to future operations. The fact now
known about the past history OF
the Italian campaign are an illus-