Evening star., 1944-07-26
Eosing Of War Effort
Stirs OfficioI DISNEY
Attitude of People Worries
Military Chiefs, Says Writer

Attitude of People Worries
Military Chiefs, Says Writer
BY David Laurence
Although everybody can make his own
Interpretation Of what Is happening on
the war fronts, there is no doubt about
the fact that the tendency to write OF
the war as about to end is causing dis
may In oficial Washington.
There Is always the chance that re-
Taxation on our side will set up false
hopes on the enemy side. The military
men here are not relaxing their efforts,
but they are greatly worried because Of
what Is happening on the production
front and because people generally are
beginning to take for granted that the
war Is coming to an early end.
The situation is in marked contrast to
that which existed just before the
armistice, November IL, 1918. At that
time though there were rumors of q
possible ending Of the war, communica-
ton was not 50 quick and there was not
as much evidence as there Is today Of
the impending defeat Of the enemy.
Even when an agreement was being
made on the armistice terms the Allied
armies in France during the World War
pressed forward in accordance with mill
tary plans. In fact there were casualties
up to noon of Armistice day.
Treachery Always Possible.
There is always the possibility Of
tvin thn ~ -
Trickery persisted even when the terms
OF the armistice were agreed on in the
World War. 1t will be recalled that one
Of the terms was that the German fleet
should be delivered to the Allied side,
but it was then scuttled by the Germans
themselves in direct violation OF the
armistice terms.
There is no doubt that some kind Of
disintegration is at work in the German
ranks today, but the extent OF 1t is
probably being exaggerated by wishful
thinkers everywhere. The Nazi high
command has exact knowledge Of the
revolutionary technique, and of what
happened at the close of the World War.
| 1t seems likely, therefore, that repres-
sive measures have been taken or will
be taken to prevent, If possible, a repe-
| tition.
This means that while there may be
| sporadic attempts at revolution these
| will not have any effect on Germany's
| military operations until more divisions
and more sections of the German army
are involved than the few mentioned in
4 hn fret ~
turbance.
From a purely military viewpoint,
there is nothing to warrant the op-
timism that has been displayed
throughout the world since the news Of
the disturbances inside the German
general staff became known.
The Allied armies are progressing,
but are moving rather slowly In France
In fact, there is deep disappointment
here that more progress has not been
made and there is criticism of the high
command overseas for failing to fol-
low up the advantages Of the beginning
Of the invasion. 1t will be recalled
that the Allied armies were slow in
| getting going in Libya and slow in the
| Tunis and Bizerte areas. The same
thing happened In Italy after the Sa-
lerno landing.
Russian Push Contrasted.
| 1t is an open secret, therefore. that
official Washington is inclined to look
askance at the lack of progress in Nor
mandy. In contrast, the Russians have
been making remarkable gains of ter
ritory. There is no doubt that the
Allied situation is favorable in every
respect. but unless there is an internal
collapse in Germany there is no hkeli-
hood of the ending of the war before
the end OF the year at least, or perhaps
not until the beginning of next year.
In other words, the morale factor is
the only one on which there may be
optimism, and anybody's guess is as
good as anybody else's on what causes
the morale of nation to crack up.
There are no patterns and there are
no precedents.
Our military men, on the other hand,
cannot depend on breaks in the morale
of the enemy. They can base their
judgment only on actual military facts,
and, to date, while the invasion is a
success, it is nevertheless a disturbing
fact that it has not been followed up
aggressively.
With respect to the Pacific war, there
is considerable encouragement there.
The public has been led to believe that
the United States Navy can do the
whole job of cracking Japan. The shake
up in the japanese cabinet has led to
wishful thinking with respect to the
ending of the japanese war.
AS matter of fact, the news from
the Far East is far from good China
is slowly being knocked out of the war,
and this means long job for the Amer
lean Army and Navy and it also raises
the question of where the manpower is
coming from to land in China and get
the necessary air bases for the conquest
of Japan.
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