Detroit evening times. (Detroit, Mich) 1921-1958, 1944-12-20
BEHIND
THE News
By Paul
MalIon
WASHINGTON. Dec. 19-Be-

v - ~ - '
WASHINGTON. Dec. 19-Be-
hind the Army and Navy
Journal charge that Russian
and British politics in Europe
have delayed military victory,
investigation will show consider
able yes-and-no evidence.
The hinge roint is whether
the Russians held back on their
march through Poland TO Berlin
in order 10 gehhle=ap=the Bal
kans and Baltic states for them
selves, whether they deliberately
delayed conquest OF Germany
proper.
Some Polls h organizations
have claimed the Reds did not
throw in enough power in their
Warsaw drive last August. but
the military evidence shows they
put 30 divisions into that fray.
Also Warsaw is easier TO defend
from attack from the east than
the west. The Vista River is
supposed to run through the
city, but actually the important
part of the metropolis is on the
west bank, which is higher and
commands the east bank from
which attack must be made. The
Reds appear TO have made
real fight and lost in August
and then let that matter go in
favor of their southern cam
paign through Romania, Hun
gary, etc.
T'TIE Nazi Notifications 10 to
l. . miles inside the East
PruSSian frontier are eld-tbtHlt
before the war; and comparable
with those We arc facing in the
west. Here also the Red Army
butted its head against a real
wall in September and let the
fighting degrade into trapping
actions thereafter. Fall weather
would not normally hold them
up, but the ground now is
freezing and in perfect condi-
ton for fighting.
Reports have been published
that a Russian drive is about TO
start on the dormant Polish
front, but YOU cannot tell about
starts and
progresses far enough to gauge
the size of it.----------------
The Nazis fought the same
delaying tactics against the
Reds in the Baltic states as
they used against us in France,
holding ports and pockets of re-
siStanCe with suicide squads.
Indeed. elements of 10 German
divisions still hold the Riga
estuary, multiplying the capture
of that port as at Antwerp.
On THE other hand. the
" southern drive through the
Balkans was a waltz up 10
Budapest. After the Prut River
was crossed and Ploesti was
captured. Romania dropped like
a plum to Stain as did Bulgaria
and YugoSlavia. 1t is undeniable
that this military campaign has
worked Russia's way politically,
not only as TO the Balkans but
by keeping Poland on the rough
edge until Polish politics and
Churchill settled the Russian
way. The Russians are further
from Berlin at Budapest than
they were in Poland at the end
of summer.
The facts from Europe seem
inwardly and outwardly 10 be
kept in a ycS-and-no state. In
deed. there is arising here an
attitude like that of the New
Deal senator whose statements
you may have seen. He says it
is all British propaganda about
the Communists wanting the
Greek government or being in
volvcd in the revolt.
I'VE hear conservatives yell
ing Communist evcrytime a peo-
pies movement rears its head"
he says. This is the same line
familiar since the Spanish revo-
luton OF 1T is" on one side 1T
isn't" on the other, with no one
getting at acceptable facts of
the truth.
OCCASIONALLY. I rely mainly
L on the judgment of the mill
tary in such matters, but not on
politicians here or abroad. BY
and large, military men care
little about communism or con-