Evening star., 1945-01-06

The full tert of President
Rooseuelts message to Congress
today folloiDs..
IN considering the state Of the
Union, the war and the peace that
is to follow are naturally uppermosi
In the minds of all of us.
This war must be waged-it is be-
Ing waged-with the greatest and
most persistent intensity. Every
thing we are and have is at stake
Everything we are and have will be
given, American men, fighting fai
from home, have already won VIC
tories which the world will never
forget.
We have no question of the ulti-
mate victory We have no question
Of the cost. Our losses will be heavy
We and our Allies will go on fight
Ing together to ultimate total vic.
tory
We have seen year marked, or
the whole, by substantial progress
toward victory, even though the yeal
ended with a setback for our arms
when the Germans launched fe-
rocious counterattack into Luxem-
hourg and Belgium with the OBVIOUS
objective of cutting our line in the
center.
Warns of Wedges
In Allied Unity.
Our men have fought with in
describable and unforgettable gal
lantry under most difficult condi-
tions, and our German enemies have
sustained considerable losses while
failing to obtain their detectives.
The high tide of this German ef-
fort was reached two days after
Christmas. Since then we have
reassumed the offensive, rescued the
isolated garrison at Bastogne, and
forced a German withdrawal along
the whole line of the salient. The
speed with which we recovered from
this savage attack was largely pos
sible because We have one supreme
commander in complete control of
all the Allied armies in France Gen
Eisenhower has faced this period Of
trial with admirable calm and reso-
luton and with steadily increasing
success. He has my complete con-
fidence.
Further desperate attempts may
well be made to break OUR lines, to
slow our progress. We must never
make the mistake of assuming that
the Germans are beaten until the
last Nazi has surrendered.
{ And would express another most
serious warning against the poison
Gus effects of enemy propaganda
I. The wedge that the Germans at
tempted to drive in Western Eu-
rope was less dangerous in actual
terms of winning the war than the
wedges which they are continually
attempting to drive between our
selves and our Allies.
Rumors Against the British
And the Russians.
Every little rumor which is in
tended to weaken our faith in oul
Allies is like an actual enemy agent
in our midst-seeking to sabotage
our war effort. There are, here and
there, evil and baseless rumors
against the Russians-rumorsa against
the British-rumors against our owr
American commanders in the field.
When you examine these rumors
closely, you will observe that every
one of them bears the same trade
mark" Made in Germany"
We must resist this dfvisive propa-
ganda-we must destroy it-with the
same strength and the same deter
mination that our fighting men are
displaying as they resist and destroy
the panZer divisions. .s.- .-
< In Europe, we shall resume the
attack and-despite temporary set
backs here Or there-we shall con-
tinue the attack relentless1y until
Germany is completely defeated.
. It is appropriate at this time to
review the basic strategy which has
guided us through three years OF
war, and which will lead. eventually
to total victory.
Getting Into Position
For Decisive Blows.
The tremendous effort of the first
years of this war was directed toward
the concentration of men and sup
plies in the various theaters of ac-
ton at the points where they could
hurt our enemies most
1t was an effort-in the language
of the military men-of deployment
of our forces. Many battles-essen-
tial battles-were fought; many VIC
tories-vital victories-were won.
But these battles and these victories
were fought and won to hold back
the attacking enemy, and to put us
in positions from which we and our
Allies could deliver the final, de-
cisive blows.
3, In the beginning our most impor-
tant military task was to prevent
our enemies-the strongest and most
violently aggressive powers that ever
have threatened civilization-from
winning decisive victories. But even
while we were conducting defensive,
delaying actions, We were looking
forward to the time when we could
wrest the initiative from our enemies
and place our superior resources of
men and materials into direct COM
petition with them.
1t was plain that the defeat of
either enemy would require the
massing of overwhelming forces
sea and air-in positions
from which we and our Allies could
strike directly against the enemy
homelands. and destroy the Nazi
and japanese war machines.
In the case of Japan, we had to
await the completion of extensive
preliminary neutrality-suspicious.
designed to establish secure supply
lines through the japanese outer
zone defenses. This called for over
whelming sea power and air power
supported by ground forces strategi-
cally employed against isolated out
post garrisons.
the Arguments
Of Short-sighted People.
Always-from the very day we
were attaeked-it was right mill
tarily as well as morally to reject