Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1945-02-01
i Might Be
.WrOng--Bu
By
P. G. STROMBERG

OVEN with the great victor
les being won by the Rus
sion forces and our fiattening
of the Won Rundstedt Belgian
Bulge in the West there is no
evidence that our people are
allowing themselves to become
lulled again into an attitude of
itu soon be over now" 1t
is somewhat encouraging to
sense the at
Seriousness mosphere of
Now seriousness now
= Prevalent prevalent. When
we don't hear
radio commentators and public
officials predicting the almost
immediate collapse of the Ger
man front we can rest assured
that this country will not take
for granted the wars end in
Europe until guns have ceased
firing and until Hitler's armies
have Surrendered uncondition-
ally Such termination is pos
sible at almost anytime and
still we all understand that the
Germans are capable Of offer
ing stiff resistance under adj
verse conditions. So while the
public accepts the victorious
march of the Russian Army
and the renewed offensive of
our troops at the Siegfried
Line with all the buoyance nat
ural to follow there is never
theless complete change in
attitude and spirit as compared
with the weeks Immediately fol-
lowing our fast advance
through France.
In the Pacific War there has
never been any attitude other
than that it would take longer
to whip the Uaps than to bring
peace to Europe. And yet
General Macarthur and Ad-
miral Nimitz have made such
grand progress that some have
revised their estimates of the
possible time of victory there.
General Stilwell, however. does
not share this
Victorious opinion. And he
March Of has had more
Red Army intimate con-
tact with the
Nips than any other General.
Perhaps it is because General
Stilwell was charged with the
toughest assignment and least
equipment. Certainly his ex-
perience in China could not
make him enthusiastic over
whipping the little Yellow men.
So while conjecture as to the
time of subduing the Japs will
avail nothing there are known
factors which contribute def
nitely to clearer analysis than
is possible for one as close to
military disasters as General
Stilwell was for several years
in China.
Without engaging in wishful
thinking and over-optimistic
predictions the record of Cen
eral MacArthur's advance in
the Pacific and our almost un-
broken chain of victories justi-
fies hopeful conclusions. We
know that Japan is incapable
Of maintaining her huge en-
pire because her shipping has
been badly crippled. We know
that she is unable to produce
war equipment in sufficient
quantities to carry on indef-
nitely. We know that once her
contact with her conquered ter
ritories are cut the best she
will be able to do is to carry
on major guerrilla warfare.
And that's where the war
should be practically ended for
us insofar as the employment
of big armies is concerned. We
are gradually opening ways
and means of
Japs Defeat supplying Chi
Might nese with the
Be Soon essentials of
war. The Chi
nese have carried on this war
far longer than ony other AL
lied nation. She has almost
unlimited manpower. We have
equipment to supply her. When
we have driven the Nipponese
into continental Asia it is to
be hoped that, with Chinese
forces and American equipment,
Japan will be finally and COM