The Daily News. THURSDAY, MARCH 1, 1917. WIPING OUT A BLOT.

Taranaki Daily News, 1 March 1917, Page 4

The Daily News. THURSDAY, MARCH 1, 1917. WIPING OUT A BLOT.

The cheering news that lias arrived fri.m Mesopotamia will be Heartily welcomed. It. will be <iiany year.? before the humiliation of General TownslieiKi'a surrender wears off. in spite oV the iicroifcm of the victims of iinprepamlnoss. We were confident, oi course, that in the end British arms wwild prevail, but the shock of ten tliou-M<l men being taken prisoner after some of the most brilliant exploits in military liistory was severe. Rt "verses can be -sto'c-ally borne, but a preventive disaster like that which liefell our Mesopotamtan forces rankles deeply. In one way the blot lias now been, wiped out by a brilliant rout of Uie Turks, the effect of which is discernible in Germany. The British are now achieving important results in an offensive which has been methodically ijeveloped during a period of several weeks. Under the combined pressure, of a direct attack on the Sannaiyat Mnes, 11 miles east of Kut-el-Amara, and a Hank attack on their comnuini.•ations from a crossing of the Tigris at Slwmran, five miles west' of Kut, the lurks have been dislodged from Kut and other positions on the north hank of the Tigris for a distance of twenty miles. TliCso events follow naturally upon the British crossing of the Tigris at Sliumran. That accomplished, the Turks had to choose between envelopment or retreat, and it is evident from the reports 'ireceived Hint, t,he<r delaved their retreat

too long and were heavily penalised for their delay. Reports to hand mention the capture of nearly two thousand prisoners in two days, and with this as a basis it seems likely thai the Turks liavo lost in the space of a few days a laryci* number of men than they captured at Kut-el-Amara last year. The full talc of the enemy losses lias yet to be told, but it is already evident that Ihe Turkish communique which admits the evacuation of Kut "according to a (ire-arranged plan and in order to o/I'ect a junction wifh reinforcements/' has very little reference to the actual facts, riie chief question now open is how far tho British forces in Mesopotamia will be able to build upon the pronouned success they have won. In this connection it is not without interest that *ome recent fighfing is reported in the ■vicinity of Lake Van, in Southern Armenia. Between Armenia and tlie preii'ut lighting area in Mesopotamia the Turks have penetrated deeply into Western Persia, but they are on that account so much the more likely to be thrown into disarray by concerted of-1 tensive operations by the Russians in Armenia and the British in Mesopotamia. It will be seen by to-day's tables that the enemy is being closely pursued, and there arc indications that the Turks are losing heart, so that it sill not be surprising if they intimate that thev have had enough. Turkey is awakening to the fact that she is being used as Germany's tool, but the Teutons «till dominate the Ottoman authorities. The British are now well equipped and provisioned, and the big stride tliev t.ave made in again securing the possession of Kut-el-Amara augurs well for the complete success of the campaign.