Middle East Pattern

Taranaki Daily News, 25 August 1942, Page 2

Middle East Pattern

On the stage of world war there is a spot upon which the limelight seldom shines. It is, nevertheless, a sector upon which the full beam of attention might at any time be directed. In the current news are some items which attract notice to the dark spot. Most striking is the announcement of the formation of a new British command to cover the area of Iraq and Persia. This is not something in the nature of a newlyaccorded appreciation of the strategical status of lands which form part of the gap between the eastern and western wars of the Axis Powers. In point of fact, ever since Rommel broke into Egypt and the German armies in southern Russia made substantial gains along the Black Sea coast and towards the Caspian, the area between these two thrusting German arms has been recognised as a vital one. And although not directly within the orbit of the Nazi pincers at the present time, Iraq and Persia are lands through which supplies flow helping thereby to keep the two arms held apart. * ♦ * The appointment of General Sir Henry Maitland Wilson is, therefore, an event which merits more than passing notice and not solely because of the creation of a new military command, but also because of the pattern into which this new command fits. The vital strategical importance of the Middle East and the imperative urgency of buttressing the defences of the area are factors which must weigh heavily in the strategical councils of the United Nations. The creation of General Wilson's new command is one piece of evidence pointing to the building of strength in the sector. Fortunately, it is not the only one. The Cairo correspondent of the London Times reports that the 8th Army's losses since June have been made up and that "it is again possible to contemplate more than a mere defence of Egypt." American assistance which is daily coming more and more into the picture is one reason which renders the southern arm of the Nazi pincers less menacing that it was two months ago. * * * Of the sector from. which General Wilson has moyed to take over his new command, little has been revealed. It is known of course that the army in Syria provided some of the troops which materially helped to stem Rommel's headlong rush into Egypt, but beyond intelligence that the 9th - Army has not wasted the respife given to it and has prepared defences, not much has been told of the forces in the Levant and Palestine. Some details have been given of a move to improve communications in the area by construction of a new link between the Egyptian and Palestine railways and between those of Syria and Turkey. Farther to the east there have been some hints from American sources of United States' help in building up •• the forces defending Iraq. The supply route from the Persian Gulf up to the Caspian Sea has received a measure of publicity, yet here only a scrap of the story has been told. And over the British forces in Persia, and possibly even further north, a veil of secrecy has hung. # * * The appointment of a full general, and moreover a soldier of experience and high standing, to take over one sector of the war map which is at present a news blank must be assumed, therefore, to support other signs suggesting that the Middle East is being strongly buttressed against what might come. This is an inference which, if soundly based, is welcome news. In the positive sphere there have been good tidings from this area in the shape of indications of political support for Great Britain from the Prime Minister of Iraq. The transformation of the Iraqiii political scene from the regime of Raschid Ali to that of Nuri Said Pasha is one of the really satisfactory features of the pattern of the Middle East to-day. Nuri Said has given categorical assurances of support in the event of German approach to Iraq's borders and this is an undertaking of importance, bearing as it does upon the question of Mohammedan opinion, a force the importance of which cannot be underestimated in affairs of the Middle East. # * * The pattern of the area between the two thrusts of German attack to the east is not complete, however, without consideration of the country which holds the key position. There is no lack of views about the position of Turkey,' but there is little reliable news. Indeed, the outward signs of Turkish policy are conflicting and confusing. The Axis claims that it is thoroughly satisfied with the Turkish attitude and asserts that by degrees Turkey is accommodating itself to Hitler's European Order. British sources are/ outwardly unperturbed by various Turkish-Axis trading arrangements, and evidence of Allied confidence is displayed in lease-lend aid to Turkey and the delivery of ships and aeroplanes from Britain. An inexplicable factoifc in the position, however, is that Russia has shown few signs of placating traditional Turkish fears of the northern neighbour and some , sections of the Turkish Press display suspicion and resentment of the Soviet to marked degree. Yet Turkey is a country which provides routes through which all the positions of the United Nations in the Middle East are vulnerable to attack.

The unresolved position of Turkey is, in fact, one outstanding reason why signs are so welcon\2 that the security margin in the Middle East is being broadened.