ONLY OUTER DEFENCES

Wairarapa Times-Age, 30 March 1942, Page 3

ONLY OUTER DEFENCES

TAKEN BY JAPANESE GENERAL SMUTS ON COMING STRUGGLE. TASKS FACING THE ALLIES. (British Official Wireless.) RUGBY, March 28. The Premier of South Africa, General Smuts, outlined the war position in the Far East and Middle East with clarity and insight in a broadcast yesterday. “Though , Japan’s successes have been unexpectedly obtained, nothing really vital has been achieved and only outer defences have been taken,” he said. “The main positions in .India, the Indian Ocean and Australia remain.” He forecast 'great concerted action by Germany and Japan in the coming summer, and said that for the British Empire the principal battlegrounds would probably be the Middle East, India and the Indian Ocean. Having a formidable enemy on the flank —Germany on Russia’s flank, and Japan on America's flank —the Allies' chief objective must be to strengthen Ihe Middle East and furnish the maximum aid to Russia, he said. Japan's present move against Australia might only be a feint, with India and Ceylon as the real objectives. Germany geographically was too remote to be of any real assistance. Standing thus virtually isolated, Japan’s decision in challenging America and Britain, with China as her mortal enemy and Russia as a potential enemy, would later be looked upon as the greatest act of national folly in history. “Already, in spite of the harrowing ups and downs, we can begin to discern the dim outline of the outcome of this vast struggle,” said General Smuts. “Japan has had for the moment a clear run, but she cannot possibly stay the course for long against the gathering might of America. Her advance in the Pacific will melt away like morning mist. “The Axis cannot possibly win the war, and it cannot even bring about a stalemate. The war will end in their colossal crash, and with their fall will arise an opportunity unequalled in history of rebuilding the world on fairer lines.”