Wairarapa Times-Age FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 1942. WAR PERILS IN THE PACIFIC.

Wairarapa Times-Age, 13 November 1942, Page 2

Wairarapa Times-Age FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 1942. WAR PERILS IN THE PACIFIC.

J£NOWING a good deal more limn most people do about Japan, llie former American Ambassador to lokio, Mi Joseph Grew, continues Io warn his countrymen in strident tones and terms of Ihe dangers they w'ill invite if they tail to press the war against tin* Asia lie aggressor with all possible vigour and expedition. In an address in New York, Mr Gie\\, as he is reported, said llml: — Japan is victorious so far because she is immensely strong physically technically, militarily, and psychologically. The daneerous truth is that the only thing Japan needs is time. She is getting stronger every hour. The new Japan is not merely our equal and potentially our superior; she is counting on the Americans not being prepared to make great sacrifices, and unwilling to forego their daily comforts sufficiently long to pievent the consolidation of her potential invincibility. This runs counter to a good deal that has been said of late about Japan’s limitations in industrial and technical organisation and about the inadequacy of her shipping resources, already cut down heavily by Allied attacks, for purposes of war supply and the exploitation of occupied territories. Japan’s shortage of shipping has been pointed to by as high an authority as the Chinese Generalissimo, Chiang Kai-shek, as . decisive in its bearing on the ultimate outcome of the conflict in the Pacific. It is possible to agree unreservedly with Mr Grew, however, that powerful offensive action by the Allies at the earliest possible' moment is needed to establish security in the Pacific, and that even although a considerable strain is. imposed in existing conditions on Japan’s resources, there is at least a measure of danger in allowing her time in. which to exploit the immensely rich territories and sources of raw material supply that are meantime in her hands. A great deal must depend on the extent to which it is found practicable to reconcile the demands of the Pacific with those raised in the European and other war theatres. In their present and prospective effects, the developments of Allied strategy now taking shape in Africa may be seized upon by the members of the “Get Hitler first” school as justifying a limited effort for the time being in the Pacific. There are no good grounds, however, for assuming that the leaders of the United Nations are prepared to adopt a policy of this nature. On the contrary, President Roosevelt not long ago named the Pacific as one of the four great theatres of war none of which, he assured the American people, would be neglected. In one of yesterday’s cablegrams Australian and American commentators were quoted as giving reasons for believing that the Allied successes in North Africa would lend themselves to a great enlargement of operations in the Pacific, and as enhancing also the prospects of an Allied drive against Burma. An interval of a few months, it was suggested, may see Japan beset with many problems along the 8,000 miles front in the Pacific and Indian oceans on which her forces are deployed. On the facts in sight this hopeful opinion perhaps rests on as good grounds as Mr Grew’s warning against the dangers of delay in dealing with Japan. The former American Ambassador to Tokio, and those who take a rather more optimistic view of the outlook, are of one mind regarding the necessity for early and powerful action against -Japan. There can be no doubt about the dangers that would be invited by undue delay, but in view of the remarkable demonstration the Allies have just given in North Africa of their power to strike with smashing effect after careful planning and preparation, the fact that they are still relying on limited action and to some extent playing a waiting game in the Pacific need occasion no great uneasiness.