SHARP CRITICISM

Auckland Star, Volume LXXIII, Issue 221, 18 September 1942, Page 3

SHARP CRITICISM

ALLIED PUBLICITY Recent Optimistic Statements By Leaders United Press Association—Copyright Rec. noon. NEW YORK, Sept. 17. Sharply criticising "the confident rush of statements from the broad reaches of the Pacific," the HeraldTribune quotes recent optimistic declarations by Sir Thomas Blarney, Rear-Admiral Blandy, who toured the Pacific zone, and Major-General G. C. Kenny, Chief of the Allied Air Forces in the South-west Pacific, and adds: "In the face of these triumphs of mimeograph machines it was unkind of the Japanese to launch another determined attempt on Guadalcanar. Between bureaucratic secrecy and stupidity, and the legitimate suppression of military information, the public has been confused and even misled so often that it is rapidly losing confidence in official statements and is getting tired of war by guff emotion and soundeffects. "Furthermore, it is acquiring an uneasy suspicion that throughout the conduct of the war there has been too much brag and calculated publicity, too much concealing of failure and too little harsh realism. This vice is certainly running from top to bottom, but there might be less among the masses at the bottom if fewer examples were offered at the top." The Cheerful Optimist The London Star, criticising Sir Thomas Blarney's statement that the Japanese would not take Port Moresby, says: "Sir Thomas Blarney stands for the cheerful optimist who is always reassuring. When the Nazis reached Boulogne his type told us that we had the enemy just where we wanted him. Singapore for them was a fortress that would never fall. Now they seek to persuade us that the Japanese had reached the limit of expansion. "We cannot be complacent about Port Moresby. Any day the struggle for it may reach a crisis. It is most important for the defence of Australia, and far more important than Guadalcanar. We are still on the defensive at our chosen fighting point in the Pacific.

"The United Nations must destroy Japanese air-carrier strength before they can undertake sure land offensives. Eight Japanese carriers are known to be afloat and a menace to any operations from the Aleutians to New Guineaa. We in Britain are inclined to be complacent about the Pacific, imagining that we can easily dislodge the Japanese after the Nazis are beaten, but the Japanese in the South-west Pacific endanger the whole world-wide task of the United Nations."