Evening Post. FRIDAY, MAY 16, 1941. IS VICHY NEARING A SHOW-DOWN?

Evening Post, Volume CXXXI, Issue 114, 16 May 1941, Page 6

Evening Post. FRIDAY, MAY 16, 1941. IS VICHY NEARING A SHOW-DOWN?

Are there any limits to French non-responsibility for German actions? Is the Vichy Government to be held responsible, or not responsible, for Hitler's use of French stepping-stones to establish himself in two continents —Africa and Asia? First, as to Africa. There is reason to believe that if Germany and Italy did not use French North Africa itself, they did use French North African territorial waters to convey German troops and armaments to Libya; .and these reasonable suspicions, standing out against the background of Dakar and the Battle of Oran, have cast a shadow over the relations of Vichy with London and also with Washington. But now suspicions are giving place to something more factual—to something which suggests that if French territory was not used by German warforces for the purpose of carrying the war into Africa, French territory (Syria) has certainly been used as a stepping-stone or halfway house or "staging post" for Irak-bound German air forces that are carrying the war into Asia. Possibly the Vichy Government, which is skilled in legalistic excuses, may dispute responsibility for what happens in Syria, contending that the mandate to France over Syria, given by a League of Nations from which the Vichy Government has retired, no longer exists and no longer places Vichy under obligations express or implied. But the legalistic considerations that have served as a veil to cover enemy use of territorial waters will quite fail to cover an Axis military use of Syrian territory for a campaign in Asia. "The French Government cannot escape responsibility for the situation," says the British Foreign Secretary, Mr. Eden. This firm statement implies a near approach to what the Americans call a show-down.

Mr. Eden is also reported as saying that "the permitting of flights under German orders is a clear breach of the terms of the AxisVichy armistice." The fact-basis from which he spoke includes (1) the use of aerodromes in Syria by German aircraft, and (2) the arrival in Irak itself of German aircraft that have travelled via Syria. The official report also states that the use of the Syrian aerodromes was "allowed by the French authorities." Whether the Vichy Government disclaims or does not disclaim the action of these authorities, it is highly likely that Britain will take direct action, on the spot, by aeroplane or otherwise; in fact, the British Government has "given full authority" to the Palestine and Egyptian forces "for action to be taken against these German aircraft at Syrian aerodromes." If British Palestinian forces intervene in Syria, either in the air or by land, what will be the effect on London-Vichy relations? War between Vichy and London did not follow the Battle of Oran, nor did war follow the Dakar fighting. But the threat of AxisVichy co-operation may turn out to be much more serious and comprehensive now than it was then. So far this Mephislophcles has merely shown his heel in Syria. But it is admitted by the Vichy Government that Vichy and Berlin have reached an agreement "in principle,*' details of which are, at time of Avriting, withheld. What Vichy concessions to the Axis military machine, other than Syrian right of way, lurk behind this silence no one knows.

Hitler's new attempt to use Vichy for the purpose of going round Turkey instead of through Turkey is a challenge to Ankara and also to Moscow. Irak being Turkey's backdoor, Hitler may hope that a few air-borne German troops in Irak will impel Turkey to change sides, to open her country to marching German armies, and lo share in (promised) Asiatic spoils. Where Stalin stands is even a bigger puzzle than the mentality of Kudolf Hess. Stalin sees Turkey fronted by Germany, and now perhaps backed; he sees the British at Basra, and lie must be interested in what is to happen at Bagdad and Mosul; lie sees Hitler's version of the Berlin-to Bagdad drive threatening to materialise, in such a way as to parallel Russia in the Middle East, with only Turkey and Iran (Persia) between. And the Stalin who watches all this is the same Stalin as he who lately signed a neutrality pact with Japan for the purpose, or the ostensible | purpose, of freeing his Far Eastern i armies for action further west. What, then, does Stalin think when ihe sees Hitler using Syria as a tinopener for the looting of Asia? What will Moscow do? And what will Ankara do?_