TASK FOR LAYMEN

Evening Post, Volume CXXXIV, Issue 99, 23 October 1942, Page 5

TASK FOR LAYMEN

VITAL DECISIONS IN

WAR

(Rec. 11 a.m.) NEW YORK, Oct. 22. "Civilian officials and lay public cannot confidently extend the conduct of war to military men," declares Mr. Walter Lippmann, of the "New York Herald Tribune." "Military men are unable to agree among themselves, on the most vital tactical and strategical problems, and therefore decisions must be reached by laymen of trained ]udg-

merit. ' ~ "The rivalry between soldiers, sailors, and airmen in both the United States and Britain is perhaps the outstanding obstacle to effective unity of command in the war theatres and to healthy relations between the Allies. This unresolved struggle for control of operations, allocation of equipment, and power of command is the source of our most serious weakness. The apple of discord is air power. The advent of the aeroplane obliterated the old clear boundary lines between generals and admirals, resulting in confusion which is greater for England and America than for land Powers like Germany, Russia, and China. Only-Japan has the same problem. The skill of the Japanese High Command in combining land, air, and naval power is clearly one of the reasons for their spectacular successes. Advocates of some extreme air power have harmed their cause by partisan violence and wild and unsubstantiated promises of a quick and easy way to win the war, but we must not be put off by bad statement of a good case in our search for the right use of air power in combined operations which is crucial in the Anglo-American conduct of the war."