JAP STAFF CHANGES

Grey River Argus, 25 February 1944, Page 3

JAP STAFF CHANGES

ENGLISH /PRESS COMMENTS. LONDON, Feb 22. The Manchester “Guardian” in a leading article said: “Changes made by; General Tojo, Japanese Prime Minister, are a remarkable comment on Japan’s anxietv about the way the war is going. They will have been made partly to placate critics in high places and partly to impress the general public with the seriousness of the present situation. We shall note that those who have been selected for disgrace so far have not been commanders at the front whose failures have been many, but those responsible for strategic direction. It is the grand planning of the war, disposing of strength throughout the Empire, and organisation of military intelligence that has been singled out for attack. General Tojo by making himself Chief of the Army Staff, has identified . himself irrevocably with whatever of success or defeat the future ma v bring. His gesture is not unlike that of Hitler when he dismissed Jiis Generals. Such devices are resorted to only when public confidence is severely shaken, as it is now in Japan.” The “Daily Telegraph” 1 says: “Japan’s militarists have dealt themselves a new hand, but the more they change it the more it is the same thing The changes have new significance. . Tojo and fire-eaters who dictate Japan’s policy are now convinced that nothing can save them but complete totalisation. General Tojo previously said Japan intended to fight until the British Empire and the United States were forced to their knees. The simultaneous dismissal of Chiefs who planned the strategy and directed operations is an abject confession of failure, combined with a* futile attempt to cover the folly of militarist schemes by exhibiting scapegoats.”