Salt Lake Telegram | 1942-02-25 | Page 10 | No 'Turtle Policy' for Us

No Turtle Policy for Us U UNDOUBTEDLY the attack by a Japanese submarine on an c oil il refinery north of Santa Barbara Cal Gal was timed to coincide with President Roosevelt's address to the nation Monday evening The timing may have seemed appropriate to Japan but it was doubly appropriate appropriate appropriate ap ap- ap- ap for us For almost at the the same instant the first shells hells of this war were exploding so on on United States soil President Roosevelt Roosevelt Roosevelt Roose Roose- velt was was was' telling the American people to reject reject reject re re- re- re any appeals for the adoption of a turtle policy and defying the efforts of this Japanese Japanese Japanese Japa Japa- nese submarine or any other Japanese raiding raiding raid raid- iI ing g naval or air craft to frighten us into adopting such a policy The president was warning the American people not to heed those who urged that we pull our warships and our planes and our merchant ships to our own home waters vaters and 0 concentrate s solely lely on last-ditch last defense He said they wanted the American eagle to turn into a turtle vitti Un Unwittingly while white the first Japanese raid was being carried out on the American mainland mainland mainland main main- land Mr Roosevelt answered the threat with the firm pledge that we would continue increasingly increasingly increasingly in in- the policy of carrying the war to the enemy in distant lands and distant waters as as far as possible from our our own home grounds That is the only sensible policy for us to pursue For us to be frightened by a few sporadic raids or r the threat of raids into withdrawing our armed forces from distant battlefronts would be indeed a fatuous pol pol- icy It would be merely inviting Japan to tomake tomake tomake make our own coast the real battlefront and thus bring to us in very earnest the thing we would be trying to avoid Japan is never going to defeat us by staging staging staging stag stag- miss hit-and-miss raids Pacific ing a few on our coast She can only beat us by completing her conquest of the Pacific and then striking with full fury and strength across the ocean via Hawaii or down the coast by way of Alaska If the British could take the devastating bombardment of London if IL the Chinese can stand up under the continual blasting of if the Russians can keep on fighting fighting fighting fight fight- ing despite the terrible destruction of their cities i ies towns and farms surely we ought to have the courage to take a little I casual shelling on our home front without whimpering whim whim-