Show weekly news analysis oil supplies of middle east cause shift of war scene to iraq ity bly edward C wayne EDITORS NOTE when opinions are ar expressed in these columns they are ar those of the sews news analyst and not necessarily of this th is newspaper I 1 WAR changed scene although nothing in the european war was a certainty except its uncertainty it seemed reasonably likely that the attempted axis pincers move against suez via north africa and the middle east would change the vital scene of the war to that locality that suez eventually would tall fail to the german italian forces was deemed a likelihood though the failure of this campaign would conversely mean a distinct turn of the tide in british favor even before the outset of the campaign when the british had concluded the first move into iraq the british ministry of information attempted to prepare the public for an adverse outcome by letting it be known that even the fall of suez would not be fatal to the british cause indeed the propaganda articles pointed to alexandria as a much more vital spot in the mediterranean than suez but how this helped when alexandria was as much of an axis objective as suez was a little difficult to see perhaps it was that the british thought they could hold out at alexandria after suez had fallen thus naming the objectives in chronological order all this was considerably in the future however for the british attempted to jump the gun as they had at kalonika Sal and piraeus by landing an expeditionary force in iraq there was one vital difference however that in iraq they were meeting an unfriendly regime whereas in greece the landing was welcomed as the greeks already were at war with the axis within a few days after the landing from the persian gulf the british found themselves virtually at war with arabia though the iraq army was only regularly armed and uniformed men but the government which had got its power through a nazi inspired coup ordered all citizens to grab whatever arms they had and to wage a holy war against invading england objective vital objective of the british was to prevent damage or seizure on the part of the arabs of the vital oil fields and the british drive was aimed particularly at kirkum the start of the pipeline from the fields which supplied airplane and fleet fuel for the mediterranean forces however though the arabs were conceded little chance to stand up 41 Z when the british put forth an effort to hold the iraq oil wells by force they faced cavalrymen like these these iraqi troops make an impressive sight on parade but iraq asked germany for heavy mechanized forces to aid in keeping the british from complete control of the highly valued oil fi fields elds see below WAR chanted changed scene to the british attackers they were on the ground and even as they started shelling british troops and the Habba air field and even as they started appeals to germany for help thus laying the groundwork for the landing of a german expeditionary force arabs seized the kir kuk end of the pipeline and were reported to be flooding the oil fields it could not be estimated how much damage was being done but though the pipeline seizure was pleasing to the germans a serious sabotage of the oil fields would prove embarrassing to germany though much more to the british for the germans stood even more in need of oil than the british the latter could get oil from other sources notably from the united states but one of germanys germanas Germ anys secondary objectives in the near east was this same group of oil wells of course if the german drive southward should succeed the haifa end of the pipeline would tall fall as well as the kirkum end not to mention the oil field itself but the start of this drive was bound to be delayed at least somewhat by the mop up in the greek campaign and the delay that al had preceded any german movi each move of the reich forces was carefully planned before execution and then was carried out with speed precision and extreme fury formula none doubted that Gerni germany any would hold to this so far winning formula of warfare and leave the arabs largely to their fate until the planned advance had been thoroughly worked out this was the method employed in northern af H highlights I 1 G H L I 1 G H T S in defense new fl L the state department granted unlimited licenses to the british iron steel corporation and the british purchasing commission under which customs collectors are authorized to accept shipments of specified products without the presentation of license forms going to british new guinea british north borneo federated malay states malay states hongtong Hong kong oceania papua and sarawak Sa C L the war department announced improved gas masks have been manufactured in more than sufficient quantities to equip an army of men and thousands more are being turned out each day the announcement said about half of the masks are for training purposes the remainder for field service in time of war announced it has completed or is constructing base facilities at all 29 national guard air observation squadrons projects include building or improvement of airfields and enlargement of hangars C e director of priorities put into effect blanket priority ratings enabling manufacturers of airplane frames engines and propellers to obtain needed materials to speed production of military airplanes for the united states and great britain mr also announced immediate application to 16 vital defense metals of a system of inventory controls designed to prevent excess stocks in industry C the civil service commission announced applicants in trades and artisan positions such as machinist toolmaker sheet metal worker and instrument maker who have not reached their sixty fifth birthday by the day they swear to their applications are eligible to take examinations for such jobs associate director general hillman said the government has received assurances from many employers working on OB defense orders that they are making full utilization of negro labor in their factories rica where the germans let the italians take their beating until they were driven back toT to tripoli ripoll then the forces of the reich crossed the mediterranean largely in italian ships landed on the north african coast and promptly and with high speed drove the british back on their heels taking everything that the italians had lost in a matter of weeks where it had taken the british months this was the western end of the pincers which was aimed at alexandria egypt and suez with the move of the eastern end which started with the grecian campaign and the general balkan infiltration expected to start as soon as the proper diplomatic and military preparation was finished many believed the germans would have to hurry this time for some observers reported the russians to be drawing troops from the eastern part of the country and beginning to concentrate them in central russia this might mean two things either a protective movement or an effort to beat the germans to the near eastern punch and to go into the eurasian territory themselves perhaps through persia there was an outside possibility that russia however might content herself with a persian grab and aim aim toward british india instead of following her obvious dislike of the nazi moves and attempting to tangle with hillers Hit lers forces soviet upset the soviet was considerably upset it was true by the german entry into finland was more upset by the infiltration into bulgaria and still more bothered by the reports from turkey that the turks were planning to follow the lead of all balkan countries except and ancl greece and permit the germans to have their will unchecked should the russians actually jump actively over to the british side of the war which was deemed extremely unlikely until the british had imparted a serious defeat to the axis then the whole complexion of things would be changed and italy and germany would find themselves with a real problem on their hands what seemed most likely was the eventual fall of asia minor to the axis and even at long last the fall fail of suez and alexandria closest observers of the war believed that even with all of this the B british had a chance to win if they could definitely win the battle of the atlantic could definitely resume the unchallenged mastery of the seas could receive from the united states all out aid including active entry into the war and could repel an invasion of the british isles themselves those in touch with the washington scene believed this country much clo serto being actually in the war with some actually predicting that our entry was no further off than 60 days CONVOY prewar pre war issue the question of convoying materials to britain by american warships and the sending of such materials in american flag ships to the british middle east command was rapidly becoming the preeminent pre eminent issue before the public the isolationists naturally were condemning convoying as an act of war and as a breach of president Roosevel ts campaign promise to confine military and naval service to this hemisphere at first observers believed the question was scheduled to die in the foreign affairs committee debate deba tein in the senate especially after the defeat of the tobey resolution in committee by a 1310 13 10 vote the closeness of this vote however gave administration opponents new courage apparently tor for almost immediately there was a quantity of stormy material on the front pages all surrounding the question of convoys some senators and some cabinet officers openly favored convoying the president opened the red hed sea as far as suez to american vessels carrying aid to democracies and american warships were unofficially reported to be in waters immediately adjacent to singapore biggest sensation had been sprung earlier by senators tobey and nye when they claimed to have inside information that complete convoying already had begun all forces admitted that the president had the power as commander in chief 0 of the navy to order convoying in fact fac to order navy ships to carry out any of his commands the question as put to the president the president did not answer but the categorical denial by secre tary hull and admiral stark satisfied most people including all al friends of the administration that the actual convoy rumor was only that and nothing more especially when neither nye nor tobey could quote chapter or verse as to their information source however all these statements sprang back into prominence when of all places vichy walked into tax testimony Te testimony stimon y 0 A W here is edward A oneal american farm bureau federation president as he testified before the house way and means committee on the subject of national defense taxes he told the committee that the public should be made aware that their taxes are for national defense he contended that plans to increase taxes on tobacco gasoline and other products would t tend end to reduce the money that could be spent for farm products I 1 i the controversy by stating that 28 26 american ships loaded to the fun nels with munitions assigned to the british middle east command and convoyed by american warships had arrived at suez the navy instantly issued at least a partial denial but the navy denial confined itself to the statement wat that u no united states ships are engaged in convoy duty U US S ENTRY a ats into conflict just as all developments brought one vital question more nearly to the fore the question of whether or not america actually was to enter the war on the side of the british the issue oddly enough was being brought more and more to a head by the america first committee this group now was finding charles A lindbergh its natural leader following his dramatic nation from his reserve colonelcy in the air force and especially after his subsequent utterances lary his st louis address which was given verbatim coverage in most newspapers that were opposed to the roosevelt foreign sw and in all large newspapers opposed to roosevelt or not U r several leading papers actually were found running editorials frankly urging full american participation in the war while the anti intervention press was using all its editorial power to prevent such an eventuality whether it was intentional or not the anti interventionists were rapidly forcing the issue to where most observers believed a showdown was not far distant while in this country we do not have the responsible ministry system of england such as brought churchill to ask a vote of confidence the lack of which would automatically put him out of office it was obvious that the roosevelt foreign policy would continue to be carried to its final objective of all aid to england unless congress forced a major policy change hence it was being quoted that the phrase all aid to britain short of war had been for several weeks changed to all aid to britain leaving out the short of war stories such as the above were carried in the news columns and then commented on editorially either pro or con according to the newspapers policy all this many believed would in the long or short run be bound to force the issue into a congressional vote which would definitely settle the issue those favoring the president promptly translated this future action as a certainty that we would be actively in the war and at no far distant date those who appos oppose gree the president h holding that a gre eruption of public opinion against the presidents foreign policy was even now taking place under the urging of the america first campaign miscellany DETROIT the nation was interested in the case of benson ford edsel fords son and henrys grandson who was ordered by his draft board inducted into the army may 23 though declared physically unfit by the boards physicians the board was headed by young fords prospective uncle by marriage who voted to defer him the board overruled him stating that while it had absolute faith in its own doctors it wanted him passed on at the induction center louisville A commentary N financial conditions in this coun drew a record crowd of and ana resulted in a record handle toi for the pari machines washington issued orders to the automobile industry that thai they would have to cut their production of non defense vehicles both autos and trucks by more than ac per cent this year a reduction 01 ol more than vehicles released by western newspaper union |