Editorial: Next step in the Pacific
With the Marines now mopping up Iwo Jima enemy remnants in the bloodiest battle of the war, and Gen. MacArthur successfully invading the large southern Philippine island of Mindanao, a new phase in the Pacific war is about to begin. Hence the top flight strategy conferences in Washington and Chungking.
The President, fresh from his meeting with Prime Minister Churchill, has talked with all of our ranking officials in the Far East except Gen. MacArthur – including Adm. Nimitz, and Gen. Wedemeyer and Ambassador Hurley from China. Adm. Lord Louis Mountbatten, Allied commander in Southeast Asia, went to Chungking to confer with Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek and American officers.
Our chiefs of staff are putting the finishing touches on plans for the big push in the Pacific. It is not supposed that the Jap home islands can be taken quickly after Germany’s collapse. On the contrary, several months after European victory will be required to shift troops and materials in the Far East. But the plans must be made now and part of the process started if we are to be ready when the time comes.
In the meantime, thanks to the Iwo Jima and Philippine victories, we are in position for much more effective softening-up action against the enemy. From Iwo our medium bombers can strike Tokyo and our fighting planes can escort the Superfortress raids. From Gen. MacArthur’s Philippine fields our planes can blast the China coast, only 700 miles away. Equally important they can blanket the South China Sea, Japan’s main supply line.
Whether the next strike will be against the Dutch East Indies, Formosa or islands nearer Japan, or the China coast, the enemy command will not know until the blow falls. We now have sufficient sea and air control and bases to pick any of those spots for attack.
Our high command, however, is anxious for the American public to understand one thing. Although Japan has lost the initiative, she still has a strong defensive position. Adm. Nimitz points out that the enemy’s defensive advantages include: Geographical position and shorter supply lines than ours, ability to produce planes almost as fast as we destroy them, a fanatical fighting spirit, and a strong army of which 90 percent has not been reached by our island warfare.
The conclusion is obvious. Any letdown on the American home front would be disastrous. The biggest battles are ahead of us. The Army, Navy and Marine victories to date have put us in position for heavier blows, but those blows depend on more production, more blood banks, more supplies of all kinds.