Although it is well from the point . of view
of both France and Spain that there should now be effective co-operation between the two countries—for if there had not been Abd-el-Krim would simply have used Spanish territory. for fresh jumping-off grounds against. the French—we fear that Spain is likely to be drawn 'finally into the meshes from which we all hoped that she had escaped when the Marquis de Estella drastically reduced the Spanish commitment in Morocco. So far the joint operations have gone well. The bombardments by artillery and the bombings by aeroplanes have evidently :been intensely heavy. But we may be allowed to :doubt whether in that spacious country the effect upon the tribesmen has been quite all that eye and ear may have led people to believe. If the Riffs fight as the tribesmen on the North-West frontier of India fight Or as the Boers fought in South Africa, the European troops must be feeling that they are at war with the scenery rather than with visible human beings.
