ACTION. IN THE EAST
A WAVE of relief passed over the country when it was reported that British and Free French forces, strongly supported in the air, had crossed the frontier from Palestine into Syria " with the object of eliminating German personnel and influence." There were two reasons why this intense satisfaction should be manifested after some moments of undeniable uneasiness. First, it was hoped that the operation now undertaken would be in time to anticipate a large-scale German occupation of Syria and avert so dangerous a threat to Iraq, Palestine, Suez and our whole position in the Middle East. Second, the move was reassuring to the public, which has been looking for signs of a master plan of campaign controlling alike our military and diplomatic operations in the whole Eaitern theatre of war. It was profoundly relieved to know that on this occasion the Germans are compelled to_ modify their plans to meet the British rather than that our dis- positions should await the enemy's initiative.
The action that has at length been taken depended in the nature of the case upon political as well as military considerations. Syria is held under the mandate of France, and France is controlled by the Vichy Government, and it had always been hoped that the Vichy Government, in spite of its increasing subservience to Germany and its sinister interpretation of the agreement to "cooperate," would remember some of the obligations of honour" which Marshal Petain had promised to observe. But Admiral Darlan has been carrying the Vichy adminis- tration further and further along the slope which leads from cooperation with Germany to active assistance in the war against Britain. The Syrian air-fields were made over to the Nazis for use against our forces in Iraq, and French equipment was put at their disposal. French aerodromes on Syrian soil were being fortified by the Germans, and there was a constant stream of scarcely disguised German " tourists " filtering into the country to prepare the way for invasion ; and at the very moment when Vichy was helping the enemy against us and thus inviting our counter- action it issued a provocative Cabinet statement announcing the decision to defend Syria and Tunisia " single-handed " against any British attack.
At the same time a smoke-screen of rumour and counter- rumour was raised to confuse the issue in the hope of making Britain uncertain about French intentions and of reassuring the United States. The handiwork of the Goebbels propaganda-machine was evident enough in the dissemination of reports from Vichy. When General Weygand came over to Vichy for talks with Marshal Petain efforts were made to spread the specious news that Weygand was opposed to Darlan's plans for Syria and North Africa. If the Americans and the British could be persuaded that Weygand's views were gaining at the expense of Darlan's then perhaps the United States might take a more complaisant view of the French attitude and Great Britain might be induced to refrain from any irrevocable action against the French. But neither the American nor the British were blinded by rumours which were unsupported by any facts. Whatever Weygand's personal views might be it has been clear from the first that he will not resist the orders of his aged chief, and the announcement of the decision to fight in Syria reached at a Cabinet meeting attended by Weygand himself gave the lie to reports that the General had succeeded in changing the mind of the Government.
The United States Administration has clearly appreciated the position. Mr. Cordell Hull, speaking last week about Franco-German collaboration which may be forcing France into the aggressor's camp, said that it threatens seriously to alter her relations with the United States, and warned her against becoming " an instrument of aggression against other peoples and nations." The further attempt of the Goebbels propaganda to make capital out of Mr. Winant's visit to the United States, and to spread lying reports that it was due to British desire to make peace, was speedily dealt with nol only by Mr. Winant but by President Roosevelt himself, who retorted with an " accusation " against the German propagandists. On the same day the President issued an order for the requisitioning of foreign ships in United States ports, among them the French liner Normandie.' Steps had already been taken to safeguard the position in the French West Indies by a local agreement with the French High Commissioner.
To have continued longer to pay respect to the good intentions of Vichy to the extent of allowing it to hand over Syria as a base to be used by the Germans would have been suicidal. We knew long ago that French factories were being used for the manufacture of German munitions, that French ports were freely admitting food and materials to help the enemy effort, and that French North Africa was being allowed more and more to come under Nazi influence. But here in Syria French cooperation with Germany has reached the point of aggression in a region vital to our security. Deeply as the British regret action which, though directed only against those who have usurped power over their own people, will nevertheless be represented as action against the French, there was no choice. The French people themselves have not been able to make their voice heard and never at any stage have been consulted, and it is not they whom we hold guilty of the treachery of their Government. The Free French see the situation in its true light. The proclamation issued in the name of General de Gaulle by General Catroux, commanding the Free French forces which side by side with the British are entering Syria, declares that the object of the Allies is " to drive out of Syria the forces of Hitler. It is to prevent the Levant from becoming an enemy base directed against the British and against ourselves."
Nearly a year ago the British Government declared that they would not allow Syria and the Levant to be occupied by any hostile Power or to be used as a base for attacks upon those countries in the Middle East which they are pledged to defend. In the communiqué issued by the Foreign Office last Sunday it is pointed out that that clear warning has been ignored by the Vichy Govern- ment, and that the British Government cannot be expected to tolerate actions which go far beyond the limits of the French armistice and are in flagrant contradiction with the declarations of Marshal Petain.
As we write the military movement continues. British, Australian, Indian and Free French forces are advancing across the country, not to attack the French, though the French must be engaged in so far as they resist, but to deal with the Germans and if possible expel them before they have established themselves—a military measure of vital importance. But to the inhabitants of Syria and to those of the French who take a long view of their country's interest the advancing forces come as liberators. Colonel Collet and other French officers had already crossed the frontier to throw in their lot with the Free French. Already there are signs that many of the men who have hitherto been serving under the orders of General Dentz will welcome the Allied occupation. As for the people of Syria and the Lebanon, who have always had aspirations for national independence, and were becoming restive under an administration increasingly Nazi in its sympathies, there is little doubt about their attitude. The British Govern- ment, pursuing the policy recently announced by Mr. Eden, supports and associates itself with General Catroux's promise of independence, and his undertaking to negotiate a treaty to guarantee the independence of Syria and the Lebanon. The m2ndate to France, bestowed on it by the League of Nations, must cease to be valid when a Government acting in the name of France uses its man- datory position to forward the aims of an aggressor. About the rightness of Britain's action in entering Syria no dis- interested person can have any doubts. About the advisability of such action from a military point of view the situation has long been clear. If it had been delayed a moment longer it might have been too late. In the United States as in this country there is general satisfaction that the British have taken the initiative—not a moment too soon—in the interests of security, honour and prestige.
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