We have written in our first leading article about the
deplorable events at Damascus. We shall not commit ourselves to any of the estimates of the 'damage 'done or of the number of lives lost, as the reports are contradictory, and we can well believe that there has been ekaggeratiOn. It is plain enough, however, that the bombardment of Damascus by artillery and aeroplanes while the majority of the civil population were still in the city was in the nature of a panic measure. This is not to say, of course, • that there was actual panic among the military staff who directed. operations ; but the methods and the results were those which are generally associated with panic. • The action taken seems to have been quite dispropor- tionate to the danger. The allegation that the foreign colonies—except the French—were not warned and were offered no sort of protection is a very grave one. If it is true " The Lost Rules of War " are even more lost than we thought. The- trouble is by no means over, and the lateSt reports show that citizens are still fleeing from the city.
