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The swift pace of redeployment drew
heavy fire from the American press dur-
ing the week, commentators charging that
the withdrawal of experienced personnel
had undermined the efficiency of the Ar-
my and the military occupation. The ra-
pid return of the armed forces was seen
by some observers as giving grounds for
our Allies to believe that the United
States might cast off its responsibilities
in Europe.
Though the trend of comment on the
occupation was unfavorable, military gov-
ernment was praised for the excellent and
conscientious work carried out by many
of its personnel. Several commentators
warned of the dangers of "Pity the Ger-
mans" drives.
The British press devoted considerable
space to the State Department-announce-
ment of its aims in Germany. While wlel-
coming  the  pronouncement, editorial
writers in British papers raised the ques-
tion whether the revival of Germany en-
visaged by the State Department might
not be too speedy from the point of view
of Germany's European neighbors.
In an article in the December 15 issue
of the New York Times, RaymondDaniell
asserted that, "redeployment is the bane
of the U.S. occupation authorities. That
word has become synonymous with the
disorganization and inefficiency that is
afflicting what remains of what was once
an effective military machine. Now that
machine is an aggregation of homesick
Americans, shirking their jobs to figure
out ways of making money, courting Ger-
man women, counting up points, and
scheming how to get back to the U. S.
most quickly".
"Officers and men make no secret of
the breakdown in discipline and morale
and they both attribute it to the lack of
any definite policy from Washington !on
the long-term aims of the occupation,
to the disillusionment with the aspect of
the dawn of the new world they have
been fighting for and to the overtaxing
of the troops left in Germany as a result
of the hasty, unskillful redeploymentthat
stripped the theater of essential, trained
men."
Daniell charged further that the worst
aspect of the situation is "that in govern-
ment, in the administration of newspapers
and schools and in every other phase of
the American occupation, the authorities
falling all over each other in their
haste to restore authority and respons-
ibilities for finishing the job so glorious-
ly begun when Germany capitulated lend
encouragement to those who, fearing Rus-
sian expansiveness, seek to preserve the
nucleus of the war potential in German
industry."
In the opinion of the Christian Science
Monitor, we are losing the peace in Ger-
many as a result in part of hasty redeploy-
ment. "The utter paralysis of the Mili-
tary Government can be imagined when
newspaper men report that specialists in
finance, housing, fuel, utilities, sanitation,
communications, etc., are utterly lacking
in most places" said the Monitor. As a
result,- the American Army .has lost
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