The wedge that the Germans attempted to drive in western Europe was less dangerous in actual terms of winning the war than the wedges which they are continually attempting to drive between ourselves and our allies. Every little rumor which is intended to weaken our faith in our allies is like an actual enemy agent in our midst--seeking to sabotage our war effort. There are, here and there, evil and baseless rumors against the Russians--rumors against the British--rumors against our own American commanders in the field. When you examine these rumors closely, you will observe that every one of them bears the same trade-mark--"Made in Germany." We must resist this divisive propaganda--we must destroy it--with the same strength and the same determination that our fighting men are displaying as they resist and destroy the panzer divisions. In Europe, we shall resume the attack and--despite temporary setbacks here or there--we shall continue the attack relentlessly until Germany is completely defeated. It is appropriate at this time to review the basic strategy which has guided us through three years of war, and which will lead, eventually, to total victory. The tremendous effort of the first years of this war was directed toward the concentration of men and supplies in the various theaters of action at the points where they could hurt our enemies most. It was an effort--in the language of the military men--of deployment of our forces. Many battles--essential battles--were fought; many victories--vital victories--were won. But these battles and these victories were fought and won to hold back the attacking enemy, and to put us in positions from which we and our allies could deliver the final, decisive blows. In the beginning our most important military task was to prevent our enemies--the strongest and most violently aggressive powers that ever have threatened civilization--from winning decisive victories. But even while we were conducting defensive, delaying actions, we were looking forward to the time when we could wrest the initiative from our enemies and place our superior resources of men and materials into direct competition with them. It was plain then that the defeat of either enemy would require the massing of overwhelming forces--ground, sea, and air--in positions from which we and our allies could strike directly against the enemy homelands and destroy the Nazi and Japanese war machines. In the case of Japan, we had to await the completion of extensive preliminary operations--operations designed to establish secure supply lines through the Japanese outer-zone defenses. This called for overwhelming sea power and air power--supported by ground forces strategically employed against isolated outpost garrisons.