MacArthur's Victory at Inchon: Defeating the British Empire by Don ...

lines. It was a strategy he had used in defeating
the Japanese in World War II.
Soon after attacking Pearl Harbor in December
1941, the Japanese proceeded to take
over the South Pacific, taking over the Philippines
and the Dutch Islands around New
Guinea, sources of key war resources, such
as oil, tin, bauxite, and rubber. The Japanese
plan was to then seize Australia. MacArthur
planned to stop them by upsetting their takeover
of New Guinea.
MacArthur’s chief of the Air Force, General
Kenney, writes that “Lacking naval
forces and amphibious equipment to dislodge
the Japanese . . . he made the first air
envelopment in history. There was no precedent
for his seizure by air of landing areas
within a few miles of the enemy positions.
There was nothing in the books that advocated
or even suggested flying two divisions
of infantry with their light artillery . . . and
landing them on the flank and in the rear of the enemy
positions.” His soldiers would have to depend for ammunition,
food, evacuation and replacements solely
on the Air Force. MacArthur’s own staff was against
the operation and recommended withdrawal, as they
did not believe that the air resupply would work.
Kenney said it was called “MacArthur’s gamble.” But
the gamble paid off. Kenney writes that MacArthur’s
“spirit and leadership carried his forces along the long
road back to the Philippines and placed him finally in
Tokyo. . . .”
Truman Fires MacArthur
After MacArthur’s success at Inchon, and the U.S.
capture of North Korea, Truman asked to meet with
MacArthur. They met on Wake Island in the Pacific on
Oct. 15, 1950. MacArthur wrote about his impression
of Truman after this meeting: “He seemed to take great
pride in his historical knowledge, but it seemed to me
that in spite of his having read much, it was of a superficial
character, encompassing facts without the logic
and reasoning dictating those facts. Of the Far East he
knew little, presenting a strange combination of distorted
history and vague hopes that somehow, some
way, we could do something to help those struggling
against Communism.”
In December 1950, the Chinese entered North
Korea in force, with over 200,000 troops. MacArthur
MacArthur held Truman responsible for the Korean War. He wrote that,
after the death of FDR, the nation’s leadership was “in the short space of
five years . . . frittered away.” The two are shown here at their (strained)
meeting on Wake Island in October 1950.
called for a naval blockade of mainland China and a
bombing of Manchurian bases.
On Dec. 1, 1950, MacArthur gave an interview to
U.S. News and World Report, which was picked up and
published in many U.S. and European papers. In it, the
general criticized Washington for its refusal to allow
him to pursue the Chinese forces. He stated that those
limitations were an enormous handicap, and without
precedent in military history.
Acheson said that MacArthur, by going public with
his views, “had perpetrated a major act of sabotage of a
Government operation.” Truman responded, saying
that MacArthur “was ready to start general war. I was
not.” MacArthur, in his autobiography, wrote that Red
China was already fully at war with the U.S.
The ostensible reason that Truman fired MacArthur,
was that the general had disobeyed Truman’s order that
no one was to make a public statement on Korea without
it first being approved by Washington. Author
Courtney Whitney wrote that Acheson’s State Department
was following British orders to have MacArthur
fired, that MacArthur’s message had run afoul “of plans
being hatched in the State Department to succumb to
British pressure. . . .”
Behind Truman was British Prime Minister Clement
Atlee, who had just written a “position paper” on
reaching a ceasefire on the basis of the 38th parallel.
Immediately after Truman’s response to MacArthur,
42 Feature EIR April 12, 2013