After WW2, the Korean war, along with the Vietnam war, we experienced push back and some very embarrassing losses in those two wars. We have been very cautious of going all in ever since.
The Vietnam War was interesting, because we still were hurting after the defeat at the Chosin reservoir not long before Vietnam in Korea.
A little history
- Overconfidence: General MacArthur was convinced that China would not enter the war. He famously told President Truman that the war would be over by Christmas and that American troops would be home soon. [1, 2, 3]
- Ignoring the Warnings: China actually sent clear warnings through diplomats that they would attack if American forces crossed into North Korea. MacArthur dismissed these threats as bluffs. [1, 2, 3, 4]
- Divided Forces: MacArthur ordered his armies to advance toward the Chinese border in separate columns that were far apart. This left huge gaps between the troops, making it very easy for the Chinese military to surround them on the mountain roads. [1, 2]
Why Intelligence Officers Were Blamed
- Bad Reports: MacArthur’s chief intelligence officer, General Charles Willoughby, consistently underestimated how many Chinese troops had crossed the border. [1]
- Blind Spots: Intelligence reports claimed there were only a few thousand Chinese volunteers in Korea, when in reality, over 300,000 Chinese soldiers had already secretly crossed the river. [1, 2, 3]
Why Leaders in Washington Were Blamed
- Failure to Stop MacArthur: President Truman and the Joint Chiefs of Staff were worried about China entering the war. However, because MacArthur was a legendary hero from World War II, they were too timid to overrule his choices or order him to stop his advance. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
Trump is doing the right thing by proceeding with caution in the situation, and this is being based on the historic record concerning past blunders.
No need to rush into anything at this point, otherwise only to regret it when we do if we are past a critical point and time when we should have surged forward knocking and keeping the enemy off it's feet until the win.
I do think myself that a timeline is working more against Iran than for all nations in the theater because of these more modern methods and times of warfare we use today.
I'm in favor of going in quick, achieving the goals, and getting out quick after the win. Never a fan of hanging around to long if the war goals can't be achieved quickly. Not a fan of cease fires because they usually don't work, and if the diplomacy fails it gives time for the enemy to regroup and re-arm (disaster).
Lightening war is the best approach to any war if the enemy has proven itself to be an evil run regime not to be taken lightly. Overwhelming the numbers or strategies against the opposing forces, and their not being able to respond in meaningful ways is the only recipe for the win.
We must learn from history and the studying of war's, and the personalities involved in it all or we are setting ourselves up for disaster once again.
My wonder is if the political climate here at home during the MacArthur/Truman dispute, had led to the disaster and to the undermining of one of the greatest generals of WW2 ? It seems that we have a disastrous political climate in America, and it has been undermining our military and generals since the win of WW2.
This leads me to
Joseph McCarthy who was a Republican U.S. Senator from Wisconsin that led a massive, aggressive campaign to find and remove suspected communists from the American government and military during the early 1950s. His actions fed into a period of intense public paranoia known as the
"Red Scare". His name became so famous that this era of political witch hunts is still called
McCarthyism
So was Joseph McCarthy right in hindsight of it all now ? It appears that he was right, and some of it is evident on this board daily.
