Evening star., 1950-10-20
Pyongyong-o Lesson


the irresolute-as we'll as for all plotters of
aggression-in the story of Pyongyang. On last
June Is this now-shattered place was the capital
of the criminal North Korean Communist regime
which on that day, with the support of Red China
and Soviet Russia, struck southwark across the
38th Parallel in brutal attack a peaceful
people whose freely elected and independent
government had been brought into being under
the auspices of the United Nations.
At the time of that attack, and for some
weeks thereafter there was much jittery head
shaking in the free world over President Truman's
swift and courageous decision to order American
armed forces to the scene and to take the lead
In organizing U. N. military action to put down
the aggressor. This decision-promptly supported
by the Security Councils historic resolutions of
June Is and 27-made more than few people
shake in their boots The North Koreans, with
their vast initial superiority seemed unstoppable,
and as they kept rolling forward hundreds of
miles south of Pyongyang, the fear grew among
the fearful that all our troops and those of our
Allies would be pushed catastrophically into the
sea from the ever-narrowing beachhead around
Pusan.
Then, after there had been time to build up
cur American strength and when the u. N. forces
began to show clear evidence of being able to
avoid disastrous Dunkirk the head-shakers
still shook their heads and worried over the
prospect of long and indecisve battles. Indeed
little more than month ago, just before the
amphibious landings at Inchon, their spirits were
almost as low as ever, and even after Seoul had
been liberated some of them took the fretful
hand-wringing position that perhaps the aggres-
sor ought not to be pursued north of the 38th
Parallel. They feared that that might be too
risky. They feared that it might send the
Chinese Communists marching against us. They
feared that the Kremlin might dispatch its
armies to fight on the side of the North Koreans.
They feared that pursuit might quickly lead to
the outbreak of general war.
Needless to say, If these and similar mis-
givingS had governed the decisions of the United
States and the overwhelming majority of the
United Nations, Pyongyang today would not be
in the hands of our American, Korean Repub-
lican and other Allied forces. Instead, in all
probability, the puppet Communists, far from
being crushed miltarily and politically, far from
being fugitives whose dark crimes call for trial
and punishment, would have the whole of Korea
behind the Iron Curtain. They would not now
be in position Of total collapse. Their aggres-
sion would have paid off, The Kremlin would
have triumphed once again. The prestige of our
own country would have been washed away
everywhere. The U. NJ would have been dealt
fatal blow. And the free world in general would
have little to expect but additional onslaughts
from the Red totaltarians
But because the counsels Of the timid did
not prevail, because the United Nations-led by
the United States-net the aggressor head on,
there is good reason for lifting up of hearts
today by all peoples in all parts of the globe.
For this action in Korea-even though there is
still the possibility of guerrilla fighting and even
though difficult reconstruction problems lie
ahead-has brought about truly great and
significant victory for freedom and the rule of
law In fact, as time goes on, it may we'll come
to be recognized as decisive turning point in
manklnd's age-old struggle against the scourge
OF communicating wars. At any rate, what
the q. N. has carried out here is something
entirely new in the history of the world-the first
collective military operation of it's kind ever
launched against the crime of aggression
AS result, with the u N. now eouipping
itself to be even more effective in dealing with
any recurrence Of that crime, and with the free
world as whole rearming there is real hope
that the threat Of aggression can be ended
altogether and that the Kremlin will vet revise
It's policy to make lasting peace possible AS
far as the faint-hearted and the irresolute are
concerned, the lesson implicit in all this need
hardly be labored: It is simply that bullies with
knives IN their hands are inclined to fold up
when they run into anybody armed with steel
1ortltude and an unwavering determination to
KILL II need be, rather than be killed.