Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1951-05-27

4
think a little too restrictive"
Gen. Collins maintained that in
stance was entirely valid. One
consideration, he said. was con-
Germ over reaction of North Ko-
reans to "a quick and early ces-
sation Of fighting if We were to
just bomb their cities" Until it
became apparent it was neces-
sary to bomb Pyongyang, he said,
I'VE wanted to reserve that judg-
ment and =. there would have
ben plenty OF time, we thought,
for Gen. Macarthur to have asked
for authority when he located a
specific target there
All Concurred in Proposal.
Senator Hickenlooper dwelled
lat length on whether Gen. Mac
Arthur actually understood that
the Joint Chiefs January IL
study was actually a study, and
not a directive. This is the set
of possible steps for future action,
among which were the major con-
troversial moves urged latter by
Gen. Macarthur.
The Senator developed the fact
that both Gen. Macarthur and
the Chiefs concurred in the pro
posals." He then pointed out that
the deposed Far East commander
in his speech to Congress referred
to four points in the study and
said the Joint Chiefs concurred.
And therefore / take it that
his statement is not in error"
he asked.
1T is in error to this extent
only-that the context was not
stated. the background was
not stated and no condition was
outlined in this public statement
of Gen. MacArthur's as to the
conditions under which these pro-
posals were developed" Gen. Col
Inns declared.
Collins COrrects Senator.
Senator Hickenlooper said there
were no hedging conditions"
when the document was called to
Gen MacArthur's attention
"Oh. yes. there is" Gen. Collins
Il told you ). I told Gen Mac
Arthur that these various pro-
posals were under consideration
by the authorities in Washington
and I also indicated that ap-
parently I made clear to Gen.
Macarthur. that these were not
directives, they were not firm
commands, because Gen. MacAr-
thur. himself. referred to this as
a study"
Gen. Collins said the Chiefs
have not withdrawn the points
from the study.
ut may well be that some day
we will put every one of them into
effect he added. 1T is a ques-
ton of timing, and the condi-
lions under which they would be
put into effect"
But. he stressed, the conditions
under which the study was made
quite markedly changed. and I,
for one. was convinced that we
could stay in Korea as long as
we wished to stay in Korea"
Turning to the actual dismissal,
the Senator wanted to know if it
was true that after the President
decided to GUST Gen. Macarthur.
the Joint Chiefs got together to
justify from a military standpoint
the action. the preconceived &C
ton of the President"
will Give Same Answer.
mot to justify. no sir" Gen.
Collins replied. Il have told you
several times that we were called
on for our opinion by our COM
We gave him our honest
opinion and that is all can say,
Senator.
you can ask me it in 10 diff
ferent ways and I am going to
give you the same general answer.
In all honesty, now, I am going to
give you the same answer"
Gen. Collins told Senator Cain
that he had been out of town prior
20 the April 8 Pentagon meeting
at which the Joint Chiefs con-
cured in the Macarthur removal
IN military grounds and that he
vas unaware of the purpose of
he session until he entered it. He
aid that the other chiefs had
been previously informed as to the
subject because they had been in
Washington.
He related that after the meet
ng in Gen. Bradley's Office, they
vent to Defense Secretary Mar
hall and that after that meeting
zen. Marshall said:
We'll, Gen. Bradley va, will \