Evening star., 1951-05-26

Gen. Collins-Well, it all de-
|pends on whom they are fighting
how effective such force would
be. They have got plenty of man
power; the point is they do not
have the trained and equipped
to an unlimited degree
Senator Wiley also brought out,
in questioning Gen. Collins. that
the Joint Chiefs were never asked
Ito reduce to writing" their mill
|tary reasons for the Macarthur
removal. He said that Gen. Brad
ley, the Joint Chiefs Chairman,
merely wrote down "the essence of
the discussions" in his Office and
that of Defense Secretary Mar
shall.
Reprisal Issue Raised.
Senator Wiley Suppos-
ing that you had not concurred
i'm the Presidents position ton
Gen. MacArthur)-Do you think
that something might have hap
Ipened to you?
Gen. Collins-I don't believe So
No, sir.
Under questioning by Senator
ISaltonstall, Republican, of Massa-
Ichusetts, Gen. Collins stated that
the United States received infor-
Imation from British and Indian
intelligence sources that, if u. N
forces ventured near the Yalu
River. the Red Chinese would en-
ter the conflict.
The general said, last January
IL, he realized that the U. N. forces
would have to adopt a defensive
latitude and that instructions COM
Ipatible with that concept were
sent Gen. Macarthur.
7 Senator Smith asked if there hac
been any complaint against Gen
MacArthur's handling of the jap
Eanese occupation. ....
Gen. Collins-None whatsoever.
(He did a perfectly marvellous
job. can assure you that the
difficulties began after the Korean
toutbreak and not before; that is,
after the Korean fighting began,
not before.
At another point he said that
once the U. N. had emerged on
the Macarthur plan to bomb Man
Ichuria bases there would be just
mo, no stopping"
Senator Smith said several times
that the explanation for Gen. Mac
Arthur's dismissal docs not satisfy
me-" I
Gen. Collins took issue with Gen
MacArthur'S estimate to the COM
mittee that he did not feel Russia
had very great capacity for car
|rying out a major war in the Far
East"
Gen. Collins said there are
many factors open to discussion
but that to the best of his knowl-
edge and belief, Russia docs
have sufficient forces and suff-
lcient supplies out there in the
Far East to carry on operations
for some period of time"
Senator Kefauver, Democrat, OF
Tennessee then asked the genera,
if he thought the actual dismissal
Iof Gen. Macarthur could have
been handled better.
Referred Original Plans.
The Army chief replied that he
felt original plans set up for the
dismissal would have been better
These plans. earlier testimony
brought out. were to have the dis
Imissal orders delivered personally
Ito Gen Macarthur by Army Sec
retary Pace.
But. actually" Gen. Collins
continued, with Gen. Ridgway
Immediately available there, and
Gen. Van Fleet had already been
Iforewarned that. If anything hap
Ipened to Gen. Ridgway he would
go at once to Korea L dom.
believe that it had any actual bao
effect"
Asked to elaborate on reasons
he did not favor an all-out war III
Korea. Gen. Collins said he die
mot know of anything that woulc
delight the Kremlin more than il
we were to just get involved with
la large military force out in that
area of the world"
Under questioning by Senator
Hickenlooper. Republican, of Iowa
Gen. Collins said there were cleal
indications this country woulc
lose some of its allies if the Mac.
Arthur program for bombing Man.
Ichurian bases and a naval block.
Iade of the Chinese mainland
should be adopted.
Senator Hickenlooper - What
are those indications?
Gen. Collins-Primarily in oul
discussions with the State Depart
ment that heir contacts with
other United Nations members in
dicated clearly that they did moi
intend to support certain of these
projected moves.
Senator Hickenlooper -
Would not good military tactics
indicate that we should go ovel
with strategic bombing tt
disrupt their supplies and com
munications as far back Of the
actual fighting front as possible
Political Background.
Gen. Collins-Yes. sir, but OF
course you cannot separate the
military reasoning from your po-
litical background.
Gen. Collins explained further