Evening star., 1951-04-10
The War VIII Go On

Lieutenant General Ridgway, commanding
our 9th Army in Korea, has expressed some opin-
ions which, If valid, have q considerable bearing
on the clash between General Macarthur and the
administration.
General Ridgway's main point was that there
is not going to be any early or easy end to the
lighting in Korea. Barring political settlement
and he said he knew Of no negotiations toward
one-there is nothing in sight but continued
fighting. "The Communists" !" he said, won't call
this thing off. There is nothing transitory, moth
ing temporary, about the Communist determine
tion to destroy us completely AS far as the
Communist leaders are concerned, this is an
all-out, lfe-and-death struggle"
If that is correct, and all of the evidence
indicates that 1t is correct, its bearing on the
Macarthur controversy is self-evident
General Macarthur wants to press the Ko-
rean war to conclusion. He wants to win It. To
this end, he wants to employ all his resources, not
just some of them. He wants to use his air power
to attack Communist bases and other installa-
tions in the privileged sanctuary" in Manchuria.
He does ncs relish this business Of letting the
Chinese mass their forces with impunity for the
purpose Of killing American and Allied soldiers,
knowing that they are safe from any attack until
after they have crossed the Korean border. He
wants, or seems to want, to use the troops under
Chang Kai-shek's command on Formosa to
create diversion on the mainland that would
divert Communist strength from Korea He be-
ieves that the fate of Europe is going to be
decided in Asia, and that the Europe first policy
is wrong. Finally, he airs these views In various
ways, the latest being In his letter to Minority
Leader Joe Martin. e7
This rubS good many people the wrong
way: And their composite reply runs something
like this: The bombing of bases in Manchuria
would not bring decisive victory in Korea and
might bring on World War III. The, troops on
Formosa are unreliable, and could not be trusted
on the mainland or elsewhere. Europe, not ASIA
holds the key to the future of Western civiliza-
ton, and we must not let ourselves be diverted
from the main goals to fight futile, endless war
in ASIA Finally, General Macarthur is military
commander, not a statesman, and he should not
be permitted to sound off on delicate political
questions.
No layman can even pretend to know where
the truth lies between these conflicting views
But some things are obvious. One is that General
Macarthur at least has program. He knows
what he wants to do, and there are other military
men who agree with him as to what should be
done. Would these things, If done, bring victory
in Korea? Possibly not But it is hard to believe
that the prospect is any brighter under the poll
cies to which we are now adhering.
This is the weak spot in the armor of the
administration, the u NJ, the British, and those
others who are clamoring for General MacAr-
thurs official scalp. They apparently have no
program of their own. They are not willing, al
though the reasons vary, TO make the additional
military effort in Korea to. bring victory They
cannot get negotiated settlement that would
have even face-saving value. And they cannot
abandon the fight unless they are willing to
admit that all the sacrifice has been invain and
that the vaunted principles of the U. N. are
nothing but empty phrases.
OF course, they could crack down on General
& Macarthur. They might even relieve him of his
command. But when they get all through with
that the war in Korea will still be going on. The
Chinese will still be killing our young men from
their Manchurian sanctuary, and the older men
who decided nearly year ago to fight this war
will still be fumbling irresolutely with the prob
lem Of how to win or end it.