Evening star., 1951-09-16
Where Do We Stand if the Kaesong Effort coIapses?

But last month, in the words of a
pilot who took part in the raid.
I'VE clobbered Rashin."
The August raid, of course, does
not necessarily indicate that Gen.
Macarthur was right and his oppo-
nentS were wrong, as of the time Of
this argument. Gen. Bradley testi-
ned in May that Rashin was of Sec
ondary Importance. But--the PEN
tagon enthusiastically from that
time the Reds have been building
up RaShin as supply base. One
top Air Force officer puts it simply:
"Rashin got to be too ripe a plum
to pass up"
Since, under changed conditions.
one OF the things Gen. Macarthur
wanted to do already has been done.
what of the other steps he advo-
Gated? They are bound to receive
a lot of careful attention as we
consider ways in which to push
for military decision in Korea.
The two principal planks of the
Macarthur program which seem
applicable to the situation we NAV
be facing are the one involving "hot
pursuit" of enemy planes, and the
one involving use of Chang Kai-
shek's Nationalist Army, now on
FormoSa, against the Reds.
Gen. Macarthur was much an
noyed by the prohibition against
chasing Red planes across the Yalu
River into Manchuria. The Air
Force, he explained, wanted to run
its foes into the ground, wherever
the, trail might lead. Pentagon
officials now take the attitude that
If the Red Air Force comes out in
strength sufficient to menace our
positions, we will drive it's planes
out of the air-in Korea, or Man.
churia, or wherever they are.
Nationalist Lending
The other Macarthur recommen-
dation, however, still meets with
very little favor in the eyes of other
military men. Specifically, Gen.
MacArthur's proposal was a Ma
tionaliSt landing on the mainland
of China, with supply help from us.
The idea was to divert Chinese
Communist troops from their cur
rent volunteer" activities, thus
making possible decisive U. N.
victory in Korea. Gen. Macarthur
also let it be known he would be
willing to use the Chang forces in
Korea itself. There may, as time
goes by, be great deal of public
pressure for a move of this sort.
AS of now, however, there is no in
dication of any official disposition
to bring Chang into the Korean
picture in any way.
But it is interesting to note, as
an indication of the way pressure
can grow for bolder course Of
action in Korea, that public senti-
ment already has gone beyond the
steps advocated by Gen. Macarthur.
There is for example, a strong
feeling among many people in this
country that we should be prepared,
if the war resumes full blast, to
bomb supply, air and troop bases
inside China. Gen. Macarthur did
not insist on such step, and our
military leaders have not yet COM
mitted themselves on the point.
If we should decide on such a
step, obviously, it will be a decision
which may affect the future Of
civilization for long time to come.
The danger of Soviet Intervention
which means the beginning of
World War III-would be acute.
The North Korean radio already
has warned that such an act on our
part would signal, in retaliation,
Communist bombing of our bases
in Japan. It is doubtful that either
Red China or North Korea has the
planes to carry out such raids. The
only apparent source of sufficient
air power is the Soviet Union.
Landings and Atoms
There are other ways in which
we might decide to, change the
VsY11A 4f
We might, for instance, decide to
break up the Communist frontal
effort by staging a series of am
phibiouS landings-new Inchons.
Again, public statements and
Atomic Energy Commission tests in
Nevada in the last several months
have given rise to speculation that
we have-or are on the threshold
of having-"tactical" atomic weap-
onS. If these weapons are, in fact,
in existence, they might be used
against Communist troop areas in
side Korea, thus avoiding a violation
of the Chinese frontier.
But when all the avenues of pos
Sible procedure have been exam.
ined, the basic dilemma will remain.
We have carried on the kind of
war we have been fighting in Korea
in the hope that this war can be
localized prevented, that is,
from exploding into the global
conflict we are trying to avoid.
Now it appears we may not be able
to win such a war. How can we