MacArthur Outlines His Objectives in Korea

MacArthur, Douglas

1951

General Headquarters,

Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers,

Tokyo, Japan, March 20, 1951

Hon. Joseph W. Martin, Jr.,

House of Representatives, Washington, D.C.

Dear Congressman Martin:

I am most grateful for your note of the 8th forwarding me a copy of your address of February 12. The latter I have read with much interest, and find that with the passage of years you have certainly lost none of your old-time punch.

My views and recommendations with respect to the situation created by Red China's entry into war against us in Korea have been submitted to Washington in most complete detail. Generally these views are well known and clearly understood, as they follow the conventional pattern of meeting force with maximum counterforce, as we have never failed to do in the past. Your view with respect to the utilization of the Chinese forces on Formosa is in conflict with neither logic nor this tradition.

It seems strangely difficult for some to realize that here in Asia is where the Communist conspirators have elected to make their play for global conquest, and that we have joined the issue thus raised on the battlefield; that here we fight Europe's war with arms while the diplomats there still fight it with words; that if we lose the war to communism in Asia the fall of Europe is inevitable, win it and Europe most probably would avoid war and yet preserve freedom. As you pointed out, we must win. There is no substitute for victory.

With renewed thanks and expressions of most cordial regard, I am

Faithfully yours,

Douglas MacArthur

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Credits: Douglas MacArthur to Hon. Joseph W. Martin, March 20, 1951, Hearings before the Joint Senate Committee on Armed Services and Foreign Relations, Congressional Record, 82nd Cong., 1st Sess. (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1951), p. 3182.