A Lesson In Appeasing Enemies By Douglas MacArthur

[twyacht]

Caught this on Red State: There are the authors inserts to a similar state were in today.

http://www.redstate.com/sections/war/

 A Reminder About Appeasing Our Enemies: Douglas MacArthur

Sunday, January 10th at 12:43PM EST

I ran across this today as I was preparing my son’s history reading for the week.

It is painfully apparent that history, ignored, is a poor teacher. History, as rewritten by democrats and promulgated in the schools and media, is a dangerous teacher.

From MacArthur’s farewell speech to Congress, April 19, 1951.

    “I address you with neither rancor nor bitterness in the fading twilight of life, with but one purpose in mind: to serve my country. The issues are global and so interlocked that to consider the problems of one sector, oblivious to those of another, is but to court disaster for the whole. While Asia is commonly referred to as the Gateway to Europe, it is no less true that Europe is the Gateway to Asia, and the broad influence of the one cannot fail to have its impact upon the other. There are those who claim our strength is inadequate to protect on both fronts, that we cannot divide our effort. I can think of no greater expression of defeatism. If a potential enemy can divide his strength on two fronts, it is for us to counter his effort.  [Al Queda is active on all fronts around the globe. The current administration in America not only won't counter Al Queda's efforts, they are knowingly making it easier for terrorists.] The Communist threat is a global one. Its successful advance in one sector threatens the destruction of every other sector. You cannot appease or otherwise surrender to communism [Islamic terrorism] in Asia [America] without simultaneously undermining our efforts to halt its advance in Europe [around the world].

    I called for reinforcements but was informed that reinforcements were not available. [General McChrystal fared as well with the Obama regime.] I made clear that if not permitted to destroy the enemy build-up bases north of the Yalu, if not permitted to utilize the friendly Chinese force of some 600,000 men on Formosa, if not permitted to blockade the China coast to prevent the Chinese Reds from getting succor from without, and if there were to be no hope of major reinforcements, the position of the command from the military standpoint forbade victory.” [Obamreceived a similar report from McChrystal, and deliberately ignored it.]

    “But once war is forced upon us, there is no other alternative than to apply every available means to bring it to a swift end.

    War’s very object is victory, no prolonged indecision. [Obama despises victory and uses indecision to thwart it at every turn.]

    In war there is no substitute for victory.”

    “There are some who, for varying reasons, would appease Red China. [Or Islamic terrorists or Communists world-wide.] They are blind to history’s clear lesson, for history teaches with unmistakable emphasis that appeasement but begets new and bloodier war. It points to no single instance where this end has justified that means, where appeasement has led to more than a sham peace. Like blackmail, it lays the basis for new and successively greater demands until, as in blackmail, violence becomes the only other alternative.

    “Why,” my soldiers ask of me, “surrender military advantages to an enemy in the field?” I could not answer.”

****
After the Rules of Engagement that MacArthur knew full well was coming, would hinder our troops in the field, does history repeat itself.

[tombogan03884]

 Only thing I will fault is that considering the length of the Sino Soviet land border, blockading the Chinese coast would have made no difference.

One other thing, What do you think of laying a mile wide belt of radioactive cobalt along the Afghan / Pakistan border ?
That was MacArthur's idea for interdicting the Chinese bases.

[billt]

This reminds me of the time during WW II when the B-29 high altitude bombing campaign against Japan wasn't going very well. Less than 15% of the bombs were hitting their intended targets because the high altitude winds aloft were blowing the bombs off their mark. In an attempt to correct this they brought in General Curtis LeMay. He assessed the situation and said,

 "Enough of this! We'll go in at night, not the day. We'll approach at 13,000 ft., not 30,000 ft. We'll switch to incendiaries, not high explosives. The Jap cities are paper and wood. We'll BURN THE BASTARDS OUT!"

The results were approximately 16 square miles of the city were destroyed and some 100,000 people are estimated to have died in the resulting firestorm, more than the immediate deaths of either the Hiroshima or Nagasaki atomic bombs. The Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department established a figure of 124,711 casualties including both killed and wounded and 286,358 buildings and homes destroyed. Over 50% of Tokyo was destroyed by the end of World War II. THAT is how you win a war! Today most of our Generals are a bunch of politically correct pussies. We need Generals like LeMay and Patton, not wimps like Wesley Clark.  Bill T.

[crusader rabbit]

This reminds me of the time during WW II when the B-29 high altitude bombing campaign against Japan wasn't going very well. Less than 15% of the bombs were hitting their intended targets because the high altitude winds aloft were blowing the bombs off their mark. In an attempt to correct this they brought in General Curtis LeMay. He assessed the situation and said,

 "Enough of this! We'll go in at night, not the day. We'll approach at 13,000 ft., not 30,000 ft. We'll switch to incendiaries, not high explosives. The Jap cities are paper and wood. We'll BURN THE BASTARDS OUT!"

The results were approximately 16 square miles of the city were destroyed and some 100,000 people are estimated to have died in the resulting firestorm, more than the immediate deaths of either the Hiroshima or Nagasaki atomic bombs. The Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department established a figure of 124,711 casualties including both killed and wounded and 286,358 buildings and homes destroyed. Over 50% of Tokyo was destroyed by the end of World War II. THAT is how you win a war! Today most of our Generals are a bunch of politically correct pussies. We need Generals like LeMay and Patton, not wimps like Wesley Clark.  Bill T.

That's when we still remembered how to win a war.  We had forgotten by the time Korea rolled around.  And by Vietnam (my war) we had lost any idea of winning and started with the premise:  Let's not offend anyone; we don't want to make them mad.