What I learnt about the Korean War.

I watched the BBC documentary on the Korean war.  Lots to think about here.

I have heard it said that D Day was not about the small matter of defeating the Nazis. It was also about conquering the world.  Churchill noted that Stalin's USSR was going to be the next big enemy.  He contemplated a war against USSR but Roosevelt checked him.  USA had control over the nuclear weapons, as they still do.  In 1945 progress to claim as much territory as possible before USSR did was hampered by simple exhaustion and war fatigue.  

The same was true in Japan.  USA took control of Japan. But what to do with Korea? The USSR had seen action in Korea.  Apparently two aides in the Pentagon suggested the 82 parallel. Stalin liked it.  It was settled on as the line of control between the Soviet and American sectors, similar to Austria and Germany. The problem came when the soviet puppet president did better than the America puppet.  The north became cocky.  Stalin gave the nod for a northern pusht.  He had misread the American's message about their security priorities.  He assumed that the American would not react.  The north invaded the south.  In a matter of days their army had reached the foot of the peninsula. President Truman used the UN to enable and American attack on the north.  His congress would not have sanctioned this.  The security council approved a military effort to re-balance Korea.  The Americans, British, Canadians, Australians, Thai, etc... (a coalition of 44 countries) dug in in the far south west, with thousands of refuges trying to squeeze into their sector.  The Americans panicked and were invoked in a terrible war crime, when hundreds of civilians were massacred.  

General McCartney's audacious assault resolved the northern attack and the north retreated back over the 82 line.  If  that had been it, as had been agreed by the UN, there would have been not much to discuss, but buoyed up by hubris and triumph, McCartney argued for an attack on the north.  This time Truman misjudged the Chinese.  There was a time when Truman and McCartney seriously considered using 24 nuclear bombs to create a dead zone between Korea and China, contaminated by radiation for 99 years (with the use of a cobalt). The allies had about 700,000 soldiers committed to the war.  North Korea, China and Russian had about 1.700,000. The allies withdrew to the 82 line, though the front went backwards and forwards. No armistice was possible because Stalin saw that the USA embroiled in a stalemate made good soviet foreign policy.  This could go on for ever.  Every Korean town and city had been decimated. Then Stalin died, and peace was possible.  There has been the potential for the war to start again in the 70's.  North Korea knows that it's only sure protection is to threaten USA with nuclear retaliation.  It will never give up this power.  All things come to an end, so this divided country will some day unite.    

I remember the wonderful Korean film called

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