MacArthur & McChrystal

Today there are a lot of people making comparisons between Generals Douglas MacArthur and Stanley McChrystal. Both were relieved of their command by an incompetent president. Let's pray that is the end of the similarities.

My Army career was undistinguished but I did spend nine months with AFWESPAC - Army forces Western Pacific. Douglas MacArthur was my C.G.

MacArthur doesn't need me to defend him. He was one of the most competent military commanders of modern times. When the Korean War erupted, the invading North Korean forces pushed the ill-prepared American forces southward to the tip of the peninsula. When MacArthur came to the rescue, he did not join the beleaguered forces on their toe-hold of Korean soil. He landed his forces on the western shore, in the middle of the peninsula and swept across, trapping the North Korean forces which had pushed southward. Then he turned north and quickly swept to the Chinese border.

The Chinese Air Force began attacking the Americans from the safety of their bases on Chinese soil. MacArthur - a General who won wars - wanted to take them out. Had he done so, Korea would have been unified and we would not be facing them as a rogue nation today. But, timid Truman feared that action would restart World War II, and fired MacArthur.

The result was that North Korean and Chinese forces were able to push the Americans back to the 38th parallel, where the two armies have glared at each other for nearly 60 years.

Now, president Obama, like Truman, has fired an imminently capable commander. This time, it was over a perceived insult to the president.

Only those younger than me will be around to see the long-term results. Unless, of course, a nuclear-armed North Korea, or Al Qaeda wipes us all out beforehand.