Abstract

Editorials

The U.S. general Douglas MacArthur, seeking to rebut outspoken European criticism of his political and military judgment, has issued from Tokyo an unprecedented series of personal statements and interviews. MacArthur has vehemently denied that he exceeded his authority in pushing for the Yalu River, a point on which he may be technically correct, although the reason for the assignment of this mission, over British protests, seems to have been his own insistence that any more limited objective would imperil the security of his command. But it is difficult to offer even a technical defense to the charge that the general advance of the United Nations forces launched with so much fanfare, was a monumental military blunder based on appallingly faulty intelligence.