EDITORIAL

We haven't learned much in 59 years. Back in June 1950, control of the peninsula of Korea was divided between a Soviet backed communist government in the north and U.S.- supported republic in the south.

At that time, North Korean troops coordinated an attack at several strategic points along the 38th parallel—the line that separated the two zones—and headed south toward Seoul, the capital of South Korea.

President Harry S. Truman quickly committed American forces, under Gen. Douglas MacArthur, to a combined United Nations force. Fifteen other nations also sent troops under the U.S. command. Truman, determined not to "lose" another country to communism, did not seek a formal declaration of war from Congress; officially, America's presence in Korea amounted to no more than a "police action."

It is interesting to note that the Soviet Union had left the U.N. Security Council six months before the invasion by North Korea in protest of the U.N.'s refusal to seat a delegate from China.

Well, folks, here we are again. However, the stakes have been raised and North Korea is again rattling sabres—but this time, by exploding underground nuclear bombs.

President Barack Obama seems to think that China will be our ally this time. But let's face it, China is still a communist country—even though it is one of our biggest economic traders.

What's in it for the Chinese? If North Korea collapses, a flood of half-starved refugees will seek protection in an already heavily-populated China.

The Soviet Union has fallen apart, with its own sets of problems dealing with the satellite states that sprang back into action following the demise of the U.S.S.R.

The useless United Nations will resolve to do this and that in the manner it usually employs—a lot of talk and little else.

Meanwhile, North Korea announces in its main Communist Party newspaper, Rodong Sinmun, that it is "fully ready to battle" against the U.S. and goes about test-firing shortrange missiles following its nuclear bomb blast.

In fact, North Korea threatened a military strike against South Korea after Seoul joined a U.S.-led initiative to intercept shipments of suspected weapons of mass destruction. North Korea said it was no longer bound by the 1953 armistice that ended the Korean War.

The Korean Conflict or "police action"—or whatever it was called—was making great strides under MacArthur. With his credo of "in war indeed there can be no substitute for victory," he hurled the North Koreans back to the 38th parallel and decimated their forces, until Red China intervened with superior ground forces. MacArthur wanted to push them back to China.

Truman double-clutched and with a determination to assert his authority over MacArthur, removed the general from command.

Too bad for that decision, which has put us where we are today—looking at a nuclear bomb, with the finger of a madman at the controls.