On Sept. 15, 1950, U.S. and South Korean forces landed behind enemy lines at the port city of Inchon, a brilliant master stroke that would change the course of the war. Three weeks later (the same amount of time it took Gen. Tommy Franks to capture Baghdad), the North Korean capital of Pyongyang fell and the enemy started to disintegrate. But Washington decided to place artificial limits on the U.S. military now forced to fight with one hand tied behind its back. Total victory was within grasp. Yet Washington had other ideas and succeeded in snatching defeat from the proverbial jaws of victory.
The Korean War (1950-53) aka the “Forgotten War” is the right analogy to the war in Iraq. Ignore the seminal mistakes made in that war and the U.S. is doomed to repeat the disaster that eventually led to another debacle two decades later – in the soggy fields of Vietnam.
Mo C. Ludan
Camano Island
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