• U.S.

OPINION: Clear Solution

2 minute read
TIME

To a onetime subordinate with whom he has long been on bad terms, General of the Army Douglas MacArthur last week extended a small olive branch. Before a meeting of the National Association of Manufacturers (see BUSINESS & FINANCE), MacArthur, now chairman of the board of Remington Rand, urged “firm support of the new Administration,” and expressed the hope that “our respected President-elect” might safely and successfully accomplish “his self-appointed task” in Korea. The onetime U.N. commander also indicated that he might be able to give Ike a hand. Said he: “While it is well known that my own views have not been sought in any way, yet I am confident there is a clear and definite solution to the Korean conflict.”

The solution he had advocated at the time of his firing by Harry Truman (attack on Manchuria, blockade of China, use of Chinese Nationalist troops) is no longer “entirely applicable,” MacArthur declared. Just what his plan is, however, the general would not divulge. Said he: “A present solution involves basic decisions which I recognize as improper for public disclosure or discussion, but which in my opinion can be executed without either an unduly heavy price in friendly casualties, or any increased danger of provoking universal conflict.”

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