andrel wrote:
> A couple of remarks:
> - According to that most reliable source of wikipedia, it was Truman 
> that fired MacArthur for disagreeing with him. So I would be surprised 
> if he did not try to portrait him as an idiot. That is irrespective of 
> whether he was right or wrong. Simply the case that a president fires a 
> famous general dictates that the president should convince the public 
> that he was much better equipped than the general.

Basically, it all came down to the fact that MacArthur wanted to go out, 
fight, and win WWIII.

Truman did everything in his power to avoid an actual war - he thought 
two World Wars were more than enough, and would rather see the conflict 
played out on a smaller scale.  The Korean War (and, eventually, the 
Vietnam War) were direct results of his policies in that respect, as was 
the Cold War in general.

People blame our leadership for those confrontations, but fail to 
realize that the alternative was all out war on a scale similar to, if 
not larger than, WWII.

...Chambers

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