Nuclear Ironmongery and the Korean War

[Marc James Small <msmall@infi.net>]

At 06:58 AM 3/24/02 -0800, ysk wrote:
>Gen. MacArthur was the first to work out a plan to nuke Korea (' a belt of
radioactive zone') in 1950-51 and subsequent field commanders had
elaborated and even mounted mock nuclear bombing raids in North Korea.  In
fact, the US Military had tactical nukes ready to go in South Korea until a
decade or two ago.
----------------------------

To be fair, spreading nuclear waste is not "nuking" as the word has meaning
in colloquial English.  Nor did the plan originate with MacArthur:  it was
suggested by the British to the US Defense Department, who then asked for
SCAP's reaction to the proposal.  The idea was to develop a low-key method
of bringing the conflict to an end.  (It is most vitally important to
remember that "nuclear" and "atomic" did not have a negative connotation in
1950 and 1951 -- the "horror" we know feel about these words and weapons is
a development of the 1960's and ND movement's interface with the US "peace"
protesters.)

MacArthur WAS an early adherent and advocate of the idea, though, as was
the Chief of Staff of the US Army, "Lightin' Joe" Collins.

Marc

msmall@roanoke.infi.net  FAX:  +276/343-7315
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