Editorial Note
On April 19, General MacArthur, recently returned to the United States, presented his views before a joint session of Congress (text in Congressional Record, volume 97, part 3, page 4123). After surveying the world and Asian scenes, he focused on Korea and the related questions of China and Formosa. While indicating that it would be irrational to consider sending ground forces into continental China, he nevertheless urged the necessity of a drastic change in strategic planning if victory was to be achieved. In particular, he called for destruction of the sanctuary north of the Yalu, intensification of the economic blockade of China, imposition of a naval blockade along the China coast, removal of restrictions on air reconnaissance of the China coastal areas and Manchuria, and removal of restrictions on the Nationalist forces on Taiwan with United States logistical support to contribute to their operations against the “common enemy”. The absence of such steps, he said, forbade the possibility of military victory.