States on the other side, and making provisions to prosecute such war was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations and read, as follows: "Whereas the United States and other nations of the United Nations have been engaged for more than 9 months in carrying out the United Nations mandate to suppress the aggression against the Republic of Korea; and "Whereas the aggressors, in Korea have been supported by the Chinese Communist regime which has furnished them with manpower and military supplies and a sanctuary in Manchuria from which to carry on air and other hostile operations; and "Whereas the support furnished to the aggressors by the Chinese Communist regime has prevented a successful termination of the police action in Korea and has had the effect of converting such police action into a war in which the nations of the United Nations are opposed by the North Korean regime and by the Chinese Communist regime; and "Whereas the General Assembly of the United Nations has found that the Chinese Communist regime has engaged in aggression in Korea; and "Whereas the Chinese Communist regime has committed unprovoked acts of war against the Government and the people of the United States of America; and “Whereas more than one million casualties have been suffered by the opposing forces on the Korean Peninsula ; and "Whereas the military and naval forces of the United States alone have suffered more than sixty thousand casualties in the course of operations in carrying out such mandate; and "Whereas the President of the United States in his address to the Nation on Far East Policy, delivered on April 11, 1951, stated that we were “fighting a limited war in Korea"; and "Whereas all attempts by arbitration to terminate the war in Korea have failed and it has become evident that the only way successfully to terminate such war is conclusively to defeat the forces of the North Korean regime and of the Chinese Communist regime: Therefore be it "Resolved, etc., That the state of war between the United States on the one side and the North Korean regime and the Chinese Communist regime on the other side which has thus been thrust on the United States is hereby formally declared; and the President is hereby authorized and directed to employ the entire military and naval forces of the United States and the resources of the Government to carry on war against the North Korean regime and the Chinese Communist regime; and, to bring the conflict to a successful termination, all of the resources of the country are hereby pledged by the Congress of the United States." ORDERLY WITHDRAWAL OF ARMED FORCES OF THE UNITED STATES FROM KOREA Mr. CAIN. Mr. President, out of order and for proper reference, I send to the desk a second joint resolution and ask that it be read for the information of the Senate. There being no objection, the joint resolution (S. J. Res. 63) providing for the orderly withdrawal of the Armed Forces of the United States from Korea, was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations, and read, as follows: "Whereas the President of the United States has committed the Armed Forces of the United States to a war in the Far East without the Congress having declared war as required under our Constitution; and "Whereas both the present commanding general of our forces in the Far East, Lieutenant General Matthew B. Ridgway, and the previous commander of such forces, General of the Army Douglas MacArthur, have publicly indicated that a stalemate is the inevitable result of the present management of such war by the executive heads of our Government; and "Whereas American casualties in such war are more than sixty thousand, a total greater than the total number of troops committed in such war by the other United Nations; and "Whereas more than one million casualties have been suffered by the opposing forces in Korea; and "Whereas the President of the United States has admitted that the announced goal of the United Nations and of the Government of the United States to liberate and unify Korea has been abandoned; and "Whereas the other United Nations have heretofore failed to commit any significant armed forces to the Korean War, despite the fact that 53 of the United Nations voted for the suppression of aggression in Korea; and "Whereas some of the nations which voted to undertake the Korean operation are now intent upon a program of appeasement, including surrender of Formosa to the Chinese Communists, and the abandonment of the Nationalist Republic of China; and "Whereas our Armed Forces have been attacked by Chinese Communist forces but have been prevented by directives of the executive heads of our Government from striking at the enemy in a manner designed to protect our forces from annihilation; and "Whereas the President has publicly stated that a mass offensive by the enemy in Korea can be anticipated this spring: Therefore be it "Resolved, etc., That the President shall take such action as may be necessary immediately to accomplish an orderly withdrawal of the Armed Forces of the United States from Korea." Mr. CAIN. Mr. President, the junior Senator from Washington will address himself but very briefly to the two joint resolutions which have just been sent to the desk. Each of the resolutions tells its own plain, blunt story. Both resolutions speak clearly so that all the world may hear. Mr. President, I speak in my own right as a Senator of the United States and as an American citizen. I am expressing my own views, and what I must say has not been approved or denied by the political party of which I am privileged and very proud to be a member. During a period like the one which surrounds America and the free world find themselves in today, it is good to be able to speak as an American without reference to or any concern or regard for politics. I am anxious to offer a particular point of view to as many Americans as wish to subscribe to it. My appeal is directed as much to independents and to Democrats as it is to Republicans. Fundamentally, my appeal to reason is directed to our Nation. No one argues any longer that the United States and her allies are not engaged in a bitter large-scale war against the forces of North Korea and Communist China. Almost everybody agrees that war exists in Korea. I simply find it strange and totally incomprehensible that our leaders and our political parties are seemingly much more concerned with politics as usual-we have been listening to a great deal of that in the last hour and a half-and with the political fortunes of 1952, than they are with striving for complete victory in Korea. Our administration committed American forces to the Korean conflict in June 1950. That was more than 9 months ago. If that conflict was a police action, whatever that might have meant, when it was undertaken almost 10 months ago, it certainly became a war when the Red forces of China crossed the Yalu River in force last November. Yet the Democrat administration, which committed our forces to action without declaration of war by Congress, is daily insistent, as was so recently stated by the senior Senator from Oklahoma [Mr. KERR], that it is the peace party, while the Republican Party, which was confronted by the Korean conflict only after it was initiated, is extremely fearful that the administration will be successful in having Americans generally believe that the Republican Party is a war party. On this occasion I have absolutely no interest in either party, and much less interest in who is going to do what to whom in 1952. The joint resolutions which I have introduced offer two alternatives to the free world and to the United States of America. The joint resolutions, when reduced to their fundamental purpose, provide that we shall either prosecute the Korean War with all the might, determination, and power at our command, or shall withdraw our forces-and do it now-from a battlefield some 8,000 miles away, in order that the forces may live to fight, if required, but with some purpose, some other day. The joint resolutions are an encouragement for America and our allies, of whom there are 52, either to put up, if all of us wish to support the mission which was given to the free forces in Korea last June, or, to use an American expression-and properly so-to shut up, if the free forces are now of the opinion that their collective effort is inadequate and insufficient to carry out their mission. Mr. President, no one told the 52 nations last June that they were to initiate a police action, which grew into a war. No one but they themselves have defined the reasons why it seemed important and necessary to enter Korea last June. The United Nations mission in Korea has been simply that of restoring Korea to a position in which she would be free, united, and self-controlled. Mr. President, I sat here for the better part of an hour late this afternoon listening with keen attention to every word uttered by the senior Senator from Oklahoma [Mr. Kerr]. I waited for him to define, as I have in one sentence, what we are doing in Korea. It was not possible for him to do so, because the mission which freedom gave itself has been abandoned. To carry out the mission, the Allied Supreme Commander was instructed to crush and to repel the aggressors. After 9 months of conflict the Allied forces have not crushed the enemy; nor has the enemy been destroyed or expelled from Korea. There is absolutely no likelihood, after 9 months of war, that he will be. What seems now to be a fact is that the United Nations are no longer determined to carry out their mission in Korea. Instead, the free forces are seemingly willing to fight a series of holding actions, in an effort to resist the enemy in his determination to drive the free forces into the sea. The joint resolutions which I have introduced say only that the United Nations must live up to their intentions of last June, or that the United Nations and the United States would be well advised to admit their loss of a large-scale but single battle against the sordid and vicious tyranny of Communist aggression, and withdraw from a field of battle on which the free forces admit they can never secure a military victory. In his message to the Nation on Wednesday, April 11, the President of the United States warned America of an impending mass offensive by the enemy, while advising, at the same time, that the free nations had no thought of molesting the enemy in any way, except as the enemy crossed the Yalu River to be physically present and actually to fight on the Korean Peninsula. During 9 months of conflict, the free forces have never yet molested the enemy in his sanctuary north of the Yalu River. The administration has recently notified that enemy that regardless of the destruction he intends to launch against the free forces, he is not to be molested or bothered with in the future. Our enemy has never been either stupid or militarily inept. He takes full advantage of the amazingly unusual and probably unexpected opportunity which has been given to him by the administration. South of the Yalu River this afternoon stand some several hundred thousand Americans and their allied fighting brothers-in-arms. If one or the other of the joint resolutions which have been introduced is not passed, I will tell the Senate what the several hundred thousand Americans and their allies can look forward to. They can look forward to death, without hope of ultimate victory. They can look forward to wounds, without purpose. It is my view that these men are not expendable. To the extent that I could I would fight anyone or everyone who might dare to say, as so many Americans by implications these days do say, and as some Senators have said, that the men who are fighting there now, like their brothers who have died in 9 months, continue to be expendable in support of the policy of futility and ultimate appeasement, which the administration has recently advanced to America and to the free world. Mr. President, I think it is not so bad to die in wartime. In the past many men have died and in the future many more men will die, in wartime. But it is unnecessary and it is the greatest tragedy of all, Mr. President, to expose American youngsters, and some of their elders, too, to the prospect of dying without purpose and without ultimate hope of victory at arms. I never thought I would live to see the day when my fellow Americans would be committed into a jackpot, without any opportunity to fight for survival, in terms of a victory which will come only after we have expelled the aggressor from all of Korea, and that land has been given back to the Koreans. That was our purpose last June. That is not our purpose now. Were it still our purpose, our gallant young men would die without complaint or regret. The Supreme Commander of the free forces in Korea, who has but recently been relieved of his responsibility, and the present Supreme Commander, have both stated that, under the circumstances which exist and which have existed for some months in Korea, nothing more than a stalemate and a continuing war, in which men die on both sides of the line without accomplishing anything, can be expected. Some other Americans can fight that type of war, but not the junior Senator from Washington. I say for those commanders, whose voice we have not yet seen fit to listen to or to consider seriously, that never in the history of the United States have we committed men to ceaseless daily battle without a goal and without any hope of eventual victory. The Senator from Washington wishes to conclude the present war at the earliest possible moment. I do not want to see the present war grow into a larger war. I am, however, satisfied that unless we take the risks involved in striving to win the war in which we are now engaged, we have no right, in the Congress or out of the Congress, further to sacrifice the lives and strength of America's youth, who are the last hope we have. In my own mind I am satisfied that we can be victorious in Korea only by convincing the enemy that we shall conquer him if the war continues. When the enemy comes to know that the collective strength and determination of the free nations is much stronger than anything he now possesses or ever can possess, then the enemy can be offered, or he will offer, terms which are acceptable and which will return Korea to the Koreans. As I go about and confer with and listen to my colleagues, I find them to be frightened mainly by one thing. They know that the Congress is charged by the Constitution with declaring war. The distinguished Senator from Delaware [Mr. Frear], who now occupies the chair, knows that the Congress is charged by the Constitution with declaring war. Every Senator knows that to be so. Senators and other friends with whom I have recently conversed know that America is at war. They know that the Congress ought to recognize that fact by declaring war. But the thing which frightens them is that any declaration of war against our enemies, against those who have already injured beyond repair approximately 60,000 Americans and a number of our allied friends, is largely to be construed by most Americans as meaning that large land armies will be committed on the Continent of Asia. Many of my colleagues know better than that. Many of my colleagues know that if total war took place between all of Red China and all of the United States, America would not seek to win that war by committing large land forces in China. What frightens my colleagues--and they are very human-is that people will believe that land armies will be required in any acknowledged conflict with Communist China. Against this fear of uninformed public opinion many of my colleagues are seemingly willing to let the war continue in Korea for an indefinite period-it has been going on now for some months-without having the Congress legitimatize our participation in that war. I speak today because I am appealing as best I can to the conscience, the integrity, and the strength of the Congress. I am insisting that since the President has stated that we are at war in Korea, the Congress must either further that war so that it may be successful, or the Congress must declare that the war is to be called off. As of now it is an undeclared war. If the Congress continues to fail to pursue either one of these two courses, then the Congresswhich includes fine men from both political parties and from every section of the United States-will have lost its right to question the management of the war in Korea or to protect the lives and assist the efforts of the thousands of Americans who are engaged in the war. If the Congress does not recognize and live up to its responsibility, then the Congress will have abdicated its obligations and placed the war entirely where it has been for almost 10 monthsin the hands of our Chief Executive. No man who has ever lived has ever possessed the wisdom, the experience, the intelligence, or the endurance which is required for managing a war on his own individual responsibility. The war which now confronts America and the free world has been going on for months. During each day of the week and of every month some 200 Americans have been killed, wounded, or reported as missing in action. That has been happening daily for 9 months. We can assume that from the time the Senate met today, at noon, until now, 100 of our fellow citizens, who are not getting anywhere have died or have been destroyed or lost in action, fighting in the hope that soon the Congress and the administration would assume a joint responsibility the result of which would be the definition of a purpose to justify the misery and agony in Korea. If we are to remain in the war every one of us must bear his share of the responsibility for the conduct of the war. I know of no way in which this obligation can be assumed other than through a declaration of war, through facing up to what we are in, which is a war, and doing what the Constitution says ought to be done, that is, declaring war or declaring that we ought to remove ourselves from that area of the world in which we are today involved in war. In about 10 months of the war America has suffered approximately 60,000 casualties. We do not feel them very much on the floor of the Senate. We are 8,000 miles away from where the bullets hurt and the flesh is torn. But it does no harm constantly to remind ourselves of what is happening elsewhere, in the hope that we can do a better job at home. In about 10 months of war, about a million casualties have been suffered by all the forces, Allied and enemy, and by the civilians who have been burned up and overrun by war. The Korean War, when one considers the area in which it has been waged, is just about the biggest war of all time. How big must this war become before the Congress of the United States decides to make it both legal and effective? Today it remains both illegal and ineffective. Mr. President, I have said before, and I wish to repeat, that I am far from certain that the free nations of the world are half so determined to protect themselves against Communist aggressors and to restore peace to the face of the earth as the forces of aggression are determined to destroy freedom and peace forever. One of the two joint resolutions which I have introduced would have the free nations of the world agree to commit all of their forces and personnel to a conflict which each of them-53 nations-openly entered into some 10 months ago, in order that those particular forces and the 53 nations may soon accomplish their mission, which was to make of Korea a free, unified, and selfcontrolled nation. The other joint resolution would permit the same nations to withdraw from Korea so that they might continue to debate the question, as we do here, of where freedom wants to go tomorrow. As for me, sir, there is not now, nor will there ever be, any middle ground. Freedom, to which I pledge my allegiance, must either fight and sacrifice, struggle and die, to survive; or freedom-and I think now again of Koreamust withdraw in the hope that another opportunity to be successful will be afforded. APPENDIX X SUMMARY OF REMARKS MADE BY LT. GEN. ALBERT C. WEDEMEYER BEFORE JOINT MEETING OF STATE COUNCIL AND ALL MINISTERS OF THE NATIONAL GOVERNMENT, AUGUST 22, 19471 TAXATION Approximately 80 percent of the people of China are hard-working peasants, their crops are visible and officials can easily appraise the amounts the peasants are able to give toward government. Corrupt officials in many instances take more than the peasants are able to give and this results finally in the peasants leaving the land and forming bandit groups. In contrast to the taxation of peasants. Chinese businessmen and rich Chinese resort to devious and dishonest methods to avoid payment of proper taxes to their Government. It is commonly known that Chinese business firms maintain two sets of books, one showing the true picture of business transactions and the other showing a distorted picture so that they do not pay as much tax as they should. MILITARY For the first year after the war, in my opinion, it was possible to stamp out or at least to minimize the effect of Chinese Communists. This capability was predicated upon the assumption that the Central Government disposed its military forces in such a manner as to insure control of all industrial areas, foodproducing areas, important cities, and lines of communication. It was also assumed that the Central Government appointed highly efficient and scrupulously honest officials as provincial governors, district magistrates, mayors, and throughout the political and economic structure. If these assumptions had been accomplished, political and economic stability would have resulted, and the people would not have been receptive, in fact, would have strongly opposed the infiltration or penetration of communistic ideas. It would not have been possible for the Chinese Communists to expand so rapidly and acquire almost undisputed control of such vast areas. I believe that the Chinese Communist movement cannot be defeated by the employment of force. Today China is being invaded by an idea instead of strong military forces from the outside. The only way in my opinion to combat this idea successfully is to do so with another idea that will have stronger appeal and win the support of the people. This means that politically and economically the Central Government will have to remove corruption and incompetence from its ranks in order to provide justice and equality and to protect the personal liberties of the Chinese people, particularly of the peasants. To recapitulate, the Central Government cannot defeat the Chinese Communists by the employment of force, but can only win the loyal, enthusiastic, 1 Transmitted by the Ambassador in China (Stuart) to Secretary Marshall, Nanking, August 25, 1947. |