Who attacked first?
It has been more than 63 years since the beginning of the war on the Korean Peninsula. But to this day, in the West and in Japan, there is a myth that North Korean troops attacked first. This “thesis” was heard recently and on some Russian TV channels. However, even a small excursion into the post-war 1945 shows that it was originally the United States and a group of Korean collaborators who were strongly interested in escalating the conflict in this region. Being on the Korean Peninsula, the United States could control the entire Southeast Asia, including the eastern part of the Soviet Union and China, which were the main geopolitical rivals for Washington.The Americans developed a secret plan to unleash a war on the peninsula, which would also allow discrediting not only North Korea, but also the ideas of socialism and communism as a whole, labeling them as aggressive. The United States was extremely necessary to establish itself as the world's main fighter "for the ideals of freedom and democracy," which naturally made it easier for them to enter new markets in Africa, Asia and Latin America. There was an increase in sympathy for the Soviet Union: the rapid pace of reconstruction without any outside help showed the advantages of a planned economy over a free market. In addition, for the full-fledged work of NATO, created in April 1949, a precedent was needed that would clearly demonstrate the effectiveness of the new alliance. After that, the United States could successfully manipulate the countries of Western Europe, drawing them into a long-term "deterrence strategy."
In the US, a secret group on national security was created, led by Wall Street's former banker Paul Nietze. This group was engaged in the justification of future military aggression and determined the appropriate state for this purpose.
Previously, bets were placed on the Dropshot plan, which involved nuclear carpet bombing of the Soviet Union. But 29 August 1949 was the first explosion of the Soviet atomic bomb at the site in Semipalatinsk, the US military and political leadership, it became clear that they can get a retaliatory strike.
The conjuncture has changed. It was necessary to provoke a crisis in another country. The choice fell on Korea, in the southern part of which the pro-American puppet Lee Seung Man, who lived more than 30 years in the United States, was in power.
General MacArthur in a secret conversation with Lee Seung Mann insisted on the need to carry out an attack on North Korea before July, and the redeployment of South Korean troops, where there were American advisers, began in April 1950.
Since the majority of the deputies was not on the side of the president after the parliamentary elections in May 1950 in South Korea, this encouraged Lee Seung Man to implement this plan in accordance with the American directive. On June 17, 1950, the special envoy of US President Truman, future Secretary of State John Foster Dulles, flew to South Korea, who finally approved the plan of war. He gave the order to launch a propaganda campaign - North Korea attacked first, and at the same time launch an offensive to the north. Dulles assured: “If you stand for two weeks, then during this time the United States will have time to bring to the UN a case regarding the attack of North Korea on South Korea and will force it to mobilize an army, navy and Aviationand everything will go according to plan. ”
Dulles was one of the initiators of the formation of the United Nations as a global structure pursuing pro-American policies, which is why he relied on the role of this new organization. It is important to note that later, in the settlement of the crisis in 1953, Dulles announced the need to maintain the US military presence in South Korea in order to "help rebuild the country." He personally signed an agreement on mutual defense with Lee Seung Mann, which legally enshrined the US right to deploy its armed forces in South Korea.
In a historical letter, Lee Seung Manu Dulles wrote: "I attach great importance to the decisive role that your country can play in the great drama that is now being played." Of course, Dulles had in mind the possibility of creating a springboard for an attack on the USSR. This plan was approved at the top of the US political establishment, and it was given great importance.
In addition, intelligence reports said that North Korea is unable to defeat the troops of South Korea. The CIA reported that China was unlikely to get involved in this conflict in 1950, so Washington and Seoul were in a hurry to unleash aggression.
American historian John Gunther, who was on a trip to Japan with General MacArthur at the time, confirms the provocation from Seoul, referring to the words of an assistant American general, who excitedly reported a phone call from Seoul: "South Koreans attacked the North!"
At 4 on the morning of 25 on June 1950, a surprise attack was made all along the 38 parallel line. According to the memoirs of one of the officers of the South Korean army, “24 June 1950 was Saturday, but officers were forbidden to leave, ordered to wait for the order to start the war. On the night of June 24 received a secret order - at dawn of 25 June, go over the 38 parallel and begin military actions against North Korea. ”
In response, North Korean troops launched a massive offensive, which was the reason for the response from the United States, who immediately raised the question of military intervention in the UN. True, for some reason, it was silent that already on June 23, the South Korean air force launched strikes against its northern neighbor, and South Korean troops occupied the city of Heju.
By the way, the theme of the Korean War remains important also because this conflict can be considered practically the beginning of the Cold War (Winston Churchill’s famous Fulton speech, we recall, was sounded in 1946).
In this war, the United States followed a policy of double standards, which was distinguished by special cynicism. It was for the war in Korea and during it that the USA created special forces for conducting psychological operations.
General MacArthur ordered the formation of a small unit for psychological warfare in the G-2 division of the General Staff of the Far Eastern Command in Tokyo as early as 1947, which confirms the systematic preparation of the United States for war. The unit was headed by a retired army colonel Jay Woodall Green. He took an active part in the psychological war in the Pacific during World War II. Other members of Green's group were Colonel Myers, who had eight years of experience in the PSYWAR unit in the southwest Pacific, and Lieutenant Colonel Dalkist, who led one of the Chinese-American "teams of the world" under the command of General Marshall.
It should be noted that North Korea, with the support of the USSR, carried out a reorganization of the army and was also preparing for a conflict. Initially, both the USSR and North Korea assumed that the separation along the 38 parallel was temporary and both Koreas would eventually merge. However, in 1948, South Korea proclaimed independence. Lee Seung Man was afraid of rising patriotic and anti-American sentiments, so he tried to usurp the executive power in the country. The United States went to meet him, because they considered such a policy productive to achieve their goals. In response, North Korea also had to declare its sovereignty.
By the summer of 1951, Colonel Green's division had grown to 55 people and was renamed the psychological warfare department. By the first day of the armed conflict leaflets were ready. They were scattered by millions calling for North Korean servicemen to surrender. From the aircraft special permits were dropped to go to the territory of South Korea.
The radio worked purposefully. Loudspeakers were installed on the front line. Paul Linierger, in Psychological Warfare, noted: “Radio in the Korean conflict has been used as a strategic goal and consolidation. Since the beginning of the war, radio has been the voice of our (USA - L.S.) military policy. An ambitious network operated from 1950-1951. directly by the psychological warfare department, and then with the help of the First Group RB & LGroup, became known as the "Voice of Command of the United Nations". The Korean broadcasting system and the Japanese broadcasting system operated on a cooperative basis, and the US government paid for airtime. ”
The result of a successful propaganda campaign conducted by the United States can be considered the official reason for the war, which to this day is followed in many countries: North Korea began the war.
It was announced about the planned nuclear bombing. Given the information that already existed about the horrific consequences in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, this led to a massive panic among North Koreans. Fearing atomic bombing, North Korean women with children often left the enemy’s territory with the permission of their husbands, because then they thought that the conflict would not last long, and they would be able to reunite. But since the majority of the adult male population was mobilized in the early days of the conflict, many families were destroyed forever.
In addition, UN troops bombed industrial sites. With the help of ground attack aircraft, they carried out raids on roads, peasant fields and columns of refugees (similar tactics were used by NATO forces in Yugoslavia in 1999). Incendiary bombs were often dropped, which turned the raids into continuous conflagrations (this element of combat operations was already used in Vietnam).
However, the tragedy struck not only the people of North Korea, but also South, where the local population had experienced all the delights of "democracy" in an American style. US troops, for example, were ordered to kill all people approaching their positions on the front line, even if they look like peaceful people. As a result of such incidents killed hundreds and thousands of civilians. The most famous incident was the shooting of refugees in the village of Nogylli in 1950.
Till now in South Korea there are cases of rapes of girls by the American soldiers who remain unpunished, and the peasants unsuccessfully demand to return their lands illegally occupied by military bases. According to statistics, from 100 thousands of crimes committed by Americans, starting with 1945, only 4% were considered in Korean courts, and in most cases, American soldiers were released with impunity, or paid compensation to victims.
Immediately after the occupation by the US troops of the territory below the 38 parallel in September 1945, the “mop-up” of unreliable elements and repression against ideological opponents began. Among them were not only former fighters with the Japanese, but also many peasants who held pro-communist views. Noam Chomsky described these dramatic events like this: “When the American troops entered Korea in 1945, they dispersed the local people's government, consisting mainly of anti-fascists, who resisted the Japanese and began to carry out cruel repression using the Japanese fascist police and Koreans, who collaborated with them during the Japanese occupation. About 100 thousand people were killed in South Korea even before what we call the Korean War, including about 40 thousand during the suppression of a peasant uprising in one small region on Jeju Island. ”
It was the inhabitants of this island who, in 1948, raised a rebellion in protest against the division of the country, and the South Korean security forces in response severely suppressed it. It was only in 2005 that the President apologized for the atrocities, calling Fr. Jeju is an "island of world peace." True, the name “peaceful” is actually nonsense, since in January 2011 there began the construction of a new US military base. According to the plan, it will occupy an area of 130 acres (approximately 169 of football fields) on the land of local farmers who hold protests in defense of their property, which the world media are silent about. Jeju base will be able to receive up to 20 US and South Korean warships, including submarines, aircraft carriers and destroyers, some of which will be equipped with Aegis ballistic missile defense systems.
However, returning to the events of 1950-x, we note that, despite the military losses, in terms of economics and politics, the United States achieved its goal.
The US military budget was increased by more than 50 billion dollars (i.e. almost 400%, because before the war it was about 13 billion), the army and air force numbers were doubled, and the US military bases were stationed in Europe, Middle East and Asia. In Asia itself, the ANZUS block (US-Australia-New Zealand) was created.
The US military-industrial complex received many orders, on which various industrial sectors worked. Thanks to the Korean War, M-16 automatic rifles, M-79 grenade launchers and the famous F-4 “Phantom” aircraft, later used in Vietnam, appeared, but we are unable to resist the Soviet fighters.
In 1949, it became clear for the political leadership of the United States that tough measures were needed to improve the economy - over the year industrial production fell by 15%, profits of large companies fell to 28,4 billion dollars (from 36,6 billion in 1948). about 5000 firms went bankrupt, the number of unemployed increased to 6 million people. In general, from 1948 to 1950, US unemployment rose by 130%, the national production index fell from 170 to 156 position (during the war, at the peak of mobilization production, it was at the level of 212), investment growth declined, exports a year before the start of the Korean conflict also dropped by 25%.
An economy transferred to a war footing allowed states not directly involved in the conflict to benefit more from arms sales to all other participants. The United States understood this well during World War II and immediately after it, putting all of Western Europe in geopolitical dependence with the help of the Marshall Plan. However, the volumes created earlier weapons and ammunition lay dead weight, and their production in the United States declined sharply, leading to increased unemployment and the threat of an economic downturn.
As the historian points out, Yale University professor John Gaddis in his book “The Cold War: A New story”, Published in 2005, this concept was substantiated by adviser to the President of the United States, financier Bernard Baruch, who said in 1949, that“ a massive expansion of the military industry is needed on a permanent basis. ”
The methods used by the United States to prepare for the war in Korea, during it and after the armistice, continue to remain in the arsenal of Washington, and for a full analysis of the White House’s actions it is necessary to remember historical lessons.
By the way, Baruch lobbied for the US monopoly in the nuclear field. His proposals, known as the “Baruch plan,” consisted in banning the manufacture and use of nuclear weapons by all the states of the world, while peaceful studies were to be carried out under the control of international structures. In fact, this plan was aimed at establishing complete US domination in this area, since Washington was not going to destroy its nuclear weapons.
American writer William Engdahl noted that "the US Department of Defense has become the world's largest contractor, placing orders for billions of dollars in American and selected European and Japanese industries to support" combat readiness. " The result of the Korean war for Germany was permission to begin the restoration of the Ruhr steel industry. The military-industrial complex expanded to a gigantic scale during the 1950s. The Cold War was launched on a grand scale, and Standard Oil became a great benefactor, providing fuel to the Air Force, Tanks, jeeps, fighters and other Pentagon vehicles. In the internal American economy, politicians quickly realized that they could push almost any program through Congress if it contained words about "American national security" and "defense against totalitarian godless communism."
The warmongers of war from the White House and Wall Street were skimming off the Korean conflict. It is noteworthy that the main investor in the war was the National City Bank, which controlled Rockefeller, and his attorney John Foster Dallas was on the board of directors of the New Korea Company in Seoul.
Thus, the war in Korea became a turning point in the realization of the geopolitical ambitions of the United States, which ensured their further advancement of their interests in all corners of the world.
And the seeds of misinformation, sown more than 60 years ago, continue to bear fruit, which help to justify the atrocities committed by the United States under the UN auspices not only in Korea, but also in many subsequent conflicts. It can be said that aggression against Libya and Syria, the manipulation of the terrorist underground and radical Islamists in the countries of the Middle East, Central Asia and the Caucasus have the same customers - Wall Street and the White House, which from time to time change tactics of actions, but not the strategy, aimed at global dominance.
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