Like all Americans, my wife and I watched with horror as the news came about the mass shooting in Orlando by an ISIS-inspired fanatic. It made me realize how Douglas MacArthur, one of America鈥檚 greatest military leaders and the subject of the biography I just published, is more relevant than ever for understanding our age.
The massacre in Orlando and the attacks this week in Istanbul and Dhaka demonstrate what happens when we disregard the advice MacArthur gave us more than sixty-five years ago: 鈥淭here is no substitute for victory.鈥� It reminds us of what happens when the United States fails to use all its means to defeat a vicious and committed enemy, in this case ISIS.
Indeed, Douglas MacArthur taught the single important strategic lesson any American president can learn: before starting a war, make sure you are committed to winning it.
That鈥檚 a lesson President Obama has repeatedly ignored. He has refused to fully commit U.S. strength to crushing ISIS鈥檚 enclaves in Iraq and Libya, and to severing their lines of recruitment and support.
He has all but abandoned Afghanistan to the Taliban.
He also didn鈥檛 just ignore MacArthur鈥檚 warning but mocked it, by throwing away America鈥檚 hard-won victory in Iraq. By pulling out all remaining US troops, he opened the door to ISIS鈥檚 explosive upsurge and the atrocities of its murderous followers, including now in this country.
Yet Obama hasn鈥檛 been alone in ignoring MacArthur鈥檚 warning.
From Korea to Iraq and Afghanistan, one administration after another has repeatedly pursued the opposite course, with a cost in American lives, treasure, and prestige that鈥檚 almost incalculable.
The first president to ignore MacArthur鈥檚 warning was Harry Truman. In fact, MacArthur鈥檚 declaration that 鈥渢here is no substitute for victory鈥� contributed to Truman鈥檚 decision to fire him as supreme commander of UN forces in Korea in April 1951. MacArthur believed that the only way to win the conflict was to commit to complete defeat of the Chinese forces who had entered the war to support their North Korean allies. Truman worried that would trigger an all-out war with the Soviet Union (we now know from Soviet archives those fears was groundless, as MacArthur believed). Truman and his advisors insisted that stalemate and a divided Korea was the only realistic option.
Sixty-five years later, the result is a war that still hasn鈥檛 officially ended, despite a signed armistice in 1953. If MacArthur鈥檚 lead had been followed instead, there鈥檇 be no Kim Jong Un today to threaten his neighbors with nuclear annihilation鈥攁nd possibly no Maoist regime to starve to death millions in the Great Leap Forward.
Another president, Lyndon Johnson, repeated the same mistake in Vietnam. That was a conflict specifically MacArthur warned against before his death in 1964, telling President Kennedy that, 鈥渁nyone who embarks on a land war in Asia ought to have his head examined,鈥� especially if there鈥檚 no clear-cut strategy for victory.
In fact, there was none. Instead, the United States sent more than half a million men to fight a limited war in South Vietnam while allowing a ruthless, determined enemy to maintain sanctuaries in Cambodia and Laos鈥攁nd without unleashing the full weight of American air power. Vietnam ultimately cost America more than 53,000 lives and nearly broke America鈥檚 spirit, even as we ignominiously allowed the collapse of the South Vietnam we were pledged to defend鈥攁 debacle we鈥檝e almost seen repeated in Iraq under Obama.
As for Iraq and Afghanistan, MacArthur would simply repeat his Congressional testimony in 1951: 鈥淵ou have got a war on your hands, and you can鈥檛 just say, 鈥楲et that war go on indefinitely while I prepare for some other war鈥︹欌� Yet that鈥檚 precisely what both the Bush and Obama administrations did. And even while Obama still won鈥檛 take strong decisive action against ISIS, our forces engage have grown from a handful to more than 3000 personnel.
It鈥檚 so reminiscent of our initial involvement in Vietnam, it鈥檚 scary.
Sixty five years ago, Douglas MacArthur put his finger on the mistake that鈥檚 haunted us ever since: the failure to use military force without an equal commitment to final victory.
鈥淲hen men become locked in battle,鈥� he once told Congress, 鈥渢here should be no artifice under the name of politics, which should handicap your own men, decrease their chances for winning, and increase their losses.鈥� Yet that鈥檚 precisely what too many American presidents have done, bringing sorrow to tens of thousands of American families.
We鈥檝e ignored MacArthur鈥檚 warning to great loss and peril. Now in the shadow of Orlando, Istanbul and Dhaka maybe it鈥檚 time we paid attention.