The MacArthur Hearing: World War III

"Our great opponent is the Soviet Union." Those words lay at the core of Secretary of Defense Marshall's rebuttal of Douglas MacArthur; their disagreement over what Russia might do in Asia, Marshall said, is "the principal basis of the difference of opinion."

He added: "I do not think [war with Russia] is inevitable. I think it is a very dangerous possibility."

Remote or Real? General MacArthur insisted that Russia "will not necessarily" intervene if the U.S. follows his program for Korea. Did Marshall feel that the possibility of Soviet intervention is a remote or real possibility?

"I think it is a very real possibility,"...

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