OVIET ENTRY IN PACIFIC WAR

Press, Volume XCII, Issue 27796, 22 October 1955, Page 9

OVIET ENTRY IN PACIFIC WAR

MacArthur Denies Recommendation NEW YORK. October 20. General Douglas MacArthur said toF that he had never supported mak- : any “territorial concessions” to the det Union during World War 11. “To d he contrary is to prevaricate the to.” he declared. teneral MacArthur said his discusi of the Soviet entry in the Pacific r after the Yalta conference was ed on the decisions of that confere. “binding upon me as upon any er theatre commander,” and was a reflection of his own conviction. General MacArthur’s statement was de in response to Defence Departlocuments bearing on a longoding political dispute about the as of the Yalta agreement. It was Bed by his aide. Major-General (irtney Whitney (ret.). His statement read: “The report of : Department of Defence fully conns that I was never consulted conning the Yalta conference, that I arised no influence whatsoever Won. and knew nothing about its ret agreements until after they had tn consummated and communicated me. The report furthermore clearly denstrates that the basis of such agreeQts lay in the decisions taken by the ie Department on political policy i the Joint Chiefs of Staff on militpolicy long before Yalta. Of these I was not informed. Howr. once such decisions had been en and communicated to me folfing Yalta, they became binding m me as upon any other theatre nmander. All future discussions thereon with War Department representatives sssarily became limited to considerm of their ultimate application to ’ conduct of the war. The issue involved at the origin of s controversy was not whether Russhould have been brought into the cific theatre —this should have arly been done at the very beginig—but whether vital territorial consons should have been made at the Pease of Chinese sovereignty to ince Russia to come in at the end. Statement in 1941 On December 13, 1941. I urged that ssia attack immediately from the rth. This would have saved counts lives, billions of dollars, and tfed the Philippines. Malaya, the Sch East Indies. New Guinea, and toy Pacific islands. "The attempt to interpret any statetots I may have made in the course such post-Yalta discussions as reefing my pre-Yalta views and conJipns is wholly unwarranted. There is not the slightest hint of eumentation over my signature in entire Defence Department report tich even remotely suggests my supd of these territorial concessions “ch so adversely altered the course future events in Asia nor that after ' initial recommendation in 1941 I located prior to Yalta that Russia ter the Pacific war. To hold the Qtrary is to prevaricate the truth and e record. T repeat, had my views been re®sted concerning the secret agreetots bearine upon Russia's entry into 5 Pacific war. I would have opposed as fantastic.”