The Forgotten War That No One Remembers

One of my future projects is going to be a look at the lessons not learned over the last century – political, military, and intelligence.

“A huge project,” you say?

What is worse – ignoring the lessons ignored or spending the time to research and argue the point… which will be read and forgotten fairly quickly? 

I’m a masochist.

In this forum I want you to provide me with your concluding thoughts about the topics you learned during the course. I do not want you to focus on all that you learned, but rather at least two issues that you found of interest.

Prior to this course, there my knowledge of the Korean War in relation to U.S. history was cursory, at best. This war, I have learned, has truly earned the reference “The Forgotten War,” but for several reasons. The intelligence failures which took place in the beginning and throughout the war and the ferocity of the Korean War mirrored the unfavorable aspects of the First World War as well as it shows that policymakers have yet to learn from the past when it comes to the 2003 invasion of Iraq. In the case of the “Great War,” the continuous smaller battles constituted an academic problem of understanding the overall scope of chaos on the battlefield, and the Korean War posed a similar problem in that the mobile defensive campaign following the North Korean invasion was a series of frantic actions to delay the Communist offensive long enough for reinforcements to arrive on the peninsula. With the failure of intelligence organs of the U.S. government unable to accurately ascertain the disposition and preparations of the North Koreans prior to the 1950 invasion, the cyclical nature of history was evident in the incorrect assessment of Iraq’s possession of the suspected weapons of mass destruction which were the foundation for the invasion of that nation in 2003.

The Korean War, much like the lessons which it provided, therefore, have truly been forgotten and relegated to academic study, despite the sacrifice and efforts of allied service members who served in this relatively short war. With current issues surrounding North Korea’s growing aggression, it could be hoped that the lessons of the “Forgotten War” are remembered before the same loss of life occurs.