4 ms·
So in other words, incomplete information - or worse, conflicting information - or are you somehow claiming that 100% of the information that MacArthur had avai
by ejb999 3y ago
So in other words, incomplete information - or worse, conflicting information - or are you somehow claiming that 100% of the information that MacArthur had available to him at the time clearly and unequivocally pointed in one direction, and he did the opposite?
Should we also, today with the benefit of hindsight, try to crucify Halsey for making the decision to not move out of the way of the incoming typhoon (Cobra) that ended up costing almost 800 US sailors/men their lives and lost several Navy ships? - certainly he had people telling him to move the fleet out of the way, but he made the difficult call to stay.
Really got to love the arm-chair generals second guessing decisions made 80 years ago, by people who had no choice but to do the best they could with the information they had at the time.
I am not willing to criticize either one of them, I wasn't there.
- pfdietz 3y agoI reject the notion that decisions in wartime cannot be criticized. Your argument would absolve any commander from being judged for any decision. Yes, information is limited. Nevertheless, commanders are expected to make the best decisions they can based on the information they have. In that light, the invasion of Peleliu was a mistake. The negative consequences of delaying the invasion of Iwo Jima were also reasonably predictable.