Korean War

It wasn't until the Soviet archivesopened that we understood that, really, itwas the tail wagging the dog.That it was the North Korean leader,Kim Il Sung, who went to the Soviets and said,give me permission to-- and give methat the weapons I need to attack South Koreaand reunify the Korean peninsula.Until then we thought it was a Soviet-orchestrated attack

on the South.The big picture then is the Soviet Union and Chinaversus the United States.It certainly was a war with many international components to it.

It was the first hot war on the-- and the global ColdWar militarized this conflict and, in many intensified,the global Cold War.The fact that it was sandwiched between this glorious victoryover Nazi Germany and Japan, two powerful allies,

and then these televised tragedies of ...