7+Aftermath+and+Analysis

The Korean war is sadly known as "the Forgotten War," as many Americans view it as an insignificant skirmish between a march larger conflict of East versus West. However, the Korean War remains one of the most vital pieces in the history of American foreign policy. The United States put the Truman Doctrine to the test by effectively containing what was perceived as the communist threat. The Republic of Korea exists today as a direct result of United States military intervention in a conflict thousands of miles from American shores. It is also the Wilsonian-style foreign policy that Truman helped to elevate in American philosophy, that in part led to future conflicts in American history including Vietnam, the Gulf War, and even Operation Iraqi Freedom. Despite its influence many Americans felt and continue to feel that the Korean war was a waste of American lives and resources.
 * A War Forgotten**



To this day many historians argue about the negative effects that the Korean War had on American society, and question the necessity of a war that the United States wouldn't have been directly affected by if not for military intervention. After all, unlike WWII the United States had not been attacked and North Korean forces never presented any impending threat to American citizens. Thus, to many Americans the Korean War was simply a conflict provoked by paranoid fears about a nonexistent communist threat in a distant country. As previously stated, the Korean War in part helped to influence conflicts such as Vietnam, which left the United States socially and politically devastated. Therefore, some may legitimately argue that 33,000 American lives were simply lost due to fears about a communist threat that never genuinely existed.
 * An Unnecessary War?**

Other Americans and historians state that the Korean War was an engagement of extreme necessity. After all, the Soviet Union had been aggressive under the command of Stalin, whom four years prior to the war's start attempted to blockade and annex the Western sector of Berlin. Similarly, China had fallen to the communists and it seemed that if the United States didn't make a stand the entire world could face revolutions and totalitarianism. Even without the concept of a direct threat by communism for the United States, it may be argued that at the very least the United States saved millions of lives from an oppressive and dictatorial regime. Many Korean War veterans take pride in the fact that the Republic of Korea exists today, as a peaceful democracy, due to the sacrifices they made on the battlefield. In conclusion, many Americans may also legitimately argue that the Korean War was crucial for the preservation of democracy and the protection of innocent lives.
 * A Crucial War**

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The justification and necessity of the Korean War will ultimately be debated for as long as scholars exist to argue about the causes and effects of the conflict. However, there is one indisputable piece of evidence that may validate American military intervention in Korea: the Truman Doctrine. In this philosophy, President Truman promised to provide aid to any nation requesting assistance from the United States in order to defeat a communist military threat. South Korea was on the brink of annihilation when the United States finally intervened. After all, supplies had been provided to Greece and West Berlin when they were faced with a Communist threat, failing to assist the South Koreans would have been an act of dire hypocrisy in American foreign policy. Thus, the Republic of Korea owes its fate to President Truman who promised his citizens that communism would be contained during his Presidency, and through actions such as the Korean War he kept his word.
 * Fulfilling a Promise**