In November 1943, the JSSC had rendered a unanimous and “unequivocal” judgment that the central Pacific offensive was more important than MacArthur’s South Pacific campaign, because it offered the shorter route to Japan, and therefore “the key to the early defeat of Japan lies in all-out operations through the Central Pacific, with supporting operations on the northern and southern flanks—using all forces, naval, air and ground, that can be maintained and employed profitably in these areas.”
