MacArthur, who, striding to a blackboard, wrote in French, “De Qui Objet?”—What is the object? It was to surprise the enemy. To put pressure on them. He circled the port on the map. “That’s where we should land, Inchon—go for the throat.” They shouldn’t take “counsel of their fears,” he said—it was a matter of willpower and courage. His superiors reviewed the operation. They were not impressed. “The operation is not impossible,” the vice admiral of the Navy told MacArthur, “but I do not recommend it.” This should have been discouraging. Instead, it actually excited MacArthur. They were telling
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