CDKW00216 - Canada Aims Northbound Anyway?

On 3 December 1950, External Affairs wrote in distress to the Canadian Ambassador to the United States that the Canadians had no intention of continuing north of the 38th parallel without explicit instruction from the United Nations. However, in this Joint Planning Committee document from 6 December the suggestion was made that “it will be necessary to undertake unlimited tactical air operations without regard for the Manchurian border.” This document did take into account some considerations that External Affairs did not emphasize—for example, it assumed that the Chinese were already so involved in the war against United Nations forces that it would be foolish to assume their efforts would de-escalate in the near future. As the Canadians became more entrenched in the ground war in Korea, the distinction between Canada’s diplomatic impulses and military considerations appeared to be diverging by the end of 1950.