I have always wondered why the USSR abstained from Security Council votes on the Korean War. This allowed the US and South Korea to claim they had UN authority for their defense of South Korea. From then on, the USSR used its veto copiously, earning their ambassador the epithet “Mr. Nyet.”
They walked out. Then the vote for UN intervention was taken. Oops. They never walked out again after that.
Also doesn’t help that the UN was a backdoor for Communist infiltration (heck, the UN’s own charter was a blatant copy of the Soviet Constitution, and don’t get me started on how most if not all of its founders, including Alger Hiss, had explicit ties to the Communists).
Probably the only reason we even came close to victory was due to MacArthur, and he really shouldn’t have been fired. I know if I were in his position, I wouldn’t even retreat from China, go down to the last man, even if that last man is myself. May have a death wish, but I’d need one if Communism is to be thoroughly eradicated like the disease it really is. Besides, it would have helped clean up Truman’s mess in China especially when the only reason China went Communist easily was thanks to the double-crossing of the group we installed that was supposed to prevent it from becoming Communist.