Michael Rubin: Sharansky is Right

From Middle East Forum: "While true democracy is the Achilles heel of Middle Eastern dictatorships, insincere commitment to democracy can undercut peace and security. The sincerity of terrorists should no more be trusted than that of dictators. They may adopt democratic rhetoric - but words are cheap. Any organization that targets civilians for political gain should be irredeemable regardless of whether, like Hamas and Hezbollah, the group provides social services: If Oxfam or Save the Children blew up buses, they would be terrorist groups, not humanitarian organizations."

Bush's Baltic States Blunder?

In a Moscow Times story titled Victory Day Promises Pride and Pomp, the authors analyze President Bush's revival of the controversy over the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact in the context of the May 9th Victory Day celebrations:

Ahead of the world leaders' visit to Moscow, Russian diplomats and lawmakers have sought to justify the Kremlin's refusal to condemn the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, arguing that the treaty was dissolved by Hitler's invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941.

Also, since the U.S.S.R. Supreme Soviet in 1991 denounced the treaty's secret protocols that detailed the carve-up of Poland and the occupation of the Baltic states, another denunciation is not necessary, Pikayev said.

Sergei Yastrzhembsky, Putin's envoy to the EU, said that Russia would not apologize to the Baltic states either. Soviet troops were not occupiers but welcome liberators, he said.

His comments were echoed by Federation Council member and last Soviet Prime Minister Nikolai Ryzhkov, who said that the Baltic countries 'should be grateful' for Soviet occupation. These countries 'should themselves apologize' for the fact that some of their residents fought on the German side in the war, Interfax reported him as saying.

I'm not a diplomat or a historian, but I'd say Bush may be snatching defeat from the jaws of victory here. Does he really want to get into a fight over this issue? America's record isn't perfect, either. First, the US itself stayed neutral until December 7, 1941 as Hitler smashed his way across Europe. American companies such as Ford and Standard Oil did business with the Nazis during this period. Second, the US refused to open a second front until June 1944, after Russia had bled considerably to stop the Nazis, bearing the brunt of the fighting, and England had been almost crushed by the Blitz. Third, the US agreed to the division of Europe at Yalta, a very sore point among Polish-Americans at the time. Finally, the USSR renounced the pact already.

If Bush were just to make a public statement congratulating the USSR (a nostalgic fantasyland of power, plenty and peace in the minds of many Russians today) for renouncing the carve-up of Poland and the Baltic States, pocketing that victory and sharing credit with Russia, then moving forward to the future, that might be a diplomatic advance. Instead, Bush appears to be moving backwards and stoking old resentments.

Bush must remember that Nazis killed some 20 million Russians and devastated the country. Cold war propaganda made much of the fact that the US was siding with former Nazis against the USSR. Yes, many Russians still see Estonians, Latvians, and Ukrainians as Nazis. Bush and the US should be sensitive to that perception--and explain why they are not Nazis now, why they are better off as part of the West, how America helped them out of a totalitarian past, and will help Russia likewise.

Rather than raise painful disagreements about tragic events of 50+ years ago, Bush might do better to a outline a positive vision for full US-Russian partnership in confronting the new mutual enemy of Islamic fundamentalism: announce that the US will no longer support Chechen terrorists, offer partnership with Russia in stabilizing Iraq, and demand the Russians take some concrete steps towards a more US-friendly society, such as releasing Mikhail Khodorkovsky...

UPDATE: By way of contrast, President Clinton handled the 50th Anniversary of V-E day Moscow ceremonies adroitly. You can read the agreements on nonproliferation and the future of Europe, resulting from his diplomacy with Boris Yeltsin, here. A sample result:

Presidents Clinton and Yeltsin conducted a thorough review of progress toward their shared goal of a stable, secure, integrated and undivided democratic Europe. They agreed that the end of military confrontation, ideological conflict, and division of the Euro-Atlantic region into opposing blocs has created an historic opportunity for all of its peoples. They emphasized their determination to cooperate closely to ensure that in the future, all peoples of the Euro-Atlantic region shall enjoy the benefits of a stable, just and peaceful order.

Bush might do well to come up with a similar joint statement regarding the Middle East in his one-on-one meeting with Putin.

Jack Shafer: Time to Pull the Plug on PBS

From Slate, PBS Unplugged - President Bush gives us a new reason to wean public broadcasting from the government teat: "For the longest time, calling for the defunding of public broadcasting was a Republican pastime. Now that the GOP rules public broadcasters, who will be the first Democrat brave enough to call for the end of PBS and NPR as we know them?" (thanks to artsjournal.com for the link).

Election Day in Great Britain

You can follow the voting on Sky News. I'll stick my neck out and make a prediction: Tony Blair will be re-elected Prime Minister, when Labor wins control of Parliament.

Vappu

Just came back from a Vappu party at the Finnish embassy here in Washington. It wasn't as wild as the Finnnish celebrations of May Day that took place in Finland, at least not by the time I left, but it was a lot of fun. They even had furniture that looked straight out of the set of an Austin Powers movie . . .

The Soviet Army's Role in WWII

As V-E Day approaches, this seemed like a good item to share with readers. I recently received a copy of an email from a WWII vet, who had been an officer in the US Army's 6th Armored Division in Germany at the time of V-E Day. Here's what he had to say to a friend about the Russian role in the Second World War, sparked by the new German film on Hitler's last days in the bunker:

. . . yeeesss that horrid rat slime bag, adolph hitler and his mistress eva braun died in that bunker in berlin as the ussr RED army troops were closing in on him,, he shot her and then took poison,,, his S S men then set fire to them out side of the bunker,!!!! in a dirt ditch. as the RED ARMY took over all of Berlin... and all the nazi troops gave UP !!!! P S. brieuc ,, the RED army WON ww2,,, i say that loud and clear !!!!!!!!! if it was not for the RED army,,,, we will still BE in NORMANDY... au revoir,, bon soir, MEL . . .

The Liberation of Dachau, 60 Years Ago

A personal account by Felix L. Sparks Brigadier General, AUS (Retired) about the April 29, 1945 liberation of the notorious Nazi camp:

After I entered the camp over the wall, I was not able to see the confinement area, and had no idea where it was. My vision was obscured by the many buildings and barracks which were outside the confinement area. The confinement area itself occupied only a small portion of the total camp area. As I went further into the camp, I saw some men from company I collecting German prisoners. Next to the camp hospital, there was a L-shaped masonry wall, about eight feet high, which had been used as a coal bin. The ground was covered with coal dust, and a narrow gage railroad track, laid on top of the ground, lead into the area. The prisoners were being collected in the semi-enclosed area.

As I watched about fifty German troops were brought in from various directions. A machine gun squad from company I was guarding the prisoners. After watching for a few minutes, I started for the confinement area. After I had walked away for a short distance, I hear the machine gun guarding the prisoners open fire. I immediately ran back to the gun and kicked the gunner off the gun with my boot. I then grabbed him by the collar and said: 'what the hell are you doing?' He was a young private about 19 years old and was crying hysterically. His reply to me was: 'Colonel, they were trying to get away.' I doubt that they were, but in any event he killed about twelve of the prisoners and wounded several more. I placed a non-com on the gun, and headed toward the confinement area.

It was the forgoing incident which has given rise to wild claims in various publications that most or all of the German prisoners captured at Dachau were executed. Nothing could be further from the truth. The total number of German guards killed at Dachau during that day most certainly not exceed fifty, with thirty probably being a more accurate figure. The regimental records for that date indicate that over a thousand German prisoners were brought to the regimental collecting point. Since my task force was leading the regimental attack, almost all the prisoners were taken by the task force, including several hundred from Dachau.

During the early period of our entry into the camp, a number of company I men all battle hardened veterans, became extremely distraught. Some cried, while others raged. Some thirty minutes passed before I could restore order and discipline. During that time, the over thirty thousand camp prisoners still alive began to grasp the significance of the events taking place. They streamed from their crowded barracks by the hundreds and were soon pressing at the confining barbed wire fence. They began to shout in unison, which soon became a chilling roar. At the same time several bodies were being tossed about and torn apart by hundreds of hands. I was told later that those being killed at the time were "informers." After about ten minutes of screaming and shouting, the prisoners quieted down. At that point, a man came forward at the gate and identified himself as an American soldier. We immediately let him out. He turned out to be Major Rene Guiraud of our OSS. He informed me that he had been captured earlier while on an intelligence mission and sentenced to death, but the sentence was never carried out.

You can read more about Sparks in his biography, Sparks: The Combat Diary of a Battalion Commander (Rifle, WWII, 157th Infantry Regiment, 45th Division, 1941-1945) by Emajean Jordan Buechner.

Yevgenia Albats on Victory Day in Moscow

From her column in The Moscow Times:

The long, festive brunch would evolve into preparations for dinner, when my parents' best friends and relatives would start to arrive. Uncle Yasha, Dad's best friend, began the war as a soldier in the people's militia, which was called up to defend Moscow when the Germans were on the outskirts of the city.

They were given one rifle, made in 1896, and a few bullets to share among five soldiers. Clearly, they were intended to defend Moscow with their bodies, as the majority of them did. Uncle Yasha survived, however, and was in Lithuania when the final victory came four years later.

Now aged 89, he feels even sicker than he already is when he hears from the Baltic states about the memorial erected to the soldiers of the Wehrmacht and the SS veterans marching the streets there.

The 60th anniversary of Victory Day, which Moscow will celebrate with much fanfare next Monday, along with some 56 visiting heads of state and other dignitaries, has nothing to do with my old folks. My 84-year-old mother was given an envelope with 1,000 rubles ($35) and a gift -- a cheap duvet that can hardly comfort her, dying as she is from cancer. The money is less than the price of the medical procedure she needs each day.

Uncle Yasha received the same 1,000 rubles, plus two wristwatches. Why two? He doesn't know, but he laughs: 'Two watches are exactly what I need right now, seeing as I've one foot in the grave.'

None of them even received a simple thank-you postcard from the president -- or anyone else, for that matter. (At least, 10 years ago, a card signed by Boris Yeltsin arrived in each veteran's home.)

Of course, next week's celebration is not about those who fought on the front lines defending the country. It is about the regime, whose best grandchildren are back in charge.

Russia to Alter Weather for V-E Day

Matt Drudge made fun of this headline, Russian pilots vs clouds at V-day parade, but as I wrote in the case of Moscow's Mayor Luzhkov earlier (see archives): while Americans might only talk about the weather, Russians do something about it...

Some Problems with the State Department Terrorism Report

According to B Raman, writing in Asia Times Online , American officials still miss some significant dots in global terrorism patterns, especially the dot in the Binori madrassah of Karachi:

There is now a growing convergence between the US analysis and mine, but there are still important differences. While throwing the spotlight on local and regional jihadi organizations, the State Department's analysis still fails to see them in the larger context of the role of the International Islamic Front for Jihad Against the Crusaders and the Jewish People. It projects the ideologies of the local organizations as inspired by that of al-Qaeda and fails to take note of and analyze the impact of the Deobandi ideology of the Pakistani jihadi organizations on the thinking of bin Laden and his organization.

In my assessment, the birth of the concept of a global jihad against the US and Israel could be traced to the Binori madrassa of Karachi; and the role of Ramzi Yousef of Pakistan and other perpetrators of the explosion at the New York World Trade Center in February 1993 in the spread of this concept has not been adequately analyzed by Western, Israeli and Australian experts. The New York explosion of February 1993 was the first shot in this global jihad and the preparations for it were made in the Binori madrassa and not in any set up of al-Qaeda.

It is surprising that these experts, who often tend to over-focus on the writings and statements of the late Abdullah Azam, have paid so little attention to the interview given by an unidentified leader of the HUM (then known as the Harkat-ul-Ansar) to Kamran Khan of the News of Islamabad in February 1995, which was carried by the paper under the title Jihad World-Wide. This interview contained a detailed account of the role of the HUM in the jihad in the southern Philippines. Kamran Khan subsequently came out with another investigative report on the efforts of Ramzi Yousef to export jihad to Saudi Arabia.

The repeated mistakes in analysis of the US could be attributed to the inclination of its experts to make their analyses suit the political agenda of their leaders, thereby failing to read the writing on the wall. Unless and until there is adequate self-correction, one cannot rule out a repeat of the terrorist attacks in the US, Bali, Mombasa, Casablanca, Madrid, etc.

COVERING CUBA 4: The Rats Below

Agustin Blazquez has a new documentary. It's called COVERING CUBA 4: The Rats Below. Here's the description from Cuba Collectibles:

Finally, the fourth installment of the series COVERING CUBA by the acclaimed filmmaker team of Agustin Blazquez and Jaums Sutton is available in a limited Special Edition DVD , exclusively through CubaCollectibles.com.

This limited Special Edition DVD features COVERING CUBA 4: The Rats Below. This 105-min. documentary exposes to the American people how the mighty power of a corporation influences the U.S. government - in this case the corrupt Clinton administration - and brings tragedy to an innocent child and everyone else in the way, using the Gold Rule of power, money and greed.

It is a fascinating story of intrigue and deceptions that the U.S. media censored because of the economic and political leverage of this corporation that sponsors many of the leading political programs on the major TV and Radio networks.

It is a story kept hidden because of the prevalent U.S. media dislike for a minority group in America.

It is a story of secret corporate manipulation of the U.S. government, the media and the American people creating support for their corporate greed, all while staying hidden just under the surface.

A Word from Our Sponsor

Just had to mention a conversation with Ben Wattenberg at the American Enterprise Institute after Tyler Cowen's talk. He asked me what I thought of the New York Times article on Ken Tomlinson's efforts at the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. I answered that I didn't think much of Tomlinson or CPB, and added that the last PBS series hosted by a conservative on economics, that I knew of, was Milton Friedman's "Free to Choose," in 1979, that the last PBS series hosted by conservative was his show, Think Tank, which first went on the air in the Clinton administration. Wattenberg replied that his PBS series did start in 1994, but that his production company didn't get a dime from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting or PBS. He called Think Tank's relationship with PBS a "bastion of free enterprise," privately sponsored . . .

The New Yorker Profiles Douglas Feith

Pentagon war planner Douglas Feith is profiled by Jeffrey Goldberg in The New Yorker. The author tries to answer the question: Was General Tommy Franks correct when he characterized the Harvard and Georgetown Law grad as 'the f*****g stupidest guy on the face of the earth?'

Eugene Robinson on the Meaning of Abu Gharib

In yesterday's Washington Post: "Twenty years from now, how will we remember this 'global war on terrorism''? Assuming it's over by then -- assuming we haven't escalated a fight against al Qaeda into an all-out clash of civilizations -- will we look back on the GWOT, as Washington bureaucrats call it, and feel pride in the nation's resolve and sacrifice? Or will history's verdict be tempered by shame? The answer will depend on how this Congress comes to terms with the documented mistreatment of prisoners in Afghanistan, Guantanamo, Iraq and who knows where else in the secret archipelago of U.S. detention."

Is Grover Norquist an Islamist?

Daniel Pipes asks: "Is Grover Norquist an Islamist? Paul Sperry, author of the new book, Infiltration, in an interview calls Grover Norquist 'an agent of influence for Islamists in Washington.'" Norquist has been a major Republican fund-raiser, and used to work with Jack Abramoff, now under a cloud himself. The National Review Book Service gave this summary of Sperry's conclusion: "The ultimate goal of these subversives, according to Sperry -- quoting verbatim from some of the most respected and "mainstream" Muslim leaders in America -- is to replace the U.S. Constitution with sharia (Islamic) law and turn America into an Islamic state."

More on Italian Objections to Pentagon Iraq Cover-Up

AP reports: "The 52-page Italian report, written by a diplomat and a general assigned to Italy's secret services and released Monday, said no measures were taken by U.S. officials to preserve the scene of the shooting. It said the car was removed before its position was marked, for example. The soldiers' vehicles also were moved.

It also noted that an Italian general was denied access to the site immediately after the shooting, and that duty logs were destroyed after the soldiers' shifts."

Sharansky Quits Israeli Government

According to The Jerusalem Post, Natan Sharansky has quit the Sharon government, in protest against Israel's Gaza pullout. He said that Israel's military move was premature, and should instead follow full Palestinian democratization. He told interviewers: "I have always believed that the disengagement plan is a heavy price to pay and encourages terrorism." (thanks to Little Green Footballs for the tip)

Sharansky's resignation letter can be found on Winds of Change.

60 Years Ago, This Week

Also on the BBC, 'Hitler's nurse' breaks silence on the last days of the Third Reich:

Mrs Flegel said that after Hitler's suicide, Goebbels took over as leader, but no-one paid any attention to him.

'His last subordinates shot themselves in succession,' she said. 'And those who didn't shoot themselves tried to flee.'

She said she remained, however. 'I had to look after the wounded.'

In the newspaper interview, Mrs Flegel described the atmosphere in the bunker as the noise of approaching Soviet forces grew.

'You could feel that the Third Reich was coming to an end,' she said. 'The radios stopped working and it was impossible to get information.'

Mrs Flegel added that when the Soviet troops arrived, they were well-behaved and advised her to lock her door.

She said she stayed for several days, and was one of the last people to leave the bunker.

There's a fuller version of the story in The Guardian:

On the morning of May 2, 60 years ago today, Russians soldiers poked their head round the bunker's entrance.

"By this stage there were only six or seven of us left in the bunker," Ms Flegel said. "We knew the Russians were approaching. A [nursing] sister phoned up and said, 'The Russians are coming.'

"Then they turned up in the Reichschancellery. It was a huge building complex. The Germans were transported away."

Ms Flegel insists that the Russians she had encountered treated her "very humanely", despite the mass rape of German women by Russian soldiers elsewhere in the city. They had a "look round", discovered the bunker's underground supplies, and then left, she said, advising her to lock her front door.

The Red Army allowed her to continue work as a nurse for the next few months, treating wounded Russians, until she ended up in the hands of the US Strategic Services Unit, one of the precursors of the CIA.

Ms Flegel said her "interrogation" by the Americans in November 1945 was little more than an informal chat over dinner. "They invited us to have dinner with them and treated us to six different courses in order to soften us up. It didn't work with me, though."

Ms Flegel's testimony - including her conviction that Hitler was dead, an important statement for the victorious allies - was deemed sufficiently important that it remained classified.

You can read the full transcript here.

Pentagon Evidence Tampering in Italian Iraq Deaths?

The BBC reports that the Italians are angry at what looks like a fumbled Pentagon cover-up:

The censored sections include recommendations that the American military modify their checkpoint procedures to give better and clearer warning signs to approaching vehicles.

The official Italian report on the incident expected to be published this week will accuse the American military of tampering with evidence at the scene of the shooting.

The Americans invited two Italians to join in their inquiry, but the Italian representatives protested at what they claimed was lack of objectivity in presenting the evidence and returned to Rome.

Relations between Rome and Washington remain tense.

"Tense" is diplomatese for bad. You can read the full accounts here.

Invitation to a Beheading

VDH's Private Papers has this account of doings in Saudi Arabia's "Chop Chop Square" from "R.F. Burton":

Allah's will is done.

That's how it's supposed to go. The beheading Fred witnessed went off a little differently. The executioner botched the job.

'I don't know if the prisoner had a short neck or he just jerked funny when they jabbed him in the back, but the blade glanced off his shoulder and only cut through half his neck,' Fred said.

'He fell over sideways,' he said. 'I never saw so much blood. It was squirting out all over the place from the gash in his neck. He started moaning. It was awful. Even though he was doped to high heaven, it must have hurt like hell. It took two more swings to hack his head off.'

'When it was over, I'll be damned if a doctor didn't walk over to the body and check his pulse,' Fred said. 'It was weird, seeing him kneel down next to a headless body, holding the wrist to make sure he wasn't going to get up and walk away.'