Target Centermass

Category: History

  • Rather’s Dangerous Game

    With its firm stance supported only by weak defenses, CBS is walking a high-wire with Dan Rather’s assertions that the Bush-Killian documents are valid. These defenses are repeatedly rapidly overwhelmed by the research of the conservative side of the blogosphere, and this has led me to re-evaluate the situation.

    Short of serious substantiation, CBS has two choices: first, crawdad on its assertions and confess its egregious errors in both methodology and mission; second, lay low and continue to deny, hoping it blows over or the rest of the mainstream media rides in to the rescue.

    This brings to mind the French at Dien Bien Phu.

    From Summons of the Trumpet by Dave Richard Palmer:

    The French and the Viet Minh fought the climactic battle at an unimportant and unimposing village high in jungle-covered hills near the Laotian border — Dien Bien Phu. (Memories of that battle would return fourteen years later to haunt and distract American leaders at a crucial moment.) In January 1954, Viet Minh General Vo Nguyen Giap surrounded a large French force at Dien Bien Phu, isolating it from all support except that dropped by parachute. Through February and into March the French held on doggedly. But they were doomed without help — and by March they knew it. Desparately, Paris asked Washington to intervene.

    Is CBS setting up MSM’s own Dien Bien Phu, with the bloggers in the role of the surrounding forces? It would certainly seem that the rehashing of the old AWOL stories would be the equivalent of “an unimportant and unimposing village” in this election year. The stakes on the confrontation? Nothing short of the credibility of the entirety of the old media. If the bloggers retreat into the jungle and let Rather escape, then the current situation continues. If critical mass of the story is reached with the public, MSM goes into a crisis. Will the other branches of the old media play it neutral and see how things play out, or will they do their actual job and seriously look at Rather’s claims? Their credibility may hinge on it, as the Swiftboat Vets story has shown that MSM no longer has exclusive claim to the public’s attention.

    CBS and Rather are potentially setting up their own Dien Bien Phu. Will the rest of the old media support them or do what’s right and what’s their role in society — investigate and cover the story?

  • Luxembourg Holds Massive World War II Liberation Celebrations

    Luxembourg celebrates, remembers and thanks.

    Luxembourg was only a brief stop for American forces sweeping through France on their way to Germany in World War II. But the liberation of the tiny country of 450,000 left strong memories.

    There were bands, speeches, church services, and commemoration medals as this small country looked back to remember the day that its precious freedom was restored from German occupation.

    In one ceremony at Luxembourg’s American military cemetery, where General George Patton is buried, Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker hailed the American contribution.

    “This is a day of thankfulness to these brave American soldiers who from the other side of the ocean came to Europe, and came to this tiny country, to liberate this country,” the prime minister said.

    Luxembourg invited 20 American veterans who took part in the liberation 60 years ago, to return to the country for observances. The oldest of those, 90-year-old John Colligan of New York, said recognition means a lot.

    “These people, 60 years later, they’re doing it because of appreciation,” he said. “And that’s a long time to keep your mind set that you want to show your appreciation. I admire them for that.”

    Pretty good stuff. And then I came to this:

    Luxembourgers have their own perspectives on the war. For 82-year-old Victor Fischbach, it was unique. He was forced into the German army like many other able-bodied Luxembourg men. But he later escaped, and, with the help of a priest, spent 13 months hiding in a Luxembourg church with several of his countrymen. Mr. Fischbach says liberation will never be forgotten by Luxembourg.

    “When an American speaks about Europe he must think that Luxembourg is, maybe, the best friend, the strongest friend,” said Mr. Fischbach. “And we’ll never forget what we are owing to America. From time to time, I go to the military cemetery, the American cemetery. I go alone and I cry, I cry. I can’t help, I cry. And I say, go there. If you don’t believe any more in America. Go there, and you will find again, and see again what they have done for us.“

    Not all have forgotten or, rather, have chosen to not remember.

  • 65 Years Ago Today

    Wow, a coworker just mentioned the date and it suddenly dawned on me that today is the 65th anniversary of the German invasion of Poland and the start of World War II. I finally found a news story about it.

    Poland’s prime minister marked the 65th anniversary of the start of the Second World War on Wednesday, unveiling a new memorial on the spot where a German warship fired the opening shots at a Polish munitions depot, sparking nearly six years of bloody conflict.

    The ceremony began to the wailing of sirens on the Westerplatte peninsula in the Baltic port of Gdansk at 4:45 a.m., the exact time that the German ship Schleswig-Holstein shelled the depot and its 182-strong garrison on Sept. 1, 1939, starting the war that left an estimated 50 million dead, including six million European Jews at the hands of the Nazis.

  • Grab a Drink and Read This

    Doffing the CVC to the greatness that is Vodkapundit for his look at strategies going forward in the war against radical Islam based on lessons learned from the Cold War.

    By now, you probably know where I’m going with this little history lesson: How do we define victory in the Terror War, and what will the peace look like.

    Let’s get the second part out of the way first.

    What will the peace look like? I don’t have a damn clue. And neither do you. And if you meet anyone who claims to know, feel free to laugh at them really hard. So hard, you get a little spit on their face. Sometimes, justice can be small and spiteful – ask a meter maid. Anyway.

    When peace comes, it could look like whatever Mecca, Tehran, Damascus, Riyadh, Pyongyang, Khartoum, Kabul, Cairo, etc., look like after being hit by big city-busting nuclear warheads. Or it could end with the entire Arab and Muslim world looking like the really well-manicured bits of Connecticut. My best guess is, somewhere in-between. But that’s only a guess.

    NOTE: It’s a sad state of affairs (their affairs, not ours) that the first scenario, no matter how repugnant and unlikely, still seems more likely than the second scenario, no matter how virtuous.

    Now that we know that we don’t know how we’ll win, that leaves the question (and the oxymoron): How do we win?

    Go. Read. Learn why Stephen Green is one of my favorite bloggers.

  • Latest USS Texas Christened

    The fourth ship of the U.S. Navy to carry the name of the Lone Star state was christened this weekend by First Lady Laura Bush.

    The USS Texas (SSN 775) is the second member of the Virginia class of submarines and the fourth vessel in the Navy to carry the name of Texas. The most famous to date would be the battleship that saw duty in WWII, including action off North Africa and Iwo Jima. The ship can be visited at the San Jacinto Battleground near Houston.

  • Ideal Challenger…Disastrous Champion

    A tip of the CVC to FauxPolitik for this look at Garry Kasparov analyzing Bobby Fischer, a man who has always fascinated me, both the good and the bad. Check that, both the brilliant and the horrid.

    As we’ve heard, Fischer has gone of the deep end (well okay, that was long ago – it’s just that he’s finally reaching the bottom of the pool), and is currently in custody in Japan; one step removed from being in custody in the U.S. But Kasparov is more interested in what might have been with young Robert….