The Rebuttal: Defending 'American Betrayal' From the Book-Burners by Diana West Read Free Book Online Page A

sources, as drawn from 900-plus endnotes.
    Regardless of what Plokhy “shows,” American Betrayal shows that from the
start “the Soviets” did not treat American POWs in “well” by any standard.
    Radosh either did not read my
treatment of the subject, or he did not register the harrowing facts laid out
therein, or he didn’t wish to present them to readers. Most Americans have
never heard this story of betrayal because the US government and the media
− and now Radosh – have, in effect or by design, hidden it from
them.
    I will not reprise the whole chapter
here. I will however, provide the necessary background for understanding the
extent to which Radosh gets both my book and the historical record wrong.
    In the early spring of 1945 (as American Betrayal documents), amid
rising frustration and anger on the part of General John R. Deane and
Ambassador Averill Harriman, our chief military negotiator and ambassador in
Moscow respectively, FDR wrote to Stalin seeking, even demanding permission to
send US extraction teams into Soviet-held territory to rescue lost and sick
American ex-POWs. To call these the toughest cables to Stalin of FDR’s
presidency isn’t saying much, but it’s something. I quote directly from the
cable traffic, which includes Roosevelt and Stalin’s exchange.
    For the record, here is a partial
list of the cables cited in American
Betrayal :
FDR
     to Stalin, March 3, 1945
Stalin
     to FDR, March 5, 1945
Harriman
     to FDR, March 8, 1945
FDR
     to Harriman, March 11, 1945
Harriman
     to Secretary of State Edward Stettinius, March 14, 1945
Churchill
     to FDR, March 16, 1945
FDR
     to Stalin, March 17, 1945
Stalin
     to FDR, March 22, 1945
FDR
     to Harriman, March 26, 1945
    Now, back
to Radosh’s inept or dishonest misrepresentation of my work, which, again,
starts:
    “Actually, as Plokhy shows, the Soviets treated American
POW’s fairly well.”
    He continues:
    “Nevertheless, contrary
to West, FDR `lost his temper with Stalin and sided completely with his
representatives in Moscow, who by now were sick and tired of Soviet ways of
doing things.
    In case it’s not crystal clear, contrary to Radosh . I have laid out in
minute and documented detail FDR’s angry if impotent attempt, completely in
accord with his team in Moscow, to compel Stalin to permit US teams to extract
our men from Red-held territories.
    In other words, Radosh is making
stuff up again.
    THIS TIME, IT’S IN MY
BOOK
    Nonetheless, Radosh continues to
criticize me for failing to include such information, which, contrary to Radosh , is, in fact,
contained in American Betrayal:
    Radosh:
    “He [FDR] sent stern messages to Stalin inspired by Averell
Harriman, no pro-Soviet stooge, who was angered by the dictator’s behavior.“
    We know about both FDR’s and
Harriman’s cables – from American
Betrayal.
    In other words, it’s in my book.
    Radosh now veers once again into
non-sequitur, writing:
    “FDR said to Anna Rosenberg Hoffman, his unofficial advisor
on labor matters, “Averell is right: we can’t do business with Stalin. He has
broken every one of his promises he made at Yalta.” He said this on March 24; a
few weeks before his death.”
    “I
looked in vain for that statement in West’s book.” 
    Why is Radosh looking in vain for a
statement that is not relevant to American Betrayal ? Because it’s in Plokhy?
    As with the “separate peace” fear
factor, or Stalin’s “correlation of forces,” Radosh is looking for the old,
familiar notes of consensus (read: liberal) narrative in my book. He wants to
be able to hum along to the old, familiar conventional (read: liberal) strains
he already “knows” – and, apparently, wants everyone else humming along
to forever.
    He goes on, as if making a slam-dunk
debating point:
    “What is in West’s book is a condemnation of FDR for
not doing more, for not scheduling retaliatory measures, and for not taking the
advice of those who advocated turning against the Soviets