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<a href="http://www.counterpunch.org/blum10022009.html" eudora="autourl">
http://www.counterpunch.org/blum10022009.html<br>
</a></font><font face="Verdana" size=2 color="#990000">October 2-4,
2009<br><br>
</font><h1><font face="Times New Roman, Times" size=4><b>Another Cold War
Myth <br><br>
<br>
</i></font><font face="Times New Roman, Times" size=5 color="#990000">The
Fall of the Berlin Wall
</b></font></h1><font face="Times New Roman, Times" size=4>By WILLIAM
BLUM <br><br>
</font><font face="Verdana" size=6 color="#990000">W</font>
<font face="Verdana" size=2>ithin a few weeks many of the Western media
can be expected to turn on their propaganda machines to commemorate the
20th anniversary of the tearing down of the Berlin Wall, November 9,
1989. All the Cold War clichés about The Free World vs. Communist Tyranny
will be trotted out and the simple tale of how the wall came to be will
be repeated: In 1961, the East Berlin communists built a wall to keep
their oppressed citizens from escaping to West Berlin and freedom. Why?
Because commies don't like people to be free, to learn the
"truth". What other reason could there have been?<br><br>
First of all, before the wall went up thousands of East Germans had been
commuting to the West for jobs each day and then returned to the East in
the evening. So they were clearly not being held in the East against
their will. The wall was built primarily for two reasons:<br><br>
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<dl>
<dd>The West was bedeviling the East with a vigorous campaign of
recruiting East German professionals and skilled workers, who had been
educated at the expense of the Communist government. This eventually led
to a serious labor and production crisis in the East. As one indication
of this, the New York Times reported in 1963: "West Berlin suffered
economically from the wall by the loss of about 60,000 skilled workmen
who had commuted daily from their homes in East Berlin to their places of
work in West Berlin." (New York Times, June 27, 1963, p.12)
<br><br>
<dd>During the 1950s, American coldwarriors in West Germany instituted a
crude campaign of sabotage and subversion against East Germany designed
to throw that country's economic and administrative machinery out of
gear. The CIA and other US intelligence and military services recruited,
equipped, trained and financed German activist groups and individuals, of
West and East, to carry out actions which ran the spectrum from terrorism
to juvenile delinquency; anything to make life difficult for the East
German people and weaken their support of the government; anything to
make the commies look bad.<br><br>
</dl>It was a remarkable undertaking. The United States and its agents
used explosives, arson, short circuiting, and other methods to damage
power stations, shipyards, canals, docks, public buildings, gas stations,
public transportation, bridges, etc; they derailed freight trains,
seriously injuring workers; burned 12 cars of a freight train and
destroyed air pressure hoses of others; used acids to damage vital
factory machinery; put sand in the turbine of a factory, bringing it to a
standstill; set fire to a tile-producing factory; promoted work
slow-downs in factories; killed 7,000 cows of a co-operative dairy
through poisoning; added soap to powdered milk destined for East German
schools; were in possession, when arrested, of a large quantity of the
poison cantharidin with which it was planned to produce poisoned
cigarettes to kill leading East Germans; set off stink bombs to disrupt
political meetings; attempted to disrupt the World Youth Festival in East
Berlin by sending out forged invitations, false promises of free bed and
board, false notices of cancellations, etc.; carried out attacks on
participants with explosives, firebombs, and tire-puncturing equipment;
forged and distributed large quantities of food ration cards to cause
confusion, shortages and resentment; sent out forged tax notices and
other government directives and documents to foster disorganization and
inefficiency within industry and unions ... all this and much more. (See
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1567512526/counterpunchmaga">
Killing Hope</a></i>, p.400, note 8, for a list of sources for the
details of the sabotage and subversion.) <br><br>
Throughout the 1950s, the East Germans and the Soviet Union repeatedly
lodged complaints with the Soviets' erstwhile allies in the West and with
the United Nations about specific sabotage and espionage activities and
called for the closure of the offices in West Germany they claimed were
responsible, and for which they provided names and addresses. Their
complaints fell on deaf ears. Inevitably, the East Germans began to
tighten up entry into the country from the West.<br><br>
Let's not forget that Eastern Europe became communist because Hitler,
with the approval of the West, used it as a highway to reach the Soviet
Union and wipe out Bolshevism forever. After the war, the Soviets were
determined to close down the highway.<br><br>
In 1999, USA Today reported: "When the Berlin Wall crumbled, East
Germans imagined a life of freedom where consumer goods were abundant and
hardships would fade. Ten years later, a remarkable 51% say they were
happier with communism." (USA Today, October 11, 1999, p.1.)
<br><br>
About the same time a new Russian proverb was born: "Everything the
Communists said about Communism was a lie, but everything they said about
capitalism turned out to be the truth."<br><br>
William Blum</b> is the author of
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1567512526/counterpunchmaga">
Killing Hope: U.S. Military and CIA Interventions Since World War II</a>,
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1567511945/counterpunchmaga">
Rogue State: a guide to the World's Only Super Power</a>. and
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1887128727/counterpunchmaga">
West-Bloc Dissident: a Cold War Political
Memoir</a>
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1567511945/counterpunchmaga">
.</a><br><br>
He can be reached at:
<a href="mailto:BBlum6@aol.com">BBlum6@aol.com</a><br><br>
<br><br>
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