Posted on 11/21/2004 1:48:27 PM PST by Tailgunner Joe
A DECISION by President George W Bush to decorate two German spies who fought against the Nazis has caused embarrassment in Washington after claims that they were really Russian double agents.
The posthumous awards will be conferred on Anton Ruh and Paul Lindner, who were recruited by the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), forerunner of the CIA, while living as refugees in wartime Britain.
A campaign led by Hillary Clinton, the New York senator and former first lady, to honour the men succeeded last month when Bush gave his approval.
Relatives of Ruh and Lindner are due to receive the Silver Star, one of America’s highest medals of honour, on their behalf at a ceremony later this year. It is the first time that German nationals have been honoured for fighting alongside Americans in the second world war “They were highly courageous and executed their missions behind enemy lines with flying colours,” said Jonathan Gould, whose father Joseph recruited them.
However, documents that have surfaced in the archives of the former East German Communist party in Berlin tell another story. They show that the men were among seven Soviet double agents recruited with the knowledge of Ruth Werner, the spy who helped Stalin to steal the West’s atomic secrets.
The seven underwent extensive training in Britain, drawing on expertise from MI6 and the Special Operations Executive. In addition to assassination and commando tactics, they were taught how to forge documents and handle explosives.
The men are believed to have given sensitive information to Karl Kastro, their Soviet handler. He, in turn, passed it to Werner, who transmitted it to Moscow.
The men were sent back to Berlin by the OSS in January 1945 where they recruited anti-Nazis from among their friends and family and joined attacks on SS positions.
Claims that the men were traitors have outraged surviving family members. Their supporters aim to contest the accuracy of the German archive documents, suggesting that statements allegedly given by the two men could have been made under duress.
Ruh’s son Denis, who has had access to some documents in the Berlin archives, has acknowledged, however, that his father could have been a double agent. “He may have been working for the Soviets, but back then the Soviets, British and US were all allies,” he said.
Lindner’s British wife Marjorie, who defected to East Berlin with her husband in the late 1940s, said that the men were allied heroes regardless of their political convictions.
“My husband was a resistance fighter who risked his life for Britain and America,” she said.
A Hillary set-up?
Well, the way I see it--it's as much Hillary's fault as anyones. I Bush supposed to research everything for these people..
It is his fault for doing anything that a Clinton asks for, it is bound to be corrupted.
"A campaign led by Hillary Clinton, the New York senator and former first lady, to honour the men succeeded last month when Bush gave his approval. "
Souldn't someone be asking why was Hillary pushing this?
I'd be much more interested in knowing why Bush would do anything a Clinton requested.
The roles of the Bushes and Clintons - are really, really close - reason for concern -? How often does it make it now that a Bush has covered for a Clinton? Blackmail? What?
They are not the same people(or so we are led to believe) - why act the same?
Another mystery to add -
Shouldn't Bush have figured this out by now?
Many Soviet double agents worked for the CIA and MI5. Also, they were responsible for helping Nazis escape Europe to South America and Middle East. Among them was Kim Philby, a MI5 agent, who helped many Nazis escape to the Middle East and South America.
Hitlery Rotten Klintoon and her lowlife, degenerate, liar, rapist, disgraced, impeached ex-president "husband", Bubba Jeffy Klintoon, were also traitors, spies and seditionists.
All duly deserve execution, for treason.
I'd tell the Clintons "Go stifle yourself", but then again, I'm not the President.
Same reason both Clintons do anything....$$$$
I think after 4 years, he would have figured that out by now. What with Ted Kennedy sticking the knife in President Bush's back after the two of them gladhanded one another over Teddy's monumental education bill and NCLB act. Teddy shouldn't be trusted, the Clinton's neither. Democrats shouldn't be trusted on anything.
Looks like it to me.
My hope is the old saying about the snake biting you a second time will come into play here.
Do we blame Hitlery for doing what she does best, or do we blame Dubya Bush for being an idiot for kissing the witch's @ss in the fist place?
Eh, no one's perfect.
I don't think you can fault the President on this one. Hillary obviously led the campaign, and she must've known those two medal honorees were Russian spies. It's not the President's job to do the research and background checks on every honoree that gets honored. More than anything, Hillary is setting herself up to win big in 2008 and this is one way of sticking it to the President who won big in 2004.
Office of Strategic Services (OSS), forerunner of the CIA
Huh ?
So the CIA is a Nazi Idea ?
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