Paul Steege>Rejecting the standard account of a total blockade does not deny the incredible technical accomplishments of the airlift or the sacrifice of the American and British personnel killed while flying supplies to the former German capital. Nor does it deny the ruthlessness of the Soviet and German Communists who showed no qualms about defending their hold on power with brutal violence
Not exactly terms one would use for being upset at the outcome.
But I suppose some people insist on hagiography, myths, etc., and can't accept that the typical beliefs might be wrong--yet it was still a great victory.
When Steege put that word in quotes, do you think he did that by accident?
The Western victory in this first Cold War battle came in spite of the fact that the airlift never achieved its ostensible purpose: to fully supply West Berlin.
No airlift can ever fully supply anything. Even today, 94% of all cargo going into the War on Terror goes by sea lift. The Berlin Airlift achieved a miracle, and Steege's premise that the airlift failed because it did not supply everything that every society needs 24/7 was flawed and filled with a hidden agenda.
He ends his diatribe with this:
In the face of a "war on terror" that makes similar universal claims, those issuing nostalgic appeals for total foreign policy solutions - even humanitarian ones - should heed the cautionary lessons of the Berlin Blockade.
Yup - no agenda here either.
I like how "war on terror" is in quotes too.
If you cannot see ascertain his motives, I am sorry for you.