You have commented 339 times on Rantburg.

Your Name
Your e-mail (optional)
Website (optional)
My Original Nic        Pic-a-Nic        Sorry. Comments have been closed on this article.
Bold Italic Underline Strike Bullet Blockquote Small Big Link Squish Foto Photo
Home Front: Politix
General George S. Patton was assassinated
2008-12-21
Posted by:tipper

#10  Hell, I could'a led the 3rd Army and I don't know jack about strategery, tactics or logistics... I do know a winning hand when I see one tho.
Posted by: .5MT   2008-12-21 23:07  

#9  "He was on Stalin's death list ... He knew secrets of the war which could've ruined careers".

HMMMMMM, post-Military POLITICAL CAREERS, + PENSIONS, + US GEOPOL CREDIBILITY, ...etc.!?
Posted by: JosephMendiola   2008-12-21 19:55  

#8  Patton was the best American General in WW2. 3rd Army advanced more than any other and no unit where a commander is "hated" can do that.
His changing from
Now this news smells the usual conspiracy theories.
But Patton at end of war had reason on his side and Eisenhower and other idiots made Soviet Union the Major winner of War while Allies got a Tie at most in Europe.
Posted by: Uleck Ghibelline9225   2008-12-21 19:28  

#7  AH... I thought the KGB records clearly showed Stalin ordered and the KGB carried out a hit on Patton. It was declassified earlier this year.
Posted by: 3dc   2008-12-21 18:11  

#6  Ollie North's War Story version of the death made the accident sound strange, but drew no conclusions.
Posted by: Bobby   2008-12-21 17:41  

#5  The Soviets controlled portions of the CIA later and the OSS before it. It was a Soviet op from start to finish.
Posted by: Plastic Snoopy   2008-12-21 15:55  

#4  Coolaid! Come drink your Coolaid here!
Posted by: 49 Pan   2008-12-21 15:47  

#3  I think the writer (or his not-too-imaginative storyteller) took their scenario straight from "Brass Target", 1978, with Robert Vaughn, Sofia Loren, and an all-star cast. I call a phony, and a plagiaristic phony to boot.
Posted by: buwaya   2008-12-21 14:33  

#2  There's no doubt there were plenty of screw-ups in the prosecution of WWII. Everything always looks different in hindsight, so we convince ourselves that we could have avoided problems x, y and z if only we had done 1, 2, and 3 differently. BUT it is certain that had we actually followed a different path we would have discovered different, and possibly worse, problems. Such is war. Such is life.
Posted by: Glenmore   2008-12-21 14:19  

#1  Patton almost defines the expression "loose cannon".

Several times he forced his higher command to act before they were prepared, using his trick of "reconnaissance in force", to start fights with far superior enemy units, then screaming for backup before his force was annihilated.

His soldiers personally hated him, because he would use them as cannon fodder, and was very clear that they were expendable as he saw fit.

That being said, I have no doubts that Donovan would hesitate for a minute to have him killed, and that Patton probably threatened to expose any number of US leaders, such as Eisenhower, who was *not* somebody to threaten.
Posted by: Anonymoose   2008-12-21 13:43  

00:00