Actually, the article's correct title is How We Botched the German Occupation. It was published in the Jan 26, 1946 edition of "Look" magazine. It seems that defeatists are a pretty consistent bunch.

While these discussions were proceeding, however, Mr. Morgenthau became convinced that we should go into Germany with a complete blueprint, worked out in exhaustive detail, providing for an economic and industrial revolution so drastic that it would affect not only Germany but almost every other country in Europe. He wanted us to adopt this blueprint for ourselves and to use every conceivable means to pressure upon our Allies to get them to accept it. Whenever he was outvoted in the Cabinet committee, he had the immense advantage---as an intimate friend of Franklin D. Roosevelt---of being able to go through the side door of the White House and sell his ideas directly to the President. . . .

The French, unconvinced that the atomic bomb has opened an entirely new era, are insisting upon establishing buffer states between themselves and Germany. To this end, they’re trying to make a friend of the Germans in their zone and to encourage them to organize separatist movements.

The British, conscious, of the broader aspects of Western Europe’s economic situation, are devising schemes to revive German economic life in their zones, particularly in the Ruhr. In order to provide immediately for some of the things which Western Europeans so urgently require, they’re trying to establish some kind of international combine to operate Ruhr industries and coal mines---a proposal which they compare to the Tennessee Valley Authority.

The Russians, grappling with the enormous tasks of reconstructing their own war-wracked homeland, are carrying off from their zone all the machines and tools and animals which they can use in Russia. While the Russians reduce the labor surplus in their zone by sending skilled German workers to Russia, they also encourage the remaining Germans to revive political and economic life with due attention to Russian models.

Ah, the recurring themes! Bickering between cabinet officials! Differing opinions between the US and other nations! Quotes from unnamed soldiers and officials in the field! Sure sounds familiar except for one point that an InstaPundit reader pointed out:


RE: The Saturday Evening Post cover---Note that it is a collective 'We' that "botched" the Occupation, not President Truman nor by extension, President Roosevelt. It suggests that there was still a sense that 'We' as a nation had been attacked and 'We' as a nation had responded.

Today, the media faults President Bush, e.g. , "Bush's War" , "Bush's Failure" , or his Administration without the slightest hint that we may all be in this together, regardless of our domestic partisan proclivities. Sad, really.

Or, as the InstaPundit Glenn Reynolds asks:

Question: Was the occupation of Germany a success, viewed with today's perspective? After all, we're still there. . . .