Letters to the Editor
-
Outgunned and clueless?
Gary Kamiya wrote, "Watching the mainstream press try to contend with the Bush-Cheney gang is like watching the Polish cavalry galloping up in 1939 as the Wehrmacht tanks approach."
Is that true?
Yes, it's true that most of the press seem oblivious to the contempt in which the administration holds them, and most of the press seem only dimly aware of how the administration outmaneuvers them.
But what truly happened in 1939? According to Wikipedia :
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polish_cavalry
Cavalry Charges and Propaganda. . . there were 16 confirmed cavalry charges during the 1939 war. Contrary to common belief, most of them were successful.
The first of them, and perhaps the best known, happened on September 1, 1939, during the Battle of Krojanty. During the action, elements of the Polish 18th Uhlans Regiment met a large group of German infantry resting in a woods near the village of Krojanty. Colonel Mastalerz decided to take the enemy by surprise and immediately ordered a cavalry charge, a tactic the Polish cavalry rarely used as their main weapon. The charge was successful and the German infantry unit was dispersed.
The same day, German war correspondents were brought to the battlefield together with two journalists from Italy. They were shown the battlefield, the corpses of Polish cavalrymen and their horses, alongside German tanks that had arrived at the field of battle after the engagement. One of the Italian correspondents sent home an article, in which he described the bravery and heroism of Polish soldiers, who charged German tanks with their sabres and lances. Other possible source of the myth is a quote from Heinz Guderian's memoirs, in which he clearly stated that the Pomeranian Brigade had charged on German tanks with swords and lances. Although such a charge did not happen and there were no tanks used during the combat, the myth was used by German propaganda during the war. After the end of World War II it was still used by Soviet propaganda as an example of the stupidity of Polish commanders and authorities, who allegedly did not prepare their country for war and instead wasted the blood of their soldiers.
Even such a prominent writer as Günter Grass, who can hardly be accused of anti-Polonism, wrote the following passage, perhaps metaphorically, in his famous novel The Tin Drum:
O insane cavalry! Picking blueberries on horseback. Bearing lances with red and white pennants. . . .
Proper respect! Our White House is much more adept at "catapulting the propaganda" than were the Germans at co-ordinating armor and infantry in September, 1939.
And our press corps is far less effective than were the Polish cavalry.