{"id":1358,"date":"2009-12-16T16:06:39","date_gmt":"2009-12-16T21:06:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/?p=1358"},"modified":"2009-12-17T08:46:41","modified_gmt":"2009-12-17T13:46:41","slug":"battle-of-the-bulge-anniversary-debacle-unnecessary-carnage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2009\/12\/16\/battle-of-the-bulge-anniversary-debacle-unnecessary-carnage\/","title":{"rendered":"Battle of the Bulge Anniversary &#038; Debacle: Unnecessary Carnage"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>This is the 65th anniversary of the start of the Battle of the Bulge.  While most Americans who are aware of the battle learned of it through Hollywood movies that portrayed valiant U.S. resistance to the German Wehrmacht, the truth is far more embarrassing to the U.S. Supreme Commander.<\/p>\n<p>The battle was completely unnecessary, and resulted from Gen. Eisenhower&#8217;s stifling of a U.S. Army group that was ready to cross the Rhine into Germany a month earlier. <\/p>\n<p>As David Colley, author of <em>Decision at Strasbourg: Ike\u2019s Strategic Mistake to Halt the Sixth Army Group at the Rhine in 1944<\/em>, recently <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2009\/11\/23\/opinion\/23colley.html?_r=1\">noted<\/a>: <\/p>\n<blockquote><p>The Sixth Army Group had assembled bridging equipment, amphibious trucks and assault boats. Seven crossing sites along the upper Rhine were evaluated and intelligence gathered. The Seventh Army could cross north of Strasbourg at Rastatt, Germany, advance north along the Rhine Valley to Karlsruhe, and swing west to come in behind the German First Army, which was blocking Patton\u2019s Third Army in Lorraine. The enemy would face annihilation, and the Third and Seventh Armies could break loose and drive into Germany. The war might end quickly.<\/p>\n<p>Devers never crossed. Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower, the supreme commander, visited Devers\u2019s headquarters that day and ordered him instead to stay on the Rhine\u2019s west bank and attack enemy positions in northern Alsace. Devers was stunned. \u201cWe had a clean breakthrough,\u201d he wrote in his diary. \u201cBy driving hard, I feel that we could have accomplished our mission.\u201d Instead the war of attrition continued, giving the Germans a chance to counterattack three weeks later in what became known as the Battle of the Bulge, which cost 80,000 American dead and wounded. <\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>The psychological impact on German forces and German society of U.S. troops racing across the Rhine would have been far greater than the impact caused by the pointless slaughter of German civilians in Allied air raids on German cities. <\/p>\n<p>When I was growing up in Front Royal, Virginia, I met one of the few survivors of the <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Malmedy_massacre\"><strong>Malmedy massacre <\/strong><\/a>(the slaughter of American prisoners by the SS during the Battle of the Bulge).    A decade later, I lived in a group house with a retired CIA agent who fought in the Battle of the Bulge.   Frostbite, not a massacre, was his most vivid memory of that bitter time&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This is the 65th anniversary of the start of the Battle of the Bulge. While most Americans who are aware of the battle learned of it through Hollywood movies that portrayed valiant U.S. resistance to the German Wehrmacht, the truth is far more embarrassing to the U.S. Supreme Commander. The battle was completely unnecessary, and [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1358","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Battle of the Bulge Anniversary &amp; Debacle: Unnecessary Carnage - James Bovard<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2009\/12\/16\/battle-of-the-bulge-anniversary-debacle-unnecessary-carnage\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Battle of the Bulge Anniversary &amp; Debacle: Unnecessary Carnage - James Bovard\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"This is the 65th anniversary of the start of the Battle of the Bulge. While most Americans who are aware of the battle learned of it through Hollywood movies that portrayed valiant U.S. resistance to the German Wehrmacht, the truth is far more embarrassing to the U.S. Supreme Commander. The battle was completely unnecessary, and [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2009\/12\/16\/battle-of-the-bulge-anniversary-debacle-unnecessary-carnage\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"James Bovard\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/jim.bovard\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2009-12-16T21:06:39+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2009-12-17T13:46:41+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Jim\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@jimbovard\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Jim\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/2009\\\/12\\\/16\\\/battle-of-the-bulge-anniversary-debacle-unnecessary-carnage\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/2009\\\/12\\\/16\\\/battle-of-the-bulge-anniversary-debacle-unnecessary-carnage\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Jim\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/79550830ad81c14be529a2c37469974f\"},\"headline\":\"Battle of the Bulge Anniversary &#038; Debacle: Unnecessary Carnage\",\"datePublished\":\"2009-12-16T21:06:39+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2009-12-17T13:46:41+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/2009\\\/12\\\/16\\\/battle-of-the-bulge-anniversary-debacle-unnecessary-carnage\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":401,\"commentCount\":7,\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/2009\\\/12\\\/16\\\/battle-of-the-bulge-anniversary-debacle-unnecessary-carnage\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/2009\\\/12\\\/16\\\/battle-of-the-bulge-anniversary-debacle-unnecessary-carnage\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/2009\\\/12\\\/16\\\/battle-of-the-bulge-anniversary-debacle-unnecessary-carnage\\\/\",\"name\":\"Battle of the Bulge Anniversary & Debacle: Unnecessary Carnage - James Bovard\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2009-12-16T21:06:39+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2009-12-17T13:46:41+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/79550830ad81c14be529a2c37469974f\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/2009\\\/12\\\/16\\\/battle-of-the-bulge-anniversary-debacle-unnecessary-carnage\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/2009\\\/12\\\/16\\\/battle-of-the-bulge-anniversary-debacle-unnecessary-carnage\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/2009\\\/12\\\/16\\\/battle-of-the-bulge-anniversary-debacle-unnecessary-carnage\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Battle of the Bulge Anniversary &#038; Debacle: Unnecessary Carnage\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/\",\"name\":\"James Bovard\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/79550830ad81c14be529a2c37469974f\",\"name\":\"Jim\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/d95466cfd0934e38803c5035629df727ae4ec1f3f96c6883c05b5c52e2044505?s=96&d=mm&r=r\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/d95466cfd0934e38803c5035629df727ae4ec1f3f96c6883c05b5c52e2044505?s=96&d=mm&r=r\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/d95466cfd0934e38803c5035629df727ae4ec1f3f96c6883c05b5c52e2044505?s=96&d=mm&r=r\",\"caption\":\"Jim\"},\"description\":\"Bovard's homepage is at http:\\\/\\\/www.jimbovard.com He can be contacted at jim@jimbovard.com James Bovard is the author of ten books. The Wall Street Journal called Bovard \\\"the roving inspector general of the modern state\\\" and Washington Post columnist George Will called him a \\\"one-man truth squad.\\\" His 1994 book, Lost Rights: The Destruction of American Liberty, received the Free Press Association\u2019s Mencken Award as Book of the Year. His Terrorism &amp; Tyranny won the Lysander Spooner \\\"Best Book on Liberty in 2003\\\" award. He received the Thomas Szasz Award for Civil Liberties work, awarded by the Center for Independent Thought and the Freedom Fund Award from the Firearms Civil Rights Defense Fund of the National Rifle Association. Bovard\u2019s writings have been publicly denounced by FBI director Louis Freeh, the Secretary of Agriculture, the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, the Postmaster General, and the chiefs of the U.S. International Trade Commission, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency, as well as by many congressmen and other malcontents.\",\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/www.jimbovard.com\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/jim.bovard\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/jimbovard\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/author\\\/admin\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Battle of the Bulge Anniversary & Debacle: Unnecessary Carnage - James Bovard","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2009\/12\/16\/battle-of-the-bulge-anniversary-debacle-unnecessary-carnage\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Battle of the Bulge Anniversary & Debacle: Unnecessary Carnage - James Bovard","og_description":"This is the 65th anniversary of the start of the Battle of the Bulge. 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