The Polk Conspiracy

by Kati Marton

Book Overview

Here is a paperback reprint of the acclaimed and riveting story of the 1948 murder of the dogged and renowned CBS correspondent George Polk and the Cold War politics that protected his killers.... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0812920473
• ISBN13: 9780812920475
• Release Date: May 1992
• Publisher: Three Rivers Press
• Length: 369 Pages
• Weight: 1.40 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.3" x 1.0" x 6.0"

Customer Reviews

Assassinate Truth: Protect the Truman Doctrine

In May 1948, George Polk, a foreign correspondent for CBS news, was murdered in Greece. His murder was a tragedy. It was a tragedy for his family. It was a tragedy for truth. It was a tragedy for journalism. It was a tragedy for Greece. It was a tragedy for the future political direction of the United States.Greece was the setting of a civil war between a royalist government and Communist guerilla forces. But it was not the simple good guys versus the bad guys. The origins and course of the civil war were vastly more complex. Churchill and Stalin had cynically divided the Balkans-with Churchill selecting Greece for the British. Stalin kept his part of the deal. He did NOT support the communist guerillas. While still fighting the Nazis, Britain sent an expeditionary force into Greece to expel the occupation forces; restore the king; and support the Greek army in the civil war. When it became apparent that the British--having fought the Germans for over five years-the longest of any allied power-were depleted and were unable to maintain their empire they successfully prevailed upon the United States to take over for them. And so the Truman Doctrine was born.The situation in Greece was tragic. The German occupation had depleted a country that had been Europe's poorest. Its infrastructure had been destroyed. Many were homeless and/or starving. The corrupt fascist government that had been imposed by Briton favored a mere 2% of its citizens. Its response to dissent was mass executions or banishment to barren islands. It withheld hundreds of millions of dollars in American aid to prevent a drop in the high prices of goods. Having rid itself of the Nazi occupiers a bitter struggle ensued between these royalists and those longing for a "people's Greece". With the United States on the scene-to prevent the spread of communism--it now backed this corrupt, fascist, royalist government.George Polk was a most outstanding journalist. He was courageous, truthful and thorough. He was a loner who did not socialize with those he would report on. He told it like it was. Unlike most reporters, he was not influenced by the political consequences. His truthful reports embarrassed the corrupt Greek government and its American supporter as well. Continuation of the American program, that would soon terminate unless renewed, was endangered by these reports. News of his murder was met with shock and a public outcry. The Truman Administration had a crisis on its hands. The murderer had to be found.With considerable pressure from their American patron the Greek authorities solved the case. And guess what? SURPRISE. The communists did it. An innocent man confessed to his part in the crime-after he had been brutally tortured so that he could recall all of the things he was supposed to recall. Very prominent Americans dutifully endorsed the tribunal's verdict, even though they were fully aware of the duplicity. Among these were Secretary