George Kennan, Ambassador Harriman’s top aide in the Moscow embassy, wrote around this time, “The idea of a Germany run jointly with the Russians is a chimera. The idea of both the Russians and ourselves withdrawing politely at a given date and a healthy, peaceful, stable, and friendly Germany arising out of the resulting vacuum is also a chimera. We have no choice but to lead our section of Germany . . . to a form of independence so prosperous, so secure, so superior, that the East cannot threaten it.” (Thus the future foundation of West Germany, which formed its official government four
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