It has to be remembered that many of the atrocities the Stalin committed were not known until long after his death. Most western countries were nervous about the international nature of the USSR, which had as one of its stated goals the global proliferation of communism. This fear was especially acute during the great depression, when communist movements found favour in most of Europe. It was largely due to the reaction against communism that Hitler and Mussolini came to power. It only makes sense that the west would trivialize Russia's role in WW2 during the subsequent Cold War. The type of black and white world developed during the era of McCarthyism in the United States demanded that the Soviet system not be given any sort of credibility. However, during the Second World War a mountain in the Canadian Rockies was named after Stalin (Mt. Stalin now renamed Mt. Peck). Attitudes of suspicion towards the Soviets existed throughout WW2, especially followng the Yalta conference and with regards to the fate of Eastern Europe and the USSR's failure to declare war on Japan. I would suggest that the US was significantly suspicious of the SU by that time, rather than after Kennan's telegram. In fact, Patton suggested that once Germany was conquered the West should have rebuilt Germany's army to invade the SU. But he was a bit of a nutcase. Certainly, the US' suspicion is made clear through their immediate end of lend lease to the SU, some boats turning back just short of Russian Ports. Regardless, suspicion of communism was rampant throughout the 1930s, in the US to some extent and hugely in Europe. The Cold War could almost be regarded as an extension of the Russian Civil War of 1919-21 when the Western Powers (including Canada) sent combat troops to quash the Bolshevik government in Russia.