EzraS wrote:
kraftiekortie wrote:
If you lived during the Cold War, you would probably be skeptical about Russian intentions.
I am of Russian descent. I really enjoy reading about the history of Russia. So I am not fundamentally anti-Russian. I am more anti-Soviet Union.
The problem I have with Putin is that he was in the KGB, which was the Soviet secret police.
And I find it a big problem that he seeks to increase Russia's nuclear arsenal. People who lived in the Cold War would have a BIG problem with that.
I read that Putin was in the the Federal Security Service wich was an arm of the KGB, rather than him being a KGB agent. And also that he was in favor of Perestroika. I read his wanting to do this was in response to Syria rather than the US. But I see it as the idea of a deterrent to war rather than doing it because he wants a war. I'm more concerned over what him and Trump are preparing for. It sounds to me like something that's a threat to both Russia and the US. As far as the cold war goes, I believe that was more a matter of the US considering communism to be a threat to their imperialism, the "American Dream".
The Soviets were far more imperialistic than America ever was. It was in fact the mass murderer, Joseph Stalin, who had instigated the Cold War, and threw up the Iron Curtain, after devouring half of Europe at the end of WWII. There was absolutely nothing altruistic about Soviet expansion. And it was just that Soviet (Russian) Empire that Putin wants to restore, as he sees the loss of Russian prestige and power following the end of the Cold War as his country's greatest tragedy.
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-Bill, otherwise known as Kraichgauer