Putin Praises Cold War Moles For Stealing U.S. Nuclear Secrets -- Reuters
(Reuters) - Vladimir Putin praised Cold War-era scientists on Thursday for stealing U.S. nuclear secrets so that United States would not be the world's sole atomic power, in comments reflecting his vision of Russia as a counterweight to U.S. power.
Spies with suitcases full of data helped the Soviet Union build its atomic bomb, he told military commanders.
"You know, when the States already had nuclear weapons and the Soviet Union was only building them, we got a significant amount of information through Soviet foreign intelligence channels," Putin said, according to state-run Itar-Tass.
"The were carrying the information away not on microfilm but literally in suitcases. Suitcases!"
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My Comment: When I read stories like this, I always remember what my father told me when we settled down in Canada (i.e. we are from Russia).
.... son, there are more communists in the U.S. and Canada than in the U.S.S.R.
For someone who was young and naive .... now growing up in Canada but also living beside the greatest country in the world .... I had trouble accepting what my father said. Why would anyone want to embrace a political philosophy that everyone back in the old U.S.S.R. knew was something that did not work .... and worse .... made everyone literally a slave to a corrupt and stifling state.
Years later .... going through university .... growing up, being involved in business/politics/causes/etc. .... traveling the world .... I found out that my father was right. For some reason many Canadians and Americans were sympathetic to the political philosophy behind the Soviet State .... and what is worse .... with all the information that has since come out after the fall of the Berlin Wall .... many still do. I do not need to look far to see how the American left/progressives still adore a monster like Castro or a mini tyrant like Chavez.
So did Cold War spies leave with suitcases of atomic secrets .... of course not .... don't be silly .... American sympathizers made sure that these Soviet Cold War Spies left with truckloads of secrets .... and maybe more.
And that's why people like Putin and many others are now laughing at the U.S. .... and doing it publicly with a big smile .... because this past is no longer a secret to anyone .... but to the Americans themselves.