MetaFilter posts tagged with Russia and war

How to screw up a war story

Anything — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 00:04:02 -0800

What was so shameful and embarrassing to me, an American journalist whose own Moscow-based newspaper, The eXile, had just been driven out of existence [previously] by these same Kremlin bastards, is that Sasha was rightly frustrated. A Kremlin minder right and the Western journalists wrong? What has this world come to when the Kremlin has a better grasp of the truth than the free Western media?

How to screw up a war story: The New York Times at work

Do you know these children?

Asparagirl — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 12:32:10 -0800

Do you, or an older relative of yours, recognize any of these children? More than 70 children separated from their families during WWII, now all elderly men and women, are using the Internet to try to find some answers about their pasts, their families, and sometimes even their own names. They are soliciting help and suggestions in the comments sections on each story. Sadly typical story: "The infant was hungry and crying, so her mother asked for milk from a Polish couple that happened to be on the train station. The Polish man brought milk for the baby. Then the Jewish mother asked if they would want to take the baby as their own because she could not keep it. This couple did not have any children, so after some consideration, they agreed. They asked the Jewish mother who she was, but she told them that it was better for them and for the baby not to know who she was. She then gave her newborn baby girl, who was probably one month old, to the Polish couple. The Polish couple raised the girl as if she was their biological daughter and never told her how she had come into the family. The girl grew up, married and had a son. It is this son who wants to find his Jewish roots..."

Georgia and Russia: the aftermath

languagehat — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 09:01:17 -0800

Georgia and Russia: This is the most balanced and informative discussion I've seen since the invasion over three months ago (MeFi thread). If you've been wanting to catch up, this essay and its many useful links are the way to go. The author, Donald Rayfield, is professor of Russian and Georgian and knows both countries well. (Via wood s lot.)

When Prague Spring Gave Way to Winter

chunking express — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 12:57:07 -0800

When Prague Spring Gave Way to Winter. There is also a small slide show of images discussed in the article at the NYT, and a post over at Magnum which contains more images.

Georgia: "They Started It!"

LMGM — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 02:34:34 -0800

Georgia offers evidence that Russia made the first move. (login NYT ; Bugmenot) Georgia is circulating recordings of intercepted telephone calls from the period leading up to the Georgia-Russia war in August, showing that Russian troops were moving through the Roki tunnel into South Ossetia a full day before Georgia started shelling Tskhinvali (the capital of S.O.). Russia claims that it was part of routine troop rotation in the region (where they maintained a peacekeeping force), while Georgia accuses them of invading on soverign territory.
In the meanwhile, NATO gives "partial support" to Georgia.

Are you there, God? It's me, Medvedev

stammer — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 06:58:37 -0800

Why I had to recognise Georgia’s breakaway regions, by Dmitry Medvedev.

On the Ground in Gori

chunking express — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 10:13:01 -0800

"Magnum photographer Thomas Dworzak is in Georgia for The Wall Street Journal. His photographic essays from the region span two decades and tell a moving story of the people and now war there." And for those of you who hate flash, you can view the photos at the WSJ's Photo Journal blog. [via hardcore street photography]

War by Miscalculation?

notsnot — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 08:48:13 -0800

The Russo-Georgian War and the Balance of Power- the Russian invasion of Georgia has not changed the balance of power in Eurasia. It simply announced that the balance of power had already shifted. (the real meat and taters starts after the first gray box)

The Notes of a Japanese prisoner in the USSR

tellurian — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 19:54:12 -0800

Kiuchi Nobuo - a Japanese airman in World War II, was captured and sent to a prison camp in the Ukraine. He tells his story with drawings.

The Polar Bear Expedition of 1918-1919

Rumple — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 01:19:19 -0800

"The "American Intervention in Northern Russia, 1918-1919," nicknamed the "Polar Bear Expedition," (wikipedia) was a U.S. military intervention in northern Russia at the end of World War I." The ostensible purpose was to open an Eastern Front following the Russian withdrawal from World War I, but in practice the unit stayed to fight Bolshevism. An archive of the expedition, which gives wonderful insight into early Bolshevik Russia as well as war-weary United States, is online. Notable are the many diaries and photographs by ordinary members of the expedition, as well as some poignant newspaper clippings from the home front, touristy snapshots, brutal snapshots, and a petition drawn up by a former member demanding the return of American troops from Russia (some of whom had seen amputation by pocketknife). After a long struggle, bodies of American troops were returned in 1930. The descendant of a trooper is also keeping an interesting blog, and this site gives a Russian perspective via photos and a mocking song.

Soviet era arcade games resurrected

planetkyoto — Thu, 07 Jun 2007 09:18:09 -0800

Uptick in Cold War-like rhetoric making you a little nostalgic for the era of parachute pants and Members Only jackets?
A cabal of Russki comrades at some pinko university have been going around collecting and resurrecting disused Soviet-era arcade games, which became instantly obsolete with the collapse of communism. Sea Wolf, Duck Hunt, Pole Position, Dogfight!
We begin bombing in five minutes.

return of the soviet union - the empire strikes back

chrisranjana.com — Tue, 29 May 2007 10:27:01 -0800

Russia on Tuesday test-launched a new intercontinental ballistic missile The points to note are:- It could penetrate any defense system, the statement did not specify how many warheads the missile can carry, it's either a decoy or something that has been developed in complete secrecy.

Russia in photos: 1941-1945

stavrosthewonderchicken — Fri, 11 May 2007 20:52:30 -0800

Russia in photos: 1941-1945.

Samantha Smith

goodnewsfortheinsane — Sat, 23 Dec 2006 08:20:52 -0800

In 1982, ten-year old Samantha Smith from Maine wrote a letter to Yuri Andropov asking whether there was going to be a nuclear war. Andropov responded, and Samantha accepted his invitation to stay at a Russian pioneer camp with Soviet children. Tragically, within the following two years both the young Samantha and Secretary Andropov passed away. (wmv)

Nazi home movies

bobbyelliott — Thu, 26 Oct 2006 02:56:02 -0800

A 10 minute home movie taken by an SS officer has been discovered in an English church. It shows SS officers and secretaries relaxing in the summer of 1942 in southern Russia. The last couple of minutes shows footage from a slave labor camp in that area. The footage was taken at the height of the German success in Russia, a few months before the turning point in the Russian campaign - and probably the turning point in the Second World War.

Anna Politkovskaya 1958 - 7 October 2006

hoskala — Sat, 07 Oct 2006 13:12:42 -0800

Newsfilter: Chechen war reporter found dead - Anna Politkovskaya. Courageous reporting from the "forgotten" conflicts in Caucasus. I guess she found out the truth too often.

Pobediteli: Soldiers of the Great War.

monju_bosatsu — Tue, 18 Oct 2005 14:38:24 -0800

Pobediteli: Soldiers of the Great War. In this year of the 60 Anniversary of the Victory we wish to personally thank the soldiers of the Great War living among us, and tell the story of their heroism.

Aleksandr Sokurov's "The Sun"

matteo — Tue, 13 Sep 2005 09:54:32 -0800

The Emperor's Bunker. "The Japanese, with sadness and irony, stressed that Hirohito couldn't even speak properly. This was partly to do with the fact that he didn't have to speak - people spoke in his name and he was isolated from real life". "The Sun", the third part in Russian director Aleksandr Sokurov's 'Men of Power' tetralogy after the gloom of Moloch (1999), about Hitler and Eva Braun, and the despairing tones of "Taurus" (2001), focused on the wheelchair-bound Lenin in his death throes, "The Sun" seems almost upbeat. This, after all, is a film about reconciliation. More inside.

One of the world's greatest unsung heroes?

ramakrishna — Sun, 05 Sep 2004 08:39:34 -0800

You may owe your life to this man If it weren't for Stanislav Petrov, many or even most of us reading this might be dead now - or never born, for the teens among us. At least according to this article, and the other links above.

Psst!

terrymiles — Fri, 18 Jun 2004 07:20:29 -0800

Putin says Iraq planned US attack

Oh, THOSE wmd's?, well.............

troutfishing — Sun, 16 Mar 2003 06:52:22 -0800

"Weapons of Mass Destruction", you say? Question: If Iraq is the vicious rat and North Korea the furious pygmy of WMD threats, where is the 800 pound gorilla? Answer - "...law enforcement officials worldwide have seized 40 kilograms of Russian-origin uranium and plutonium since 1991. Stanford researchers have also estimated that only 30 to 40 percent of the nuclear material stolen from facilities in Russia and other territories in the former Soviet Union are ever recovered by authorities." the collapse of the Soviet Union left vast stores of Nuclear weapons and weapons grade plutonium and uranium, and stocks of chemical and biological warfare agents lying about at dangerously underfunded facillities scattered through the vast expanse of the ex-Soviet realm. "Russian stockpiles of weapons and materials are the most likely source for terrorists attempting to acquire weapons of mass destruction", said US Senator Richard Lugar, Republican chairman of the Senate's Foreign Relations Committee. An international effort to destroy these stores of ex-Soviet WMD's is currently funded at a tiny fraction of the estimated cost of a possible US invasion and occupation of Iraq. (more inside)

Forget 50 Cent and Eminem

turbanhead — Wed, 26 Feb 2003 20:36:50 -0800

Give It Up for MC Zhirinovsky Flamboyant Russian ultra-nationalist Vladimir Zhirinovsky, renowned for his controversial views on Iraq, has had his words turned into an anti-war rap song. The song, titled "Don't you dare go shooting at Baghdad", is being launched on the internet, according to the Russian television station TVS.

wolfgangnorton — Wed, 09 Oct 2002 22:47:24 -0800

Army for sale! Russia will back the US in it's Iraq campaign only in exchange for money. Didn't they used to be a superpower? Now they are the A-Team?

Mack Twain — Fri, 13 Sep 2002 04:58:26 -0800

The Ultimatum has been delivered to the UN... This conflict, simmering for over ten years is about to erupt. "In strict accordance with international law," unilatteral military action is imminent unless demands are met. Animosity has been mounting steadily for months, and Russia is ready to invade Georgia. "No one can deny today, and for ourselves we are certain, that Georgian territory is sheltering both those who are implicated in the attacks on the United States and a direct operative involved in the attacks on housing units in Russia," Mr. Putin said on Russian television, echoing the logic U.S. President George W. Bush has used to rally international support for a pre-emptive strike on Iraq. The United States said it would not support Mr. Putin if he carried out his threat to attack Chechen rebel bases in Georgia, and slammed him for suggesting he might. "The United States strongly supports Georgia's territorial integrity and would oppose any unilateral military action by Russia inside Georgia," a U.S. State Department spokesman said. This all seems rather hypocritical, business as usual new world order politics: Is the price of getting UN Security Council approval on Iraq going to be public and secret deals, and is this really about the Chechens, or about breakaway republics and Caspian Sea oil? And what about China? Will we rubberstamp their ambitions re: Taiwan, Spratley Islands, Mongolia? And finally, why Georgia? I know they put up a two-bit Olympics and never caught that one terrorist bomber, but really, Georgia?

johnnyboy — Thu, 09 May 2002 05:07:30 -0800

the grave of the unknown rapist. does the brutality of war result in man sinking to the depths of depravity