The Best Soldier

[drunkenshoe]

BBC is airing a documentray about Soviet Navy officer Vasili Alexandrovich Arkhipov who persuaded his captain against the nuclear attack during the Cubean Missile Crisis when lost conract with Moscow. US force didn't know it was a nuclear submarine and tried to force it surface. He probably prevented a nuclear war by himself. The documentary is titled "The Man Who Saved the World".

It's not a surprise that the best act of a soldier is refusing to obey an order of attack, instead of doing his job. Saying, NO. Which is completely against the militarist logic in general, and they were under attack themselves. I pretty much doubt that something like this would happen today. I don't think anyone can't even imagine that pressure and the psychology 50 years ago those soviet soldiers were in.

Talk about a real HERO.

http://video.pbs.org/video/2295274962/

The source I took it from also says that this has just been revealed, but of course it's not. It has been written about before.

http://www.latinamericanstudies.org/cold-war/sovietsbomb.htm

[Baruch]

Another Soviet officer prevented nuclear war circa 1984, when the Russian defense system thought that a missile attack was occurring, when in fact it was a missile exercise in the north of Nato.

But there are very few people who can fly without an airplane, or look good in spandex ;-)

I have always been skeptical of demonizing opponents, and I have always liked the Russians, though as a "Cold Warrior" I considered them dangerous opponents until 1991.  And I have been entirely opposed to aggressive Nato actions in Ukraine etc over the last 1+ year.  It is folly to provoke a bear.

[drunkenshoe]

I think what is so impressive about Arkhipov is that he wasn't sitting on a desk in his country looking at a report of a defense system.

He was in a nuclear submarine -for how long who knows- they were under attack and they didn't have any contact with Moscow. Most of the people would just drop their head and obey his superior's commands just not to shoulder the pressure alone. He says no, persuades him.

I'm not getting in to an anochronistic exercise of what would have happened if the attacked nuclear submarine was a US force. See, I am not.

[drunkenshoe]

I have always been skeptical of demonizing opponents,

It is a very good personal sentiment. However, it is very unrealistic in the big picture. The whole people/media support -which is a huge proportion-  side of the wars is BASED ON demonising the other. Not just demonising, also dehumanising. It's a systematic, professional business. It also pays very well. Like you said yourself in the thread about the sick islamic extremist raping a child. It's very east to do.

It's just continous certain expressions of language. You never express the word Christianity or American in any violent news, while under reporting the crimes and events and if possible not make it to news at all. Either domestic or international. On the other hand, you'll make every violent news related to others -muslims or any other group than white christian- sure to define them with a graphic, highly emoitonal language to describe the vile act in long sentences.

For example there was a case years ago about an American soldier raping and Iraki girl and killing her family. He was presented as 'a psyhcopath' with his name cut out from his position. A man from a western culture killing his wife is a psychopath and he does this because he is mentally very ill; domestic violence. A muslim man is reported commiting the same crime because of being a muslim. They have managed to define the name equal to rape. According to most western people's vision of middle east...we are all constantly getting raped here. Nothing else happens. No it is not a hyperbolic expression. That's the unconscious frame of mind. 

This is not just about the foriegn enemy. White crime -esp. violent ones- are always under reported in the US. There are solid sources screaming their head off white on white crime is as higher as black on black crime, also male violence on female is far low in black groups compared to whites, BUT almost everyone -mostly white- still thinks that they are likely to get killed/attacked by a black perpetrator. That blacks are more prone to violence.

There was a very interesting article about general policies against heroine usage in the US. How that it changed face and got softer when heroine spread among white groups and suddenly it became something else than it was in years, since 60s.

But of course most of the white people still can't see racism around, it is just the media. And muslims are protected by lefties.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

Strange behaviour for a meat machine, no?

[drunkenshoe]

Strange behaviour for a meat machine, no?

It's 'meat grinder', not meat machine. And it's the name of the industry, not the soldiers. Soldiers are the meat. The ones who don't have a choice to get out, I mean.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

It's 'meat grinder', not meat machine. And it's the name of the industry, not the soldiers. Soldiers are the meat. The ones who don't have a choice to get out, I mean.

I didn't bring that term up first here. Speak to the author.

[drunkenshoe]

I used it in the Worship Soldier thread.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

I used it in the Worship Soldier thread.

So you refute yourself. Interesting. Maybe you should put you on ignore? ;)

[Baruch]

Drunkenshoe ... sometimes I report where others are coming from (the Elite for instance).  Sometimes I am reporting my own feelings, beliefs, knowledge or understanding.  This medium and my lack of skill, sometimes doesn't make that clear.  There is a context to what I post, and I have my own agenda, as do you.  Our agendas here are not the same, but you haven't seen me anti-post what I perceive your agenda to be, at least not directly.  That would be judging you, and if you have perceived some such ad hominem, I assure you, it is only your anxiety, it isn't in me.  We really don't know each other, and I suspect in person I would really like you as a friend, in spite of your impassioned expression ... I like people who are different ... and someone from Anatolia is different to most people on this web page (though there are a few other Commonwealth folks who are not American).

It is not in my agenda to engage is American bashing, Christian bashing, Male bashing, White bashing, Adult bashing etc ... though if it did, it would more appropriately be under a political thread, though it is not my agenda to post in such threads ... I do that on a different blog.  I don't bash, it isn't my way (except American presidential candidates ... bash, bash bash).  I present a neutral face here ... and if that offends you, please accept my plea for tolerance of it.

[drunkenshoe]

Drunkenshoe ... sometimes I report where others are coming from (the Elite for instance).  Sometimes I am reporting my own feelings, beliefs, knowledge or understanding.  This medium and my lack of skill, sometimes doesn't make that clear.  There is a context to what I post, and I have my own agenda, as do you.  Our agendas here are not the same, but you haven't seen me anti-post what I perceive your agenda to be, at least not directly.  That would be judging you, and if you have perceived some such ad hominem, I assure you, it is only your anxiety, it isn't in me.  We really don't know each other, and I suspect in person I would really like you as a friend, in spite of your impassioned expression ... I like people who are different ... and someone from Anatolia is different to most people on this web page (though there are a few other Commonwealth folks who are not American).

It is not in my agenda to engage is American bashing, Christian bashing, Male bashing, White bashing, Adult bashing etc ... though if it did, it would more appropriately be under a political thread, though it is not my agenda to post in such threads ... I do that on a different blog.  I don't bash, it isn't my way (except American presidential candidates ... bash, bash bash).  I present a neutral face here ... and if that offends you, please accept my plea for tolerance of it.

I don't understand why are you telling me this, if it doesn't affect you at all.

Yes you do offend me, I told you why in another thread. Go read that one. Basically, you are fake.

[Baruch]

As you like it.  Fortunately I am not under the illusion that I please everyone, nor that I can do so, nor that I should.  You impugn my integrity, but it affects me not, so why bother?

[Solitary]

Just when I have relaxed and found peace of mind I looked at the two videos. Just think what would happened now when religious are willing to die for Allah have atomic weapons. They have every reason to attack and be glorious martyrs. I don't think the world is going to last much longer because of funda"mental" religion in control of our destinies.    Checkmate!

[drunkenshoe]

As you like it.  Fortunately I am not under the illusion that I please everyone, nor that I can do so, nor that I should.  You impugn my integrity, but it affects me not, so why bother?

I'll bother.

You are trying to draw this fatherly, wise old Jewish guy portrait, but in your posts while you keep repeating an old rhetoric of  'aah humanity...what is the man compared to...and history' with commonplace sentiments of peace and unity, you conflict with yourself at every turn. You are pretending to criticise something while you actually completely support it. You are a religious right winger with a designed language. You are perfectly happy with the general picture and everything you pretend to condemn, but you pretend that you are not, with exact same lines you keep sticking between a few philosophers names which apparently cannot get past the time line of 19th century.

You are also very direct though you are sayin that you are not. You are just trying to drown any real comment you type in a series of 'sweet' sentiments covering all, so it wouldn't look obvious. You openly tried to berate political critcism in the Worship Soldier thread, yet you claim soldiers are out there dying because of politicians -which you supposedly detest almost in every post- and defined that as ugly human condition. The thread was completely based on that. You got pissed off when Amercian militarism was criticised, you back lashed in a passive garessive style from another's personal post.

You keep repeating the same sentences about 'demonising' other people and cultures -again with 'bad bad politicians' replique- stick some vague rhetoric between and then you say you support 'insert common mainstream American policy here' which is based on the demonising propaganda in the US. Like everything about the Middle East or any nonwestern other culture of the world. You might not know anything about mine past the American propaganda, but I know your culture, Baruch. My sister lives there and quite a few people from my family lived and still live in the US.

Do you even mean anything you write? It's like if your posts were something material and we shook the stuffing part down to leave the essence, there would be only god-religion-nation politics left.

None of that points to some integrity. It's not neutral either. That's snake oiling. 


You can anti-post me every time you like. It's much better than reading that^. Or, there is an ignore list in your profile. If you type the first letters of my nick it would come up and when clicked you don't see my posts.

[drunkenshoe]

... funda"mental" religion in control of our destinies.    Checkmate!

I like that.