1989 Was A Good Year

A very good year.

More info here and here.

The Unexpected Peaceful End

Twenty years ago today, the Berlin Wall fell. The East German government announced a new travel policy allowing East Germans to leave - at will.

The Wall fell. A wall built for the purpose not of keeping invaders out but keeping subjects within fell.

The Berlin Wall, a plain and obvious reminder of the tyranny that the Soviet Union imposed was shattered; and the world changed again. My grandparents saw that wall be built; they never imagined that it would come down in their lifetimes.

What it has become, we are still trying to understand.

The Telegraph has an excellent feature with background information.

ABC News has posted some archival footage on YouTube:
Nov. 9, 1989 Special Report
Nov. 10, 1989
Nov. 10, 1989 Nightline

And National Review has some pieces:
Centuries in the Making
The Road from 1989
Remembering the Fall
Symposium

Two Russian Submarines Patrolling Off East Coast

Back to the Bad Old Days. Paging Jack Ryan...

From the New York Times(!):

Russian Subs Patrolling Off East Coast of U.S.

WASHINGTON — A pair of nuclear-powered Russian attack submarines has been patrolling off the eastern seaboard of the United States in recent days, a rare mission that has raised concerns inside the Pentagon and intelligence agencies about a more assertive stance by the Russian military.

The episode has echoes of the cold war era, when the United States and the Soviet Union regularly parked submarines off each other’s coasts to steal military secrets, track the movements of their underwater fleets — and be poised for war.

But the collapse of the Soviet Union all but eliminated the ability of the Russian Navy to operate far from home ports, making the current submarine patrols thousands of miles from Russia more surprising for military officials and defense policy experts.

“I don’t think they’ve put two first-line nuclear subs off the U.S. coast in about 15 years,” said Norman Polmar, a naval historian and submarine warfare expert.

The submarines are of the Akula class, a counterpart to the Los Angeles class attack subs of the United States Navy, and not one of the larger submarines that can launch intercontinental nuclear missiles.

Of course, if they were of the type that could launch ICBMs, the Russians would be violating several conventions, and escalating matters far more than they already have.

And the Russians aren't denying it. From the AP:

Russian general confirms submarine patrols near US

MOSCOW – A top Russian general says two nuclear-powered Russian attack submarines that have been spotted off the U.S. East Coast are part of regular patrols. Anatoly Nogovitsyn, the deputy chief of staff of Russia's armed forces, says the patrols are not newsworthy.

Right.

But this doesn't seem to cause much consternation among the Navy blogs I visit.
Cdr. Salamander isn't worried. Neither is EagleSpeak.

Galrahn at Information Dissemination isn't too concerned, but has his usual thoughtful insight, and is worth reading.

So maybe I'm overblowing this. Taken in isolation, I probably am, but taken in aggregate...

Playing An Old Game

An old, dangerous game.

From the Canadian news network CTV.ca:

As security officials worked to secure Ottawa on the eve of U.S. President Barack Obama's visit, Canadian fighter jets were scrambling to intercept a Russian bomber plane in the Arctic skies.

At a press conference Friday, Defence Minister Peter MacKay said the incident happened on Feb. 18th.

"At no time did Russian airplanes enter Canadian airspace but within 24 hours of the president's visit here to Canada last week we did scramble two F-18 fighter planes from Norad (North American Aerospace Defense Command) and Canada command," MacKay said.

We're moving back to the 1970s in domestic politics, why not international politics as well...

Marking the Sparrow's Fall - John Barron, Cold Warrior

John J. Miller, in today's National Review Online:

"Despite this accomplishment [revealing the Chappaquiddick scandal], Barron was best known for reporting on one of his first loves: espionage. His most important work for Reader’s Digest involved exposing the evils of Communism in general and the schemes of the KGB in particular. His first book, KGB: The Secret Work of Soviet Agents, prompted the Soviet spy bureau to issue at least 370 damage assessments and other reports. Moscow was so rattled by his journalism, in fact, that it sponsored a smear campaign against him."

Now that's a reporter. When you make the Soviet Union consider you a threat...

R.I.P.