Stalin Would’ve Put Some Fear In You, You Asses!
Published in Izvestia
(Russia) on 31 July 2014
by Eduard Limonov (link to original)
(Russia) on 31 July 2014
by Eduard Limonov (link to original)
Translated from
by Jeffrey Fredrich.
Edited by Emily France.
When the Cuban missile crisis broke out, I was already an adult. I had already been out of school for three years and was working at the “Hammer and Sickle.” I remember that time well.
Now they say that back then the world was on the brink of nuclear war. I believe it.
But outwardly, the statesmen of that time behaved reasonably, behaved, by and large, like gentlemen. They didn’t permit themselves to use harsh rhetoric.
At the height of the crisis, which lasted for about six days in all, from October 22 to October 28, 1962, John Kennedy exhorted Khrushchev and convinced him to “show prudence… and observe the terms of the quarantine [of Cuba].”
There you have the sort of polite vocabulary that Kennedy used.
Khrushchev, in his second conciliatory letter to Kennedy, politely wrote, “we and you ought not now to pull on the ends of the rope in which you have tied the knot of war.”
“In order to reassure them” (meaning the United States), the entire Politburo, at Khrushchev’s suggestion, went to the Bolshoi at the height of the crisis – to say, look, nothing’s happening, it’s business as usual. If we were going to attack you, do you really think we’d be going to the Bolshoi?
Such was the message sent. Let me remind you what all the fuss was about back then.
In 1961, the U.S. deployed its medium-range “Jupiter” missiles in Turkey, near the city of Izmir. The missiles could reach all of the cities in the western part of the Soviet Union, including Moscow, from Turkey.
When Khrushchev visited Bulgaria, the local communists told him, pointing in the direction of Turkey, “American missiles can reach us here in minutes. And they’ll arrive in Moscow very quickly too.” Khrushchev then became agitated and by the fall of 1962 gave the order to secretly deploy Soviet nuclear missiles in Cuba.
By October 22 of the same year, an American spy plane discovered the Soviet missiles on the island, and photographs of the missiles were laid on Kennedy’s desk.
I didn’t begin this article to write about the Cuban missile crisis. People remember it, and there is much written about it. I would like now, when the tragic Ukrainian crisis is going on before our very eyes, to compare the behavior of the American side then and now.
Then, both sides behaved like diplomat Lavrov behaves now: diplomatically and discreetly. As a matter of fact, even Putin behaves in accordance with diplomatic etiquette. The American side, however, behaves like a bunch of drunk gangsters and whores.
We see that shrew, Jen Psaki – arrogant, rude and full of deceit; we see her equal, Victoria Nuland; we hear hysterical elderly senators with an unfortunate Vietnam past who are nothing but warmongers. They threaten us with their fists; they do not hesitate to threaten us.
Besides elderly senators, President Obama has urged “punishing Russia” many times. “Let’s let Russia really feel it,” echoed one of the senators.*
They intimidate us, make demands of us and, unprecedentedly, suggest we abandon our foreign policy and submit to the United States’ diktat.
They suggest that we abandon support for the people of the Donbas, even though they are part of the Russian nation and are no different than residents of neighboring Russian regions, residents of the Rostov region or residents of the Krasnodar or Stavropol regions. They speak the very same dialect as the southern Russian regions. They dress the same. They are we; we are they. We have a 300-year history in common.
Perhaps the United States doesn’t know this and doesn’t teach its citizens the history of Russia and or of the Donbass. So be it. But your impudence, ladies and gentlemen, is off the charts! I suppose you got your filthy manners from your Kiev wards? Did you study under the now-deceased Sashko Bilyi? Are you learning from Lyashko?**
The United States has suddenly discovered its unprecedented cynicism. They don’t shy away from behaving like drunk, cocky gangsters in their relations with Russia. President Obama, who up until the Ukraine crisis had given the impression of a more or less poised gentleman, has before our very eyes turned into a smart-ass hooligan.
Wake up! Get it together! Think of decency. Remember that you are dealing with a strong and proud nation, which might take offense and let you have it right in the face.
Stalin would’ve put some fear in you, you asses!
*Editor’s Note: the original quotation, accurately translated, could not be verified.
**Translator’s Note: Oleksandr Muzychko, also known as Sashko Bily, was a notorious Ukrainian ultranationalist wanted by the Russian authorities prior to his death, which occurred under murky circumstances in March. Oleh Lyashko, leader of Ukraine’s Radical Party, has become infamous in Russia for his close involvement with paramilitary groups fighting pro-Russian separatists.
Now they say that back then the world was on the brink of nuclear war. I believe it.
But outwardly, the statesmen of that time behaved reasonably, behaved, by and large, like gentlemen. They didn’t permit themselves to use harsh rhetoric.
At the height of the crisis, which lasted for about six days in all, from October 22 to October 28, 1962, John Kennedy exhorted Khrushchev and convinced him to “show prudence… and observe the terms of the quarantine [of Cuba].”
There you have the sort of polite vocabulary that Kennedy used.
Khrushchev, in his second conciliatory letter to Kennedy, politely wrote, “we and you ought not now to pull on the ends of the rope in which you have tied the knot of war.”
“In order to reassure them” (meaning the United States), the entire Politburo, at Khrushchev’s suggestion, went to the Bolshoi at the height of the crisis – to say, look, nothing’s happening, it’s business as usual. If we were going to attack you, do you really think we’d be going to the Bolshoi?
Such was the message sent. Let me remind you what all the fuss was about back then.
In 1961, the U.S. deployed its medium-range “Jupiter” missiles in Turkey, near the city of Izmir. The missiles could reach all of the cities in the western part of the Soviet Union, including Moscow, from Turkey.
When Khrushchev visited Bulgaria, the local communists told him, pointing in the direction of Turkey, “American missiles can reach us here in minutes. And they’ll arrive in Moscow very quickly too.” Khrushchev then became agitated and by the fall of 1962 gave the order to secretly deploy Soviet nuclear missiles in Cuba.
By October 22 of the same year, an American spy plane discovered the Soviet missiles on the island, and photographs of the missiles were laid on Kennedy’s desk.
I didn’t begin this article to write about the Cuban missile crisis. People remember it, and there is much written about it. I would like now, when the tragic Ukrainian crisis is going on before our very eyes, to compare the behavior of the American side then and now.
Then, both sides behaved like diplomat Lavrov behaves now: diplomatically and discreetly. As a matter of fact, even Putin behaves in accordance with diplomatic etiquette. The American side, however, behaves like a bunch of drunk gangsters and whores.
We see that shrew, Jen Psaki – arrogant, rude and full of deceit; we see her equal, Victoria Nuland; we hear hysterical elderly senators with an unfortunate Vietnam past who are nothing but warmongers. They threaten us with their fists; they do not hesitate to threaten us.
Besides elderly senators, President Obama has urged “punishing Russia” many times. “Let’s let Russia really feel it,” echoed one of the senators.*
They intimidate us, make demands of us and, unprecedentedly, suggest we abandon our foreign policy and submit to the United States’ diktat.
They suggest that we abandon support for the people of the Donbas, even though they are part of the Russian nation and are no different than residents of neighboring Russian regions, residents of the Rostov region or residents of the Krasnodar or Stavropol regions. They speak the very same dialect as the southern Russian regions. They dress the same. They are we; we are they. We have a 300-year history in common.
Perhaps the United States doesn’t know this and doesn’t teach its citizens the history of Russia and or of the Donbass. So be it. But your impudence, ladies and gentlemen, is off the charts! I suppose you got your filthy manners from your Kiev wards? Did you study under the now-deceased Sashko Bilyi? Are you learning from Lyashko?**
The United States has suddenly discovered its unprecedented cynicism. They don’t shy away from behaving like drunk, cocky gangsters in their relations with Russia. President Obama, who up until the Ukraine crisis had given the impression of a more or less poised gentleman, has before our very eyes turned into a smart-ass hooligan.
Wake up! Get it together! Think of decency. Remember that you are dealing with a strong and proud nation, which might take offense and let you have it right in the face.
Stalin would’ve put some fear in you, you asses!
*Editor’s Note: the original quotation, accurately translated, could not be verified.
**Translator’s Note: Oleksandr Muzychko, also known as Sashko Bily, was a notorious Ukrainian ultranationalist wanted by the Russian authorities prior to his death, which occurred under murky circumstances in March. Oleh Lyashko, leader of Ukraine’s Radical Party, has become infamous in Russia for his close involvement with paramilitary groups fighting pro-Russian separatists.
I am an american, and everything I learned about Russian history I had to learn on my own. All I ever heard in school and in the media was propaganda.
For example, all I knew about the Cuban missile crisis was that Russia wanted nuclear weapons in Cuba. I didn’t know about US missiles in Turkey.
I am an american, and everything I learned about Russian history I had to learn on my own. All I ever heard in school and in the media was propaganda.
For example, all I knew about the Cuban missile crisis was that Russia wanted nuclear weapons in Cuba. I didn’t know about US missiles in Turkey.
I am an american, and everything I learned about Russian history I had to learn on my own. All I ever heard in school and in the media was propaganda.
For example, all I knew about the Cuban missile crisis was that Russia wanted nuclear weapons in Cuba. I didn’t know about US missiles in Turkey.