novanglus – yes I have learned much about the world from reading Lenin’s and Stalin’s actual writings, which I had never thought to do before a few months ago. I happen to believe, in light of actual events, that Stalin’s “The Foundations of Leninism” may be the most important book of the 20th Century.
I also happen to believe that the elevation of Antonio Gramsci is evidence of ignorance of Lenin’s writings – it’s all in Lenin, all of it. Even Stalin credits the long-term peace offensive subversion strategy in “Foundations,” although he says now (1927, when USSR was alone) is not the time to pursue such a strategy, but that it could be possible in the “distant future.”
Well, when the World War strategy didn’t result in World Revolution, but did result in a global encirclement and enfeeblement of “Capitalism,” most obviously in Europe, wouldn’t right now qualify as “the distant future” as seen from 1927? Not that that inference is proof positive, but yet another weight on the scale of probability.
What’s most interesting to me about Bezmenov’s videos (check out the user “hermitcleric” on YouTube for the full extant catalogue) is that it tends to confirm, albeit obliquely, that multi-generational subversive effort of the World Communist intelligence services as their strategy is described by Anatoliy Golitsyn, Jan Sejna, and the other writers JR Nyquist and Edward Epstein refer to. James Jesus Angelton was a believer, and frankly – from this remote location marooned in my own life – I tend to think the explanatory power of their accounts of Soviet strategy, allowing for probable innaccuracies since any strategy is carried out by living improvisatory beings, shifts the burden of proof to the other side. Add Pacepa, some things Kalugin says, Vladimir Bukovsky, and the works of Viktor Suvorov… and? What more do you want or believe you could learn about such a strategy, however different in its details in reality?
One thing’s for certain: there is a genius to this madness. It is impossible to read these people, to review the history of the 20th century without fear of being converted to “McCarthyism” or “fascism” (an anachronism that should be retired), without developing a profound appreciation of their genius. I hate to attribute a quality so admired to a people and project so perverse and evil, but hey – Satan is smart.
“how do they get so high in the ranks to cause that much damage?”
FWIW, I’ve read that the KGB handlers feed genuine information to their agents (i.e. co-optees) in order to get them promoted to positions of influence within the necessary institutions – whether they be CIA, State, Defense, media, arts, wherever. You get good intel, you get promoted – I mean, the enemy would never compromise actual secrets to advance some higher cause, like subverting your whole goddamn State Department right? Nah.
