Posted on 02/01/2006 8:41:52 AM PST by struwwelpeter
"...Americans are very empathetic, because they know well what a terrorist attack is."
What do you remember?
"America for me was like a continuation of Karaganda. They met me at the airport and took me into Manhattan. They asked: 'Well, how do you like America? Isn't it striking?' And then I'm almost tossed from my seat by a pothole. I answered: 'The roads are the same as in Karaganda – I feel like I'm still at home'. What astonished me were those same terrible roads in Manhattan that we have.
"But in California I had the impression that I was watching a movie. Do you know the film 'Pretty Woman'? There I was, walking down the same street, standing in front of the same hotel. In Los Angeles I saw the governor of California, Schwarzenegger. He was in a luxurious black limousine. He had a police escort: a car and motorcyclists in front and behind. We had just got off a bus, by the crosswalk. Suddenly 2 motorcyclists stopped in front of us and blocked traffic in one direction. We couldn't cross the street, and waited for 10 minutes. Then Schwarzenegger’s car passed, and all the motorcyclists took off after him...
"America is a very comfortable country to live in. They have a completely different view of a person, their health and life. In New York, for example, the metro is very functional. No marble or murals such as in Moscow. They simply dig a ditch, put in the metal constructions, cover it with tiles, bury it, roll down the asphalt - and that's it. Then there are the specially equipped metro stations for wheelchairs.
"Just a year ago the Moscow metro opened a new station in Victory Park, the deepest one yet - with four escalators and not a single ramp for wheelchairs! In America they make a lot of accommodation for the handicapped. They can even ride their wheelchairs into buses! The first time I saw this, it was like watching a movie. The front door of bus is wide, and the driver had some kind of a sliding ramp. He even leaves the cab and helps the invalid to get in. Only after this can the remaining people enter the bus."
Did you go to the site of the September 11th tragedy?
"Yes. There was gigantic construction work to restore the area around the towers, because everything had been destroyed by the fire and shock wave. As they told me, the buildings had been built to withstand the impact of aircraft, but not the explosions. The metal frameworks had simply melted.
"On the site of the tragedy there will be a memorial, where they will place a plaque with a roster of all those who were killed. There was a competition throughout America for the plans for a new financial center, and a mock-up of the winning project was there.
"They showed me a steamboat that traveled between New Jersey and Manhattan, which for many on September 11th was their savior. When this all happened, people ran from the point of impact to the ferry boat. People in New Jersey who had boats went to Manhattan to rescue people.
"Many live in New Jersey and work in Manhattan, so the ferry has a big parking lot. My friend in New Jersey said that she realized the dimensions of tragedy when she saw how many cars remained in the lot on September 11th, because their owners were no longer alive."
Coincidence
Svetlana recalled with special warmth the 'former Soviets' who invited her to visit them. A family from Sacramento, Glenn and Viktoria Hegel, got in touch with Svetlana in the first days after the tragedy at Dubrovka, while she was still in Moscow. They created a special site on the Internet, where letters from those who wanted to support our compatriot arrived.
"It's a pity, that I couldn’t make it to Sacramento. Glenn and Viktoria showed me such concern. My trip to the states was 80% thanks to their help. Glenn called around to people in the states who could put me up, and spent some time showing me around. He thought up my route, we agreed on a timeframe, and he notified people.
"I visited New York, Los Angeles, Oklahoma City, and Philadelphia. It turned out that I was able to soak my feet in both the Pacific and Atlantic oceans.
"At the end I was tired of dragging this large suitcase around with me. So I thought: 'that’s it, I can't bring any more'.
"I was rarely left alone; I always had a personal translator and driver. In Oklahoma City I felt like 'the moving red banner'. I lived in one place, and Americans would take turns, deciding among themselves who would take me somewhere and bring me back."
You did not know these people?
"No, they were people I didn't know. They all had kind words. They tried to entertain me, took me everywhere and fed me.
"I have the impression that it was Kazakhstan women exclusively who immigrated to Oklahoma City. The girl I lived with, Vera, was from here, and she had many friends also from Kazakhstan. They are, in essence, American wives, and in general, happy ones.
"I thought that Gubareva was a rare surname, but to my surprise I ran into a Svetlana Gubareva from Kazakhstan there, who also has a daughter (though a little younger than Sasha) and a fiancé from Oklahoma. When me met, Sveta told me how when she learned about this coincidence, she felt like she'd been at 'Nord-Ost'(the Moscow theater terrorists attack, where Svetlana's daughter Sasha and American fiance Sandy Booker died - ed.).
"We got together a lot, and I joked that Sveta was my best translator-driver. I continue to write her. I hope that we'll meet again."
Oklahoma City
"They say that New York City is not the real America, just as Moscow is not the real Russia. The genuine America, of course, is Oklahoma, Sandy's home state. The environment there is similar to Kazakhstan.
"As a gift, I brought a book about Kazakhstan with large illustrations. When Sandy's mother began to turn the pages, she exclaimed: 'Oh, this so is similar to our Oklahoma!' The same immense spaces. Whatever direction you look in, you can see right up to the horizon."
How were you received by Sandy's family?
"I was prepared for the fact that some may not have wanted to meet me, but everything turned out differently. They were warm and understanding. We did not discuss my visit previously. I called Jean from New York (the girls there helped me with my translation again). I said that, if she had no objections, I'd like to call on her when I got to Oklahoma City. She was interested, and said that I must come there when I arrived.
"We met several times, and I met Sandy's sister and brother. His sister took me to the airport when I was leaving. But the biggest surprise came when Sandy's ex-wife found me, and she and their daughter came with a pile of gifts."
Thanks for the read.
(Russian version of Rush Limbaugh) M. GANAPOLSKY: I'll now demonstrate for you an example of irresponsibility. Helen writes, "Matvei Yurievich, your guests blame their misfortune on everyone except the Chechen terrorists. What are they doing, justifying their (the terrorist's) actions?" Helen, get away from your radio, you are surely listening to a different broadcast. No, you don't even have to answer this question, because they don't know what they're talking about.
S.GUBAREVA: No, I'll answer. That fact that the Chechens are guilty, this is unambiguous, this is not subject to doubt, because had it not been for them, nothing else would've happened. But we are talking about something else, about how the authorities acted.
P. FINOGENOV: And about how the investigation was conducted.
(SNIP)
(Radio caller) YEKATERINA: I also voted 'for', that it's necessary to investigate further. But I have the only question, which those present didn't answer, your question about what they are trying to get?
M. GANAPOLSKY: What do you think?
YEKATERINA: Follow my, perhaps, not entirely correct logic, that even if the courts recognize and find the guilty, the most they can do is award damages. Is this not so?
M. GANAPOLSKY: If they find the guilty, then these people will be named, right?
YEKATERINA: Will they feel better if this happens?
M. GANAPOLSKY: We will now find that out. Do you want money, punishment, or what?
S.GUBAREVA: More than anything, the punishment of the guilty.
P. FINOGENOV: Our struggle goes on within the framework of a criminal case, and our demands correspond 100% with criminal evidence. That is, the demand that they determine the course of events, what happened there, and to establish who the real culprits are, within the framework of the criminal case. None of us has filed a civil claim thus far.
M. GANAPOLSKY: You're a bit embarrassed to speak about this, and this shows, but I'd like to remind our radio listeners. Yes, they'll have to give money. Svetlana, do you have any other children?
S.GUBAREVA: No.
M. GANAPOLSKY: What will Svetlana do when she is old? Who will get her a glass of water when she's 80? Who? This is the Soviet in us.
S.GUBAREVA: I don't think that I'll make it to 80 with this pain.
P. FINOGENOV: The main objective, which we are now trying to attain, is to determine the specific events that happened during 'Nord-Ost', and which preceded 'Nord-Ost', and to find out the organizers and perpetrators of the crime. Our complaints consist specifically of these demands.
"Ya khochu napomnit' vam o proisshedshey mnogo let nazad v SShA istrorii, otdalenno napominayushchey nashu situatsiyu, kogda v shtate Tekhas sily FBR, upravleniya po kontrolyu za oruzhiem i drugie gosudarstvennye sluzhby sovmestno shturmovali usad'by sektantov, primenili pri ehtom slezotochiviy gaz. Pri shturme voznik pozhar, pogibli lyudi. Togda po rezul'tatom rassledovaniya chut' ne lishilsya svoego posta ministr yustitsii, neskol'ko rudovoditeley FBR byli snyaty s raboty, byli prinyaty resheniya, izmenivshie rabotu spetssluzhb."Which I guess kind of translates to:
V Rossii za 'Nord-Ost' dva generala poluchili po sekretnomu ukazu Putina vysshie nagrady - 'Geroy Rossii'."
"I'd like remind you all of a story that occured many years ago in the US, which distantly resembles our situation, when in the state of Texas forces of the FBI, in control of weapons and other government forces together stormed the estate of believers in a religious cult, and in this case tear gas was used. A fire broke out during the assault, and people perished. As a result of investigations the minister of justice was nearly deprived of his post, several FBI supervisors were taken from their jobs, and decisions were made, which changed the work of special services.
"In Russia, two Generals received by secret order of Putin the highest award - 'Hero of Russia'."
"Sovsem zabyla - v fil'me 'Terror v Moskve est' kadry, na kotorykh vidno, kak moyu Sahsu vynosyat iz teatra. Ehto v posledney chasti - snachala viden chelovek so shpritsem v rukakh, a potom spetsnazovets neset na rukakh devochu v svitere i blyukakh (sviter zapominayushchiysya - u net svet menyaetsya ot bledno-sirenevogo sverkhu do temno-sirenevogo vnizu). U devochki obe uki svobodno boltayutsya s odnoy storony. Ehto Sasha.Which translates to:
"A fil'm est' i u menya, i u Lyuby. Ya znakoma i s Denom Ridom (on i prodyusser ehtogo fil'ma, i rezhisser, i stsenarist tozhe), i s dvumya drugimi prodyusserami."
"I entirely forgot - in the film the 'Terror in Moscow' there are some frames in which you can see them carrying my Sasha from the theater. This in the last part - a man with a syringe in his hands is at first visible, and then a special forces soldier carries in his arms a girl in sweater and trousers (the sweater changes color from the pale-lilac on top to dark-lilac below). Both the girl's hands dangle freely to one side. This is Sasha.
"I have the film, and so does Lyuba. I know Dan Reed (he's the producer of this film, and the director, and the scenarist as well) and two other producers. "
Thanks for the translation.
I’ll see if I can find that documentary and watch it again. I know how uncomfortable it was for me to watch it the first time, and I didn’t have first hand experience of it. It leaves you with a dark eerie feeling.
I think it’s obvious the government, after a certain amount of time, decided they were not going to negotiate with the terrorists. They wanted to send a message to future terrorists. The innocents were considered collaterol damage.
And being a Freeper, I sort of understand why they would want to send that message.
My biggest problem is the gas they used. From what I’ve read it was extremely experimental. But I also think the government was going to be second guessed no matter what they did.
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