Brezhnev hatched plot to kill Pope

London Times ^ | 3/12/06 | John Follain

[wagglebee]

I guess this isn't a surprise.

[wagglebee]

Ping.

[fooman]

Well the commies killed 110 million people, what is one more...

[Tailgunner Joe]

The commission also studied files from the Stasi, the former East German secret police. Guzzanti believes they show that the Stasi launched a propaganda campaign to whitewash the Soviet bloc in general and the Bulgarians in particular so quickly after the shooting that they must have had advance warning.

Putin started working with the Stasi around the same time.

What did Herr Putin know and when did he know it?

[wagglebee]

I was thinking the same thing; however, my guess is that unless there is undeniable proof that Putin was involved, it would never be made public.

[Clintonfatigued]

Ronald Reagan was right when he called the Soviet Union an evil empire.

[Jim Ralls]

I wonder about this. While he may have been the man at the top at the time; my guess is that the head of the KGB, Andropov, may have been the real guy behind the attempt on the Pope's life.

[Steely Tom]

Yeah, well.

Maybe if Brezhnev had hatched a plot to have Agca forceably stretch a pair of underpants over the Pontiff's head, the MSM might get interested. As it stands, though...

Now back to our regularly scheduled program. Tonight's feature: story number 950,000 about how America is the cause of most of the problems in the world.

(steely)

[ScaniaBoy]

Andropov, may have been the real guy behind the attempt on the Pope's life.

Absolutely. He certainly was.

Putin was very small fry at the time. Those who try to link him to the assassination attempt (other than being part of the same criminal organization) just waste their time.

[ScaniaBoy]

Ronald Reagan was right when he called the Soviet Union an evil empire.

Ronald Reagan was right. (period)

But you're correct, he was right about the evil empire, as well.

:-)

[Walkingfeather]

Well it sealed the fate of the soviet union. Just cant recover IN A PR WORLD when you try to kill a pope.

[GSlob]

"I guess this isn't a surprise."
Of course, not. Qui bono?

[annalex]

I don’t buy the idea that the GRU was trying to make the KGB look bad. That’s ridiculous because they both answer to the politburo

Not ridiculous. The politburo consisted of demented alcoholics who could, at most, make overall suggestions and authorize operations. The implementation had to be worked out inside a particular agency, either GRU or KGB. Naturally, they competed for budget and favors.

[moog]

Hey, can you get that show over tin foil hat antennas?

[ApplegateRanch]

I don’t buy the idea that the GRU was trying to make the KGB look bad. That’s ridiculous because they both answer to the politburo

The implementation had to be worked out inside a particular agency, either GRU or KGB. Naturally, they competed for budget and favors.

Now that idea is just as ignorant as thinking that there was any kind of "wall of separation" between the FBI, CIA, and military intelligence services.

Or that the CIA, DEA, FBI, ICE/BP, and local law enforcement are concerned with jurisdictional disputes or who gets credited for what, just so long as the bad guys go down.

"They're all on the same side, with the same goals." /sarc

[annalex]

I don't know about a "wall", but GRU and KGB had separate budgets, and separate staff, you know.

[WarEagle]

I don't buy the Brezhnev thing - he was gaga at the time, barely able to stand and move about.

My candidate is Andropov. KGB to the bone, gunning for the PM job (which he got later), and ready to do anything to protect the Soviet Union.

Say, didn't Clancy write a book about this one, where Jack Ryan diverted the assassin enough to make him miss?

[fish hawk]

So what's the logic? How would the Soviet Union gain if the Pope was dead, they would just elect another Pope???

[wagglebee]

The USSR had survived for six decades before JPII, and though all of the other popes had condemned communist atheism, no pope had ever stood up to them so boldly. Solidarity was a growing threat in Poland and JPII was loved and seen as the greatest inspiration for the Poles.

In short, the communists were desperate. Any pope would have been better in their minds than JPII. Had the assassination succeeded, they probably wouldn't have let any cardinals from the Soviet Bloc out to attend the conclave.