We agree to disagree then. You don't see anything other than a little spat over self-interest. I see a lot more.
The incredible expense the Russians are devoting to Yamantau Mountain alone should have you deeply troubled. They were bankrupt. Yet they prioritized that above all else. And the Topol-M alongside that.
Just intellectual inertia? Or a patient design?
We have no real disagreement over taking the information given by defectors with piles of salt. The "Plan" would likely be flexible. In the event of a "real" coup, their job would be to win the power back to the FSB. And 'oila. Look who is filling all the offices up with FSB officers. It is possible to look at it either way... huge chunk of the Party was "out of the loop" and "left to twist in the wind" so that it made the collapse believable. Or it was a real collapse, but with the elements of the "Plan" still in place to try and recoup the party position covertly, under the mask of 'nationalism'. Hence less overtly threatening to US analysts.
Furthermore, what is your opinion of people who are willing to believe a man trained to lie over the very Americans who are trained to expose his lies?
There are a lot of Americans trained to expose lies. Jim Angleton was one.
"The incredible expense the Russians are devoting to Yamantau Mountain alone should have you deeply troubled. They were bankrupt. Yet they prioritized that above all else. And the Topol-M alongside that."
While disturbing if it is targeted against us, it still does not rise to the level of "rebirth of the Soviet Union." The flipside to these developments are the two Chechen wars that have shown the Russian military incapable of handling an insurrection on their own territory. The frequent terrorist attacks also show a Russian security forces system unable and inept.
" In the event of a "real" coup, their job would be to win the power back to the FSB."
This is a common misperception by those who do not understand the Russian security services funtions. When the KGB was disbanded and reorganized the FSB was formed from the counterintelligence portion of the KGB. These were the thugs. The SVR was made up of people like Putin. When Putin was named the FSB head it was very controversial and really ticked off the FSB "CI" guys. The people of whom you speak that are on Putin's team now are mainly SVR guys and people that Putin worked with and knew. Had Putin been a more seasoned politician he wouldn't have had to rely on these people. As he inherited Yeltsin's corrupt officials he found himself easing them out and replacing them with people he can trust. Those he can trust are the ones he knew from work. Not even close to some sort of "FSB" (or "SVR") silent coup.
"There are a lot of Americans trained to expose lies. Jim Angleton was one."
Unfortunately Jim Angleton was deeply affected by the betrayal of his friend Kim Philby. That weighed on him deeply and made him paranoid and very susceptible to charaltans spinning fancy tales. Those tales and Angleton's belief in them paralyzed the CIA, sullied the reputation of good loyal Americans, and caused harm to our national security. Such events were the dreams of the KGB. The source of these events was Golytsin. KGB mission accomplished.