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In this case, however, the source of the glowing assessment of McCarthy is internal KGB memos, etc.; i.e., not disinformation.

Don't be naive, it was common practice for the KGB to create fictitious 'glowing assessments' as you call them in order to DISCREDIT those individuals and/or organizations that the Soviets deemed to be the most dangerous.

For example, had it not been for Ronald Reagan's anti-Communist bonafides established by a lifetime of opposition to Communism, it would have been standard operating procedure for the KGB to have 'arranged' for the release of 'secret' KGB internal 'memos' showing that Reagan was actually a Soviet agent of influence, serving Moscow's interest while appearing to be a staunch anti-Communist. You are sadly uninformed as to the use and purpose of such operations by the KGB and their little brother affiliates throughout the old Soviet empire.

So you believe the KGB without any substantiation (substantiation in this case would be similar and parallel analysis of McCarthy by allied intelligence agencies (example, the UK, France, Canada, Australia) who paid close attention to such issues just as did the Soviets), I'll believe the current day results of McCarthy's warnings as we witness the United States Government being revealed as the Communist enterprise that was always lurking just beneath the surface.

And if that doesn't enlighten you, consider this:

If I were to create a long and detailed 'internal report' on my FR home page which stated that the n00b poster 'vkladchik' was actually a spy sent to join FR by the Code Pink faction active over at the DU, would that be irrefutable proof of your true nature?

No, that would be disinformation which would construct and establish the beginnings of an effort to discredit you if not now in the present day, at some point in the future when someone would Google your screen name looking for information and "presto", there it was, established in 2008 that vkladchik was actually a surreptitious DU agent of influence.

It's the same principle used by the KGB against their most serious perceived threats.

You're welcome.

What you’re saying would be true if the KGB were claiming him as one of their own. They weren’t. They only said his over-zealous activities were so discrediting to anti-Communism in general that they caused ordinary people to drop their guard.

This is how it works: McCarthy calls *everyone* a communist. In response, people assume *no one* is a communist. This allows those Soviet spies that were active greater leeway in their operations. This is what the KGB meant when they said he was a boon to their operations.