Nukes and Russian Posturing

Medvedev sees arms race if missile shield not agreed. That was the recent headline by BBC news. Further, the article began: "Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has said a new arms race could begin in the next decade if Nato and Moscow fail to agree on a joint missile shield." Really, a new arms race?

Back to the Katyn Forest

There was a recent news story, "Russian parliament: Stalin ordered Katyn massacre," last week that explained that Russia is still dealing with the repercussions of the Katyn Massacre, which occurred during World War II. Former Russian President Eltsin had initially taken steps in the direction of acknowledging Russia's responsibility for the crime, but since 2000 little had been done. Then earlier this year, there was the disaster of the Polish airliner, with key Polish government officials crashing on their way to a Katyn memorial. This happened just outside of Smolensk. (There is a wiki entry on the crash.) Now the Russian Duma has passed some sort of statement noting that yes, it was Stalin, that ordered the massacre.