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Trojan Horse Caused A Siberian Explosion

Posted by Hemos on from the kaos-round-the-world dept.

An anonymous reader writes "William Safire of the nytimes [nytimes.com] has an interesting column this week describing how the Soviets purchased bogus computer chips from the West in the 1970's. These chips caused what "was the most monumental non-nuclear explosion and fire ever seen from space." Fascinating story."

4 of 1,183 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Meanwhile in Russia by saforrest · · Score: 5, Informative

    A brief explanation of ternary logic for those who don't want to bother reading my link.

    In addition to TRUE and FALSE, you have another state, which represents "I don't know". It's conventionally called FAIL (well, at least it is in Maple).

    How do the truth tables work? The basic idea is that if you have a function f(x) where x is TRUE or FALSE, then you can define f for FAIL with this rule:

    IF f(TRUE) = f(FALSE) THEN
    f(FAIL) := f(TRUE)
    ELSE
    f(FAIL) := FAIL
    END IF

    So this means you have TRUE AND FAIL = FAIL, but TRUE OR FAIL = TRUE (because TRUE OR TRUE = TRUE OR FALSE = TRUE).

    Converting ternary logic to arithmetic modulo 3 is a little more complicated, but once when I was bored I worked out the rules for myself.

  2. Farewell, CIA, DGSE and other rants... by Noryungi · · Score: 5, Informative
    (I am probably going to be moderated down in flames for this, but what the heck... Entering 'Rant' mode...)

    From the article:

    President Francois Mitterrand of France also opposed the gas pipeline. He took President Reagan aside at a conference in Ottawa on July 19, 1981, to reveal that France had recruited a key K.G.B. officer in Moscow Center. Col. Vladimir Vetrov provided what French intelligence called the Farewell dossier.

    This little bit of information is more or less correct. "Farewell" was the code name assigned to Col. Vetrov by his French DGSE (French CIA) handlers.

    The next time you are tempted to say that France is not an ally of the USA, just remember that little bit of transatlantic cooperation. I personally think Mitterand was a crook, a thief and a sleazeball -- and I am trying to stay polite, here... But, ultimately, he may have done the right thing here.

    But Safire glosses over the saddest part of the Farewell history (emphasis mine):

    Vetrov was caught and executed in 1983. A year later, Bill Casey ordered the K.G.B. collection network rolled up, closing the Farewell dossier. [...] Now is a time to remember that sometimes our spooks get it right in a big way.

    What Safire does not says is that:
    1. Farewell was a French agent, and not an American one! Give credit where credit is due!!
    2. Col. Vetrov, aka Farewell, died because of the CIA involvement (If I remember well, he was caught communicating to American agents after the big explosion mentioned), and before DGSE could smuggle him and his family out of the USSR. In short, he paid the price for American incompetence.


    In short: every good intelligence in this story was supplied by the French, and the USA made a mess of it, an important source was killed and years of hard work were wasted.

    A little bit like the recent situation with a middle-east country with vast oil reserves, but I digress... You can mod me down now. End of Rant mode.
    --
    The right to offend is far more important than the right not to be offended. (Rowan Atkinson)
  3. Re:I'm seriously skeptical by BigTom · · Score: 5, Informative

    The story of the program is partially corroborated here:

    Though there is no information about the explosion.

  4. Re:Google Link by antime · · Score: 5, Informative

    Why not use the Slashot partner link when they are kind enough to provide one?