Russia Honors the Spy Who Stole the A-Bomb

An anonymous reader writes "The New York Times reports on the life of George Koval, codenamed Delmar, one of the most important spies to have infiltrated the Manhattan Project, the secret program that created the world's first nuclear weapon. President Putin recently granted Koval a posthumous Hero of the Russian Federation award, the highest honorary title that can be given to a Russian citizen. Koval was born in Iowa, spoke fluent American English, and played baseball. But he was also recruited and trained by the GRU, Russia's largest intelligence agency."

Comments

Re:that's awesome

[ushering05401]

The Japanese were only ready to give up their arms, not surrender. IIRC they were asking for terms that would have allowed them to retain some level of dignity prior to the first bomb dropping.

Then again, there are some new reading materials that challenge my understanding of the situation... http://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog/HASRAC.html

Who knows what to believe.

Because this is a "progressive" site

[Loundry]

What's the news for nerds angle here?

This is a "progressive" site. This means that showcasing the haters of America (namely, China and the USSR/Russia) and their accomplishments is red meat. Call me "jingoistic" all you want, but there is no doubt that feeling some degree of negative feeling, from simple skepticism to full-blown hatred, toward America and/or capitalism is a very "progressive" thing to do.

And that's why you'll see articles like this posted on this site. Articles which extol the glory of China or the USSR are what "progressives" like to read, and there are lots of "progressives" here. Yes, it's not necessarily "news for nerds". It's red meat, and that's never a bad thing for keeping your site active and popular.

The responses to this post will probably attempt to appease chronic Bush Derangement Syndrome. I'm going to get called a "Bush lover" and they'll bring up the war in Iraq and all that. Or I'll just get modded a "troll" for answering your question in the entirely accurate and truthful way.