Thousands of Leaked KGB Files Are Now Open To the Public

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Thousands of Leaked KGB Files Are Now Open To the Public

Posted by timothy on Tuesday July 8, 2014 @03:42AM from the file-a-foia-request dept.

schwit1 (797399) writes "Over 20 years after being smuggled out of Russia, a trove of KGB documents are being opened up to the public for the first time. The leaked documents include thousands of files and represent what the FBI is said to view as "the most complete and extensive intelligence ever received from any source." The documents include KGB information on secret Russian weapons caches, Russian spies, and KGB information on the activities of Pope John Paul II. Known as the Mitrokhin Archive, the files are all available as of today at Churchill College's Archives Centre."

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Omg I knew it!11!!! by mrcoolbp · 2014-07-08 03:47 · Score: 2, Funny

*comment redacted*

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seems like snowden did the exact same thing. by user317 · 2014-07-08 03:48 · Score: 5, Interesting

whats the difference between this guy and snowden?

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me fail english? thats unpossible
1. Re:seems like snowden did the exact same thing. by Anonymous Coward · 2014-07-08 03:53 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  No see it's okay because they were dirty commies and aren't allowed to have secrets, what are you some kind of terrorist?
2. Re:seems like snowden did the exact same thing. by i+kan+reed · 2014-07-08 03:54 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  Snowden had the decency to alert his own people to abuses, rather than just foreign governments?
3. Re:seems like snowden did the exact same thing. by Anonymous Coward · 2014-07-08 03:56 · Score: -1
  
  Snowden did it to a black guy
4. Re:seems like snowden did the exact same thing. by blueg3 · 2014-07-08 04:13 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  Well:
  * The documents are being revealed to the public now and document events from 30-40 years ago.
  * These are documents that he personally worked with, rather than a cache of documents acquired for the purpose of copying and releasing them.
  * There's no question, I think, that this guy was a spy and defector. He was moved from Russia to the UK with the help of UK intelligence agencies in exchange for Russian secrets. Nobody's trying to claim that he's a "whistleblower". No comment on his actions or motivations vs. Snowden's, but they are potentially substantially different.
  * This guy is dead.
  Up to you to decide if any of these are substantive differences and why, but there are distinct differences.
5. Re:seems like snowden did the exact same thing. by luis_a_espinal · 2014-07-08 04:25 · Score: 2
  
  Well: * The documents are being revealed to the public now and document events from 30-40 years ago. * These are documents that he personally worked with, rather than a cache of documents acquired for the purpose of copying and releasing them. * There's no question, I think, that this guy was a spy and defector. He was moved from Russia to the UK with the help of UK intelligence agencies in exchange for Russian secrets. Nobody's trying to claim that he's a "whistleblower". No comment on his actions or motivations vs. Snowden's, but they are potentially substantially different. * This guy is dead.
  Up to you to decide if any of these are substantive differences and why, but there are distinct differences.
  Your answer makes too much sense, and it was not marinated in bullshit sauce at all. That is not how we post replies in slashdot!(10+1)
6. Re:seems like snowden did the exact same thing. by Anonymous Coward · 2014-07-08 04:46 · Score: -1
  
  I'm pretty sure you meant to say nigger. It's a common misconception that niggers are black in color. They are mostly the color of feces. This is from years of hurling fecal matter at each other. Much like the niggers of today do with bullets.
7. Re:seems like snowden did the exact same thing. by cyberchondriac · 2014-07-08 05:01 · Score: 1
  
  I propose severe punishment for blueg3. He has to read every single comment in today's threads. That should be sufficient. Then he'll learn to properly maintain angst and cynicism with a healthy portion of peer bias.
  
  --
  
  Look back up at my post, now look back down, you're on the Internet. Now look back up. I'm a signature.
8. Re:seems like snowden did the exact same thing. by Anonymous Coward · 2014-07-08 05:09 · Score: -1
  
  If he had this "decency" you speak of, he would have only alerted his own people and not the foreign governments. Unless you want to hold him up to some "person of the world" moral standard, but then you'd have to concede that he is a traitor to his (former) country (and the ends justifying the means etc.). Too many people try to cherry-pick a little from Column A and a little from Column B.
9. Re:seems like snowden did the exact same thing. by Anonymous Coward · 2014-07-08 05:10 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  How is the parent post Insightful? The only entity Snowden alerted were the American public, if you could say even that. I could be mistaken, but Glen Greenwald was filtering the information and chose to release information pertaining to foreign governments. All Snowden did was flee to other countries because his own was no longer safe for him.
  Even if he were responsible for notifying Germany of phone-hacking their heads of state, I still agree with that 100%. History has shown American's apathy will plow through every serious civil issue that doesn't directly interfere with their self-indulgence. Notifying foreign governments is probably the only way to put *real* pressure on the US's craptacular governing bodies, though the court is obviously still out on whether even that makes a difference.
10. Re:seems like snowden did the exact same thing. by Anonymous Coward · 2014-07-08 05:19 · Score: -1
  
  I wouldn't put Snowden and decency in the same sentence, unless you place "do you have no" before "decency"
  
  They're both bad guys to their own governments and good guys to enemies of their respective countries. There are many enemies of America on Slashderp, since there are only paranoid nitwits left of the once-smart /. population.
11. Re:seems like snowden did the exact same thing. by mi · 2014-07-08 05:33 · Score: 0, Troll
  
  They served vastly different regimes. Mitrokhin betrayed Communists — followers of the deadliest school of thought known to humanity so far (even Hitler's peculiar brand of Fascism was but a distant second). Wherever Communism is attempted in earnest — USSR, North Korea, Cuba, Cambodia — the result is always mass-murder followed by economic misery and total absence of the human rights for the survivors.
  Snowden betrayed America. Whatever problems — genuine and imaginary — you may have with the USA, USSR (and modern Russia) are far worse.
  That's the difference — even if the actual betrayals are similar. But all of this is empty rhetoric for people, who sincerely equate Joseph McCarthy with Lavrenty Beria, so I'm not holding much hope here...
  
  --
  In Soviet Washington the swamp drains you.
12. Re:seems like snowden did the exact same thing. by plover · 2014-07-08 05:40 · Score: 5, Informative
  
  Here are a few more differences and corrections:
  * Mitrokhin turned the data over to British officials only after the collapse of the Soviet Union. He did not endanger his country's ongoing intelligence operations. He may have embarrassed several former Soviet officials, but the revelations were not a crime against his country, as that country no longer existed at the time of their release. While the act of copying the classified data would certainly have been a crime against the Soviet Union, again, that country was gone. (Snowden released the data of his own still-active country, including information about active operations.)
  * The data he turned over was archival material spanning decades and ending in the 1980s; he gave it up in the early 1990s. Some of it was less than ten years old at the time it was delivered. (Snowden's data was indeed more current and relevant.)
  * After the publication of his notes in two books, the SVR actually provided academic access to the old KGB archives for a time. I think that was ended after the wrong person was embarrassed by his historical record, perhaps a former lieutenant colonel in the KGB. (The NSA has not yet opened their doors to the public in response to Snowden's release.)
  * He was not a "whistleblower" in that he did not release this data in an attempt to change any ongoing practices. He was a historian who respected the truth, and did not want the facts distorted or destroyed by a regime with a long history of rewriting history. (Snowden is an activist, who is trying to effect change.)
  * Mitrokhin's position was a Senior Archivist. He had access to essentially all KGB historical records, not simply operations of which he was a part. (Snowden was an administrator of systems, and had access to the records they contained; he also used other people's credentials to gain additional access to other records.)
  
  --
  John
13. Re:seems like snowden did the exact same thing. by lister+king+of+smeg · 2014-07-08 05:46 · Score: 4, Informative
  
  If he had this "decency" you speak of, he would have only alerted his own people and not the foreign governments.
  
  And how is he supposed to only tell the US when the internet covers the whole planet, local news is an illusion.
  
  --
  ---Saying gnome 3 is better than windows 8 not so much a compliment as it is damning with light praise.
14. Re:seems like snowden did the exact same thing. by Anonymous Coward · 2014-07-08 05:50 · Score: 0
  
  Fjord? Is that you?
15. Re:seems like snowden did the exact same thing. by GNious · 2014-07-08 06:04 · Score: 5, Informative
  
  He tried - the US didn't want to listen to him.
16. Re:seems like snowden did the exact same thing. by blueg3 · 2014-07-08 06:23 · Score: 2
  
  Oh, sure, act against the status quo and they ship you off to Slashdot Gitmo.
17. Re:seems like snowden did the exact same thing. by Anonymous Coward · 2014-07-08 06:32 · Score: 0
  
  * These are documents that he personally worked with, rather than a cache of documents acquired for the purpose of copying and releasing them.
  No comments on the rest, but most were not documents he personally worked with. He was an archivist responsible for overseeing the move of the KGB archives. He had access to everything in those archives, and often smuggled out any random documents that he could get away with. In terms of his familiarity with the details of the documents, he was as familiar as Snowden with his.
  Other than technology and time, there is little difference between smuggling out thousands of files, about which you know little, over the course of years in your shoes -- versus smuggling out thousands of files, about which you know little, on disc in a few months.
18. Re:seems like snowden did the exact same thing. by omems · 2014-07-08 06:46 · Score: 4, Funny
  
  it's spelled "Beta."
19. Re:seems like snowden did the exact same thing. by Anonymous Coward · 2014-07-08 06:46 · Score: 0
  
  I bet they left out the juicy bits that could disrupt public sensitivities.
20. Re:seems like snowden did the exact same thing. by SuperBanana · 2014-07-08 06:58 · Score: 1
  
  These are documents that he personally worked with, rather than a cache of documents acquired for the purpose of copying and releasing them.
  Nope, guess again. They're releasing edited versions, not the originals or even direct copies or direct typed copies.
  "In accordance with the deposit agreement, the Churchill Archives Centre is opening Mitrokhinâ(TM)s edited Russian-language versions of his original notes.The original manuscript notes and notebooks will remain closed under the terms of the deposit agreement, subject to review."
  Also, you have to be a researcher, provide multiple forms of ID, etc.
  Oh, and two sections are closed, for undisclosed reasons.
  
  --
  Please help metamoderate.
21. Re:seems like snowden did the exact same thing. by i+kan+reed · 2014-07-08 07:05 · Score: 3, Informative
  
  Oh my, he did something ethically ambiguous, that must be the same thing as being an enemy.
  Your biting insight totally destroys the fact that the majority of American citizens appreciate the knowledge of being unethically spied on.
  I'm sure your appallingly simplistic worldview can help us with other challenges. Please guide us.
22. Re:seems like snowden did the exact same thing. by dpilot · 2014-07-08 07:47 · Score: 1
  
  > * This guy is dead.
  I get the distinct feeling that there are quite a few in the US govt and elsewhere that would like to help Snowden achive the same status.
  
  --
  The living have better things to do than to continue hating the dead.
23. Re:seems like snowden did the exact same thing. by MikeMo · 2014-07-08 07:47 · Score: 1
  
  A traitor is a traitor is a traitor. Whether or not he's also a "good guy" depends entirely on your politics.
24. Re:seems like snowden did the exact same thing. by Anonymous Coward · 2014-07-08 09:17 · Score: 0
  
  A traitor is a traitor is a traitor.
  "The first duty of every Starfleet officer is to the truth, whether it's scientific truth or historical truth or personal truth! It is the guiding principle on which Starfleet is based! And if you can't find it within yourself to stand up and tell the truth about what happened, you don't deserve to wear that uniform!"
25. Re:seems like snowden did the exact same thing. by Anonymous Coward · 2014-07-08 10:20 · Score: 0
  
  He tried - the US didn't want to listen to him.
  yeah, every low level system admin should get to make unilateral national security decisions.
26. Re:seems like snowden did the exact same thing. by Anonymous Coward · 2014-07-08 12:21 · Score: 1
  
  Watch his interview before you believe the lies. He was a trained Analyst/Spy not a sysadmin.
27. Re:seems like snowden did the exact same thing. by cavreader · 2014-07-08 15:03 · Score: 1
  
  He should have limited his releases to domestic data but he did not stop there and released information about foreign intelligence. Programs that did not harm any US citizens or break any US laws. And to top things off the domestic related programs were not secret. He could have used the foreign intelligence data as a bargaining chip to cut a deal with the government to drop or greatly reduce the criminal charges related to the domestic data so he could return to the US.
28. Re:seems like snowden did the exact same thing. by dbIII · 2014-07-08 16:08 · Score: 1
  
  If he had this "decency" you speak of, he would have only alerted his own people and not the foreign governments
  He notified a couple of newspapers. If you want to hassle people about letting foreign governments know then your problem is with them and not with Snowden.
29. Re:seems like snowden did the exact same thing. by rtb61 · 2014-07-08 16:19 · Score: 1
  
  You just don't seem to get it when "endanger his country's ongoing intelligence operations" are criminal activities, they are 'CRIMINAL ACTIVITIES' and are by law required to be reported, to the public so that they can be investigated and prosecuted. Now the reported part has been done, but of course in a very blatant corruption of the law, the investigation bit is sort of happening but not happening whilst of course the prosecution part of not happening at all.
  That was the whole idea to basically end, his country's ongoing 'illegal' intelligence operations. What the fuck do you not get about that!?
  In a democracy the public has every possible right to know every action of their government if it will impact their vote, to with hold information that will impact the public's vote is a blatant anti-constitutional corruption of that democracy and those who do it should be investigated, prosecuted and imprisoned, every single last one of them, no matter how many thousands of those corrupt arse holes there are.
  
  --
  Chaos - everything, everywhere, everywhen
30. Re:seems like snowden did the exact same thing. by Anonymous Coward · 2014-07-08 16:43 · Score: 0
  
  If no laws were being broken, there would be some merit to the complaint that intelligence was leaked. As it is, it's not a "national security decision" but "the only ethical option"
31. Re:seems like snowden did the exact same thing. by Anonymous Coward · 2014-07-08 18:39 · Score: 0
  
  Actually the USA murdered way more people then the USSR, and it still continue to do. Just because they taught you that the USA is a democracy it does not mean it is not a fascist state..
32. Re: seems like snowden did the exact same thing. by Anonymous Coward · 2014-07-08 22:12 · Score: 0
  
  Us vs them, huh ?
33. Re: seems like snowden did the exact same thing. by Anonymous Coward · 2014-07-09 01:15 · Score: 0
  
  Everyone has that responsibility. No matter how low your position, abuse must be brought to light.
34. Re:seems like snowden did the exact same thing. by plover · 2014-07-09 04:54 · Score: 1
  
  Wow, such hate and bile. The country Mitrokhin "betrayed" no longer existed. He turned over documents from the Soviet Union, not from "Russia". Yes, there is a distinction.
  You completely failed to read what was written, which was a comparison of Mitrokhin to Snowden.
  Apparently, that's what the fuck I don't get.
  
  --
  John
35. Re:seems like snowden did the exact same thing. by plover · 2014-07-09 05:06 · Score: 1
  
  Really? Because I don't seem to remember the purges that took place when Reagan took office, or Bush, or Clinton, or Obama. I don't remember when they arrested the political dissenters from the opposition parties, hauled them out of Washington and trucked them up to camps in North Dakota where the majority froze to death, or shot them in the basement of the Lubyanka after pronouncing them guilty in a secret "trial". Perhaps that all took place when the Ministry for Information took razor blades and cut out the encyclopedia pages for Jimmy Carter, and extended the entry for the Bering Sea to compensate, because we can't really trust our history books.
  Go read Mitrokhin's books. Read the KGB's own history, stolen from their own archives. Compare it to what the USA claimed actually happened, and to what the USA claimed was Soviet propaganda. Mitrokhin's papers serve as independent corroboration that essentially everything the USA said about the Soviet Union's "active measures" was true.
  
  --
  John
36. Re:seems like snowden did the exact same thing. by Robb+Swanson · 2014-07-09 05:32 · Score: 1
  
  sad... just sad
Hand them over. by JayPee · 2014-07-08 03:48 · Score: 1

Of course, when politely asked by the SVR to 'return' these documents and delete any copies, everyone will comply, right?
No they're not by Anonymous Coward · 2014-07-08 03:50 · Score: 4, Insightful

With the exception of sections 6-7[which are closed], the collection is open for consultation by researchers using Churchill Archives Centre, Churchill College, Cambridge. Churchill Archives Centre is open from Monday to Friday, 9am-5pm. A prior appointment and two forms of identification are required.
Yeah, thanks...
1. Re:No they're not by timrod · 2014-07-08 04:20 · Score: 1
  
  From what I can tell from the article, it seems like the reason they haven't put the stuff online is because it's a huge number of documents and they apparently had a very strict agreement with Mitrokhin about how they could store and publicize it. The documents are also all in Russian, which means they'd be of limited use to anyone who doesn't speak the language. Scanning all of the stuff would probably take years, so I can imagine why they haven't undergone the effort.
2. Re:No they're not by geniice · 2014-07-08 04:46 · Score: 1
  
  Pretty typical for dead tree sources. Thats actualy slightly lower than the requirements the British library put in place when I wanted to look at a load of Amiga Action stuff. Also don't try and read a years worth of Amiga Action in one sitting.
3. Re:No they're not by Anonymous Coward · 2014-07-08 05:07 · Score: 0
  
  Scanning takes seconds, especially for a modern library. I suspect the real reason to add roadblocks is to prevent the hoi polloi from reading the contents. Many Russian and Russian-speaking people would learn quite a bit about their former Soviet Union. I think the greatest risk is for people in the West learning what the KGB learned about the western governments and intelligence agencies. That's the real risk. Similar to how the Bradley Manning cable leaks revealed more compromising information about the rest of the world than the US, except pointed the other way.
4. Re:No they're not by EdwardFurlong · 2014-07-08 05:46 · Score: 1
  
  Sounds more like they want the attraction of having something nobody else has. Maybe someone needs to smuggle copies out...
5. Re:No they're not by Anonymous Coward · 2014-07-08 07:58 · Score: 0
  
  Also don't try and read a years worth of ("Michael Jackson" - Ed) in one sitting.
  No that'd be silly. You should try to read a years worth of Amiga Power in one sitting.
6. Re:No they're not by AHuxley · 2014-07-08 12:13 · Score: 1
  
  The same problem existed for the East German files on the West. The East Germans had good long term human contacts around top West German leaders in gov and the private sector. The files you will see are mostly on East Germans been totally spied on by their own friends, family and gov. The huge risk is the historian showing methods and plots as seen from an outside service been noted for and now found. eg what East German saw in West Germany. It also shows why the the usual sock puppet question of where all the leaks for Russia and China are: they might have existed over decades but will only be published in small cleaned up sections in national archives. More on what Russia did internally, less on what Russia saw western governments and intelligence agencies doing.
  Just like the UK records around SLO (Security Liaison Officers) where after 1945 and released only after the High Court in the UK forced their release in April 2012.
  
  --
  Domestic spying is now "Benign Information Gathering"
Not Open to the Public: Report on CIA Torture by Anonymous Coward · 2014-07-08 03:51 · Score: 1

http://thehill.com/policy/defense/211283-security-fears-loom-over-cia-report
UK = America's lapdog by Anonymous Coward · 2014-07-08 03:52 · Score: 1

What a good pet!
Strictly speaking... by Hognoxious · 2014-07-08 03:53 · Score: -1

Strictly speaking, trove is an adjective. You cannot have "a trove" any more than you can have "a yellow" or "a miniscule".

--
Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
1. Re:Strictly speaking... by i+kan+reed · 2014-07-08 03:55 · Score: 2, Informative
  
  trove
  noun \trv\
  Definition of TROVE
  1
  : discovery, find
  2
  : a valuable collection : treasure; also : haul, collection
  No adjective record in the dictionary.
2. Re:Strictly speaking... by danomatika · 2014-07-08 03:58 · Score: 3, Informative
  
  Strictly speaking, trove is an adjective.
  Strictly speaking, you're wrong. Trove is a noun for "a collection of objects" and short for "treasure-trove". Ref: http://dictionary.reference.co...
3. Re:Strictly speaking... by jbmartin6 · 2014-07-08 03:58 · Score: 1
  
  Just for fun: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01...
  
  --
  This posting is provided 'AS IS' without warranty of any kind, implied or otherwise.
4. Re:Strictly speaking... by blueg3 · 2014-07-08 04:03 · Score: 2, Informative
  
  In English, "trove" has been a standalone noun for more than two hundred years. It's short for "treasure trove".
  Etymologically, the "trove" in "treasure trove" comes from an adjective, but "trove" by itself isn't an English adjective. That's language for you.
  Strictly speaking, you're inventing a meaning that would make sense etymologically and asserting that it's the "real" meaning of the word. It's only dictionaries and speakers of English that disagree with you.
5. Re:Strictly speaking... by jugulator · 2014-07-08 04:04 · Score: 2
  
  Strictly speaking, your attempt at being a grammar elitist failed. The word "trove" is a noun. Always has been.
6. Re:Strictly speaking... by Anonymous Coward · 2014-07-08 04:51 · Score: -1
  
  OMG! I want so badly to shove my fetid worm infested cock far, far, FAR into your let ear. I wish to fuck your brains out the other side. Given your post, however; I doubt there are many brains in there to fuck.
  So I shall shove my fetid cock into your man-uterus instead.
  What say you?
  What say you? What say you? What say you? What say you? What say you? What say you? What say you? What say you? What say you? What say you? What say you? What say you? What say you? What say you? What say you? What say you? What say you? What say you? What say you?
7. Re:Strictly speaking... by Anonymous Coward · 2014-07-08 05:00 · Score: 0
  
  Actually, the adjective in "treasure trove" is "treasure". Treasure describes the trove's contents.
8. Re:Strictly speaking... by Talderas · 2014-07-08 06:13 · Score: 1
  
  Virgin-trove : A trove of virgins. Example, slashdot.
  
  --
  "Lack of speed can be overcome. In the worst case by patience." --Znork
9. Re:Strictly speaking... by Hognoxious · 2014-07-08 06:34 · Score: 1
  
  Love how your cite proves how retarded you are. The noun there is treasure.
  You can't just chop a stock phrase in half and assume that either bit has the same meaning as the original. Do you sit on a longue eating a brulée?
  
  --
  Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
10. Re:Strictly speaking... by blueg3 · 2014-07-08 06:35 · Score: 1, Informative
  
  Oddly, it's not. That's where OP is coming from. "Treasure trove" comes ultimately from Latin via French (or at least, some language fragments the Normans brought over). The "trove" means "found", so it's "found treasure". That's why in the original (pre-English) phrase, the word order is backwards: "trove" is the adjective, "treasure" is the noun, and it follows the appropriate French/Latin word order. It was pulled directly into English without reordering (common for borrowed phrases). Eventually, "trove" (which had no English meaning at all) became a synonym (a shortening) for "treasure trove".
  So by etymology, "trove" was originally an adjective. However, it means nothing in English. The phrase "treasure trove" is a noun phrase all by itself that can't really be broken into parts.
11. Re:Strictly speaking... by Anonymous Coward · 2014-07-08 06:51 · Score: 0
  
  Wow, trove has been treated as an English noun for over two hundred years and some nerd on Slashdot still can't deal with that change. I wonder how many words Hognoxious uses everyday that are newer than 1791? Fun article. Thanks for the link.
12. Re:Strictly speaking... by Anonymous Coward · 2014-07-08 16:52 · Score: 0
  
  Treasure in "treasure trove" is the adjective. Trove is the noun. "Treasure trove" as opposed to "information trove" or similar. I have never known an English adjective to come after a noun.
And in 20 years by wiredog · 2014-07-08 03:56 · Score: 2, Insightful

The Russians will release the complete Snowden Archive.

--

Best Slashdot Co
1. Re:And in 20 years by Kuberz · 2014-07-08 04:06 · Score: 3, Interesting
  
  And China will release nothing.
2. Re:And in 20 years by TubeSteak · 2014-07-08 04:12 · Score: 2
  
  Allen Packwood, Director of the Churchill Archives Centre, said: âoeThis collection is a wonderful illustration of the value of archives and the power of archivists. It was Mitrokhin's position as archivist that allowed him his unprecedented access and overview of the KGB files. It was his commitment to preserving and providing access to the truth that led him to make his copies, at huge personal risk. We are therefore proud to house his papers and to honour his wish that they should be made freely available for research."
  It's a "commitment to preserving and providing access to the truth" when they spy for [my team].
  Otherwise they should be brought home and prosecuted for treason and espionage.
  
  --
  [Fuck Beta]
  o0t!
3. Re:And in 20 years by Anonymous Coward · 2014-07-08 04:30 · Score: 0
  
  Don't be silly. This is the Brits releasing the information. NSA would never release anything that would benefit the general public.
4. Re:And in 20 years by phantomfive · 2014-07-08 04:31 · Score: 1
  
  The Russians will release the complete Snowden Archive.
  That seems reasonable. The only argument for not releasing it is to protect spies/plans/etc, so really in 20 years or so the US government should be releasing those documents.
  
  --
  "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
5. Re:And in 20 years by Charliemopps · 2014-07-08 05:02 · Score: 1
  
  The Russians will release the complete Snowden Archive.
  The Russians don't have the complete Snowden Archive. Not even Snowden has it. It was passed over to 3 journalists in hong kong before he left.
6. Re:And in 20 years by plover · 2014-07-08 05:49 · Score: 1
  
  The declassification rules in the US are such that all documents are to be publicly released 50 years after the end of their active life. That's why they were compelled to release ULTRA and VENONA information in the 1990s, 50 years after the end of WWII. The declassification process is not automatic, in that someone still redacts the names of involved people who are still alive, and they make sure that the release won't endanger any current activities, but for the most part they are compelled to release it all.
  If you are at all interested in the history of our intelligence services, and you find yourself in the D.C. area, I strongly recommend visiting the NSA's Cryptologic Museum. http://www.nsa.gov/about/crypt...
  
  --
  John
7. Re:And in 20 years by Anonymous Coward · 2014-07-08 10:48 · Score: 0
  
  Oh, oh no, they will release something for sure.
  They will release Apophis from orbit to hit America.
8. Re:And in 20 years by Anonymous Coward · 2014-07-08 10:55 · Score: 0
  
  No you propaganda spewing dumbass, it would be Greenwald who would release them.
Not anonymously available by Anonymous Coward · 2014-07-08 04:00 · Score: 1, Informative

From their web page:
"Access and Use
"With the exception of sections 6-7, the collection is open for consultation by researchers using Churchill Archives Centre, Churchill College, Cambridge. Churchill Archives Centre is open from Monday to Friday, 9am-5pm. A prior appointment and two forms of identification are required."
You're in the USA and you want to look at them? Too bad.
Thought you could have a look at the material without them knowing who you are? Sorry, not allowed.
Someone needs to tell the Churchill College that in the age of the Internet, we expect material like this to be available over the Internet without needing to walk down your corridors.
Hmm, expect? No.
Demand.
1. Re:Not anonymously available by Anonymous Coward · 2014-07-08 04:15 · Score: 0, Troll
  
  Yes, in the age of the Internet, the amount of petulance and behavior appropriate for those more along the age of a two-year-old is very commonplace. "We Demand! We will hold our breaths until we get what we want! I don't care if it is yours! I WANT IT AND I WANT IT NOW!!!!"
  Maybe Churchill College can tell people like you that the World and all its denizens do not exist solely to appease selfish assholes like you.
2. Re:Not anonymously available by Anonymous Coward · 2014-07-08 05:00 · Score: 0
  
  You'll get nothing and you'll like it.
3. Re:Not anonymously available by royallthefourth · 2014-07-08 05:23 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  Surely you realize that scanning and creating a workable computer index of this material is a huge task
Snowden did it! by Agent0013 · 2014-07-08 04:25 · Score: 1

Ohh, Edward Snowden is in trouble now!

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-- ssoorrrryy,, dduupplleexx sswwiittcchh oonn.. -Quote found on actual fortune cookie.
The Sword and the Shield by bhlowe · 2014-07-08 04:25 · Score: 2

The Sword and the Shield was written in 2000 and covered a lot of the information about the Mitrokhin archive. It is 700 pages and is an interesting read. The actual archive is probably only of interest to the serious student that can read and understand Russian and really loves cold war history.
1. Re:The Sword and the Shield by k6mfw · 2014-07-08 04:48 · Score: 2
  
  more I look into this, illustrates how much countries do all kinds of manipulations instead of "intelligence operations" particularly systematic silencing of dissidents at home and abroad.
  
  --
  mfwright@batnet.com
2. Re:The Sword and the Shield by Anonymous Coward · 2014-07-08 05:03 · Score: 0
  
  Exactly. It's like mixing a good thing in with a bad thing so when people don't like the bad thing, you tell everyone they are against the good thing.
  For our safety is just the good part of this monitoring and bullshit.
  The bad part is how they basically act lawlessly to manipulate whatever they desire using your public resources, funds, and taxes.
  Kinda like when Canada announced a 200 billion dollar jet program... I just immediately googled the population of canada then divided the number and found that every person in the country just spent $12,000.
  Imagine if that money was instead rerouted back to the people it was stole- taxed from. Every single person in the whole country could have got a $12,000 check or perhaps just a free $12K car. But nope, some fictional enemy of Canada was so important that everyone should give up $12K of their own money to have what? Manipulative actions done in their name instead?
searching for reports from Boris and Natasha by k6mfw · 2014-07-08 04:41 · Score: 4, Funny

on how they bungled every mission involving Moose and Squirrel.

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mfwright@batnet.com
1. Re:searching for reports from Boris and Natasha by sconeu · 2014-07-08 06:22 · Score: 1
  
  Won't be there. Boris and Natasha were Potsylvanian, not Russian.
  
  --
  General Relativity: Space-time tells matter where to go; Matter tells space-time what shape to be.
CTRL+F by sexconker · 2014-07-08 04:53 · Score: 1

UFO
ALIEN
REALLY?
1. Re:CTRL+F by Anonymous Coward · 2014-07-08 10:19 · Score: 0
  
  There are probably a few mentions of UFOs in official documents, considering an unidentified aircraft is one.
Nobody check this by DNS-and-BIND · 2014-07-08 05:03 · Score: 3, Insightful

These old KGB archives are very inconvenient. They have a lot of damaging information about people who are still in politics, who cooperated in the past. It's not a good thing for the world to remember that the KGB funded the anti-nuclear movement in Europe, or Greenpeace, or Amnesty International. Let's just let this quietly lay. Fortunately, it's all in Russian and translators are a pain in the ass.

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Shutting down free speech with violence isn't fighting fascism. It IS fascism!
1. Re:Nobody check this by plover · 2014-07-08 05:14 · Score: 1
  
  Well, considering Mitrokhin had Christopher Andrew publish selected information in two English language volumes already, "The Sword and the Shield", and "The World was Going Our Way", I think your pleas for ignorance are not going to have much effect. This is simply a release of the rest of the materiel he exfiltrated.
  
  --
  John
Mitrokhin Archive by Anonymous Coward · 2014-07-08 05:09 · Score: 0

The Mitrokhin Archive...Avialiable for the first time? False!
They have been published in hardcopy for years. I find it amusing that I have a copy sitting on my bookshelf at home and that it's "newly avaiable" since it has gone out of print. Smells like a whopping load of mudnya to me.
"Open To The Public" != Open To The Public by Anonymous Coward · 2014-07-08 05:18 · Score: 0

Sorry, it's 2014. When documents are "Open to the Public", that means "available online". Scan first, then announce something.
warm regards by Anonymous Coward · 2014-07-08 05:26 · Score: -1

Thanks for the fantastic post! This information is really good and thanks a ton for sharing it. I m looking forward desperately for mor of your posts.
Step Up Height Increaser
1. Re:warm regards by Skiboy941 · 2014-07-08 05:49 · Score: 1
  
  If it weren't for the AD, this might have been funny as sarcasm.
Dead Trees by Skiboy941 · 2014-07-08 05:47 · Score: 1, Insightful

If I can't download it, then what's the point of this even being posted? Am I really going to have to fly to Britain to read these? Also, It's in Russian. These aren't useful in their current form. "Hi guys! I'm going to leak the TRUTH! But you'll have to be able to know how to read Russian, be in Britain, set up an appointment, and have 2 forms of ID!" Hopefully, some nice person will bother to scan these, just like they did with JD Sallinger's "unreleased" stories.
1. Re:Dead Trees by Bing+Tsher+E · 2014-07-08 11:42 · Score: 1
  
  Maybe we can ask Google to do a grayscale scan of it all. (then since everything had to be slit out of it's bindings it can all be pulped.)
Old News by Niet3sche · 2014-07-08 05:52 · Score: 1

See: "The Sword and the Shield," by Christopher Andrews. It's a summary of the Mitrhokin Archives, written at least 20 years ago.
While our borders to space remain undefended by Anonymous Coward · 2014-07-08 05:55 · Score: -1

It's amazing how much money and attention went into maintaining the cold war, how many lives were spent or extinguished maintaining that conflict, how much suffering and waste it cost, in so many nations.
And all the while, the bigger threat was building, as ET scavenger forces and trade collectives have been quietly positioning themselves in our world, gaining their footholds on Earth's soil, sinking their hooks into leaders of business, religion and governments, breeding an overseer class with their abduction program, seducing the seers and psychic sensitives who may have otherwise sounded the alarm.
If the consequences weren't so dire, it would be funny. But the fight to maintain human sovereignty should be decades underway. Instead it has hardly begun because we've been fighting each other, and spying on each other, and jostling for advantage.
I pray that human freedom can be maintained. And I invite you to educate yourself.
With courage and perspicacity, read the Allies Briefings.
Snowden had more?! by Anonymous Coward · 2014-07-08 06:13 · Score: 0

At least that is the view of countries that are not the USA or the UK.
Conspiracy Theories by Prien715 · 2014-07-08 07:36 · Score: 1

There's evidence about a number of consipiracy theories in these documents:
* That Lee Harvey Oswald didn't kill JFK
* The story that the AIDS virus was manufactured by US scientists at the US Army research station at Fort Detrick
* Martin Luther King, Jr.'s assassination had been planned by the US government
Of course, the real conspiracy was the disinformation campaign by the KGB to spread these false rumors. Which makes me wonder: what theories does a certain former KGB agent turned dic^H^H^Hpresident want spread now?

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-- Political fascism requires a Fuhrer.
The Sword and the Shield by davesag · 2014-07-09 10:20 · Score: 1

The Mitrokhin Archive was published in book form over 14 years ago. See https://www.goodreads.com/book...
It's a dense read but fascinating. Having all that in a searchable archive is worthwhile but it's not the first time this information has been revealed to the general public.

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I used to have a better sig than this, but I got tired of it