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Killing The KGB Myth

August 21, 2009: Western pundits and journalists like to throw around the idea that Russia is currently being run by veterans of the Soviet era KGB. A check of the public record quickly reveals that this is not so. Of the top hundred officials in the Russian government, only twelve percent had worked for the KGB (the Russian version of the U.S. CIA). Another (Sergei Stepashin) had worked for the MVD (the Interior Ministry, which had intel capabilities similar to MI5 in Britain) and Vladimir Putin worked for the GRU (similar to the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency). Only four of the twelve former KGB men still work in intelligence. None of Russian president Medvedev's top 21 officials have any KGB experience.

The KGB influence in the Russian government is real, but far less than dominating. Most KGB officials have found better paying jobs in the booming civilian sector. The KGB was always known as where the "best and brightest" of Soviet society went. These guys are smart enough to avoid getting tied down in a government job, no matter how high up in the food chain.
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Bob Cortez       8/21/2009 7:21:23 AM

The KGB was in all parts of the Soviet government, and acted sort of like internal audit in a U.S. company.  In a lot of instances their experience gave some a great perspective on how the pieces fit together: there is always a place for that.
 
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Dave_in_Pa       8/21/2009 9:41:32 AM
"...the KGB (the Russian version of the U.S. CIA)"
 
The KGB, an acronym for the full name, Committee for State Security, was far larger than the CIA ever was, had a massive budget and had it's tentacles into far more areas of Soviet society.  Read this Wiki article, particularly the section entitled "The Directorates" and "Other Units".  This gives an idea of the size and menace presented by the KGB.  Our CIA, at a fraction of the size and with a far smaller budget than had the KGB, did overall one helluva fine job protecting America from the Soviet menace. David ultimately beat Goliath, but Goliath in his time was truly malevolent and formidable.
 
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Little Ray       8/21/2009 10:34:35 AM
"Only" twelve percent of to Russia's top 100 officials are former KGB? 
Stop and think about that just for a moment.
IMHO, that means former KGB members are represented in the Sov, er, Russian government WAAAAY out proportion to their actual numbers in the population.  
 
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Headlock       8/21/2009 11:26:31 AM

True, although the same could be said for very rich buisnessmen in the US congress and (esp) Senate.

 
 
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Alex N       8/21/2009 3:18:15 PM
Putin did  in fact work for the KGB, albeit in a very low position in East Germany. He has never been on active duty in the Soviet Army - a precondition for working for the GRU (Military Intelligence).
To say that "the GRU was "similar to the DIA" is to make a gross understatement. Please refer to Victor Suvorov's "Aquarium" to get a feel for the true scale of GRU activities; there are many other sources  became available after 1991...
 
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WarNerd       8/21/2009 6:48:31 PM

True, although the same could be said for very rich buisnessmen in the US congress and (esp) Senate.

Actually, most of them are lawyers.  Many of them still accept clients, but insist that thee is no conflict of interest.
 
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FreeW       8/22/2009 8:58:06 AM
I praised another article here 2 days ago. But this is the stupidest thing I've ever read.
 
In all post-communist societies agents of the secret services (KGB and its Eastern European equivalents)
have penetrated every important segment of their respective countries. Everybody knows that. The citizens that live there, and every intelligence service that is interested in the subject matter.
 
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SAE       8/22/2009 1:51:13 PM

"...the KGB (the Russian version of the U.S. CIA)"

 

The KGB, an acronym for the full name, Committee for State Security, was far larger than the CIA ever was, had a massive budget and had it's tentacles into far more areas of Soviet society.  Read this Wiki article, particularly the section entitled "The Directorates" and "Other Units".  This gives an idea of the size and menace presented by the KGB.  Our CIA, at a fraction of the size and with a far smaller budget than had the KGB, did overall one helluva fine job protecting America from the Soviet menace. David ultimately beat Goliath, but Goliath in his time was truly malevolent and formidable.



Dave you got that right. Actually a better equivalent would have been the old German SS and Gestapo. But I guess 50 years of political correctness has obscured that fact.
 
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razputin       8/23/2009 12:57:18 AM
This article is wrong on so many points I don't even know where to start))) The "Putin worked for GRU" is a pearl by itself)) 
 
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