A blind kitten is a helpless creature. It cannot even run away. A blind kitten, therefore, is the perfect victim; easy to grab hold of, easy to kill. In terms of political metaphor, Soviet dictator Josef Stalin described his own henchmen as “blind kittens.” In the pursuit of absolute power he demanded absolute, blind obedience and harmlessness from his underlings. He didn’t feel safe letting them have too much power. So he exterminated and terrorized them as a matter of policy. It was only during his last days that he underestimated them.
In 1952 even blind kittens could see that the Americans had elected General Eisenhower as president. This was the same Eisenhower who subtly threatened to use nuclear weapons against the Communist Bloc unless they made peace in Korea. After all, why should the United States fight an endless Asian ground war against the Communists when America possessed nuclear superiority? With an endless supply of Chinese manpower the Communist side could keep the war going indefinitely. This was not acceptable.
Regarding this matter, historian John Lewis Gaddis noted, “if the nation had to continue conventional force expenditures on the scale the Korean conflict had required, Eisenhower told the National Security Council, there would be reason to wonder, ‘whether national bankruptcy or national destruction would get us first.’” Therefore, NSC 162/2 stated: “In the event of hostilities, the United States will consider nuclear weapons to be as available for use as other munitions.” Adding to this, Eisenhower said that “atomic weapons have virtually achieved conventional status within our armed services.” By early February 1953 Eisenhower told his National Security Council to consider using tactical nuclear weapons in Korea.
Eisenhower was a scary “imperialist” enemy for Moscow. He was not someone to take lightly. Danger of atomic war, Eisenhower later said, forced the Communist Bloc to accept the armistice of July 1953. As it happened, the danger of atomic war sparked more than an armistice. It sparked a leadership crisis within the Kremlin itself. Without knowing what he had done, Eisenhower unleashed the blind kittens. By threatening atomic war, Eisenhower had turned them against Josef Stalin.
Shortly after Eisenhower became president, the aging Soviet dictator turned to one of his bodyguards and asked: “What do you think – will America attack us or not?” The guard replied: “I think they’d be afraid to.” On hearing this answer, Stalin flew into a rage. “Clear out – what are you doing here anyway, I didn’t call you.” Later Stalin wanted to explain himself, so he summoned the guard for clarification. “Forget that I shouted at you,” he said. “But just remember this: they will attack us, they’re imperialists, and they certainly will attack us, if we let them. That’s the answer you should give.”
According to witnesses interviewed by Edvard Radzinsky, Josef Stalin wanted to provoke the United States into a world war. In February 1953 the Soviet dictator told his colleagues: “We are afraid of no one, and if the imperialist gentlemen feel like going to war there is no more favorable moment for us than the present.” After all, the Red Army had proved itself against Nazi Germany. The officers and men were veterans of the greatest battles ever fought. Stalin explained to his subordinates: “Atomic bombs are meant to frighten people with weak nerves.” The message was clear. Communists aren’t supposed to have weak nerves.
It is only natural, of course, that Stalin’s subordinates didn’t want to die in an atomic confrontation with Eisenhower. When Stalin’s colleagues expressed doubts about fighting the Americans, Stalin chastised them: “How easy it is for the imperialist gentlemen to intimidate you! We shall obviously have to make it a question of ‘either-or.’ Either we shall liquidate them, or after my death they will liquidate you like blind kittens.”
Stalin had committed an error, however. He’d forgotten another possibility; namely, that the blind kittens would liquidate him. According to Radzinsky, on 17 Feb. 1953 Stalin left the Kremlin never to return. In the early hours of 28 Feb. Stalin’s bodyguard was dismissed under suspicious circumstances. The next day the Soviet dictator was found on the floor of his room, paralyzed. Was it a stroke that felled him? Or was it the blind kittens?
It turns out that Stalin’s “kittens” disagreed with his methods. According to the controversial KGB defector Anatoliy Golitsyn, Stalin’s strategy of confronting the West was a threat to Communism’s stability. Moscow’s tank divisions were numerous indeed, but the Soviet economy needed technology and money from the West. Instead, under Stalin, the post-war Soviet Union found itself economically stranded. At the same time, the satellite countries were unreliable, China was disgruntled, and the Korean War was going badly. Furthermore, people don’t like purges. They don’t look forward to atomic war. They’d rather feel safe.
From 1947 to 1953 Stalin made a horrible mess; and the blind kittens had to do something. First they’d have to kill Stalin. After a decent interval, they’d have to publicly denounce him. In his 1984 book, New Lies for Old, Golitsyn wrote: “To avoid misunderstanding, it is useful to begin by drawing a distinction between anticommunism and anti-Stalinism and by defining the extent to which de-Stalinization is a genuine process.” As Golitsyn went on to explain, Stalin departed from Leninist principles and practice when he established his own personal dictatorship and liquidated party comrades who disagreed with him. In short, Stalin’s methods discredited Communism in the eyes of Communists.
To undo the damage, Nikita Khrushchev’s planners devised a long-range strategy involving a future program of controlled liberalization. International socialism had to backtrack. The Soviets spent two decades establishing a stable of KGB-controlled dissidents. These would take over when the time was right. The legacy of Stalin could be buried forever, and “nice socialists” would emerge during a future “crisis of capitalism.”
Today’s “nicest socialist” (and blind kitten) is Russian President Dmitri Medvedev, elevated to power by a KGB-dominated Kremlin. On 15 July 2008 Medvedev told Russia’s leading diplomats: “We have had enough of ideological investments. As you know, they occurred in a previous period and as a result we have to wheedle money … through various kinds of international mechanisms….” What matters, he insisted, was the construction of new alliances, a strengthened United Nations, energy integration with Europe, and security arrangements with China. At the same time, American defensive missiles must not be allowed in Poland. It is not a matter of quitting the game. The game is still ongoing, only ideology must be set aside. The Americans must be treated as partners instead of enemies (although they really are enemies because they are “imperialists”).
Once upon a time the blind kittens killed Stalin. Do you think they lack nerve today? According to Izvestia, the Russian military is threatening to send nuclear bombers to Cuba. In reaction to this, the incoming U.S. air force chief of staff, Gen. Norton Schwartz warned the Russians against crossing a “threshold.” Humorously, that senile old kitten – the ailing Fidel Castro – said that Cuba owes no explanation to the United States. “Dignified silence” is all the Americans deserve in response. Of course, there will be no dignified silence from Fidel’s mewing comrade, Hugo Chavez, who has begged Russia to protect Venezuela from American “imperialism.” In response, President Medvedev said that Russian-Venezuelan relations are “a key factor” in the security of Latin America.
Upon reflection, it seems that Stalin was wrong about his subordinates. They weren’t blind, they weren’t kittens, and the West didn’t liquidate them after his death. Even now, their deceptive cunning is proving itself. As President Medvedev so aptly pointed out, Russia is building up new reserves of strength. Perhaps 1953 was not the optimal moment to strike. As KGB defector Golitsyn wrote, in a March 1989 memorandum: “The Soviet strategists are counting on an economic depression in the United States….”
If the blind kittens could kill Stalin, if they could denounce him, they were entirely capable of dealing with the West. They were practiced deceivers and able to carry out any strategy. On this point the world should rest assured.
