[Jeff Blogworthy]

If this is true, it is as bad as "Christmas in Cambodia." I would like an explanation.

[WashingtonSource]

What a boat load of slime. Someone can live in our part of Austria and travel to another -- into the Soviet section That's exactly what happened. These people are desperate beyond belief.

[UnbelievingScumOnTheOtherSide]

Which claim is more believable?

1) 8-year-old Arnold Schwarzenegger went in a car with his father into the Soviet sector of Austria. Or,

2) 12-year-old John Kerry rode his bicycle in and out of East Berlin at Checkpoint Charlie by himself.

[x]

Funny! Timothy Noah has long been a "shoot first ask questions later" partisan, and this time he's gone off half cocked.

[Republican Wildcat]

If this is true, it is as bad as "Christmas in Cambodia." I would like an explanation.

The explanation is that this article is a lie. He said they "crossed over into the Soviet sector." If they crossed over, they weren't in the British sector. Got it?

[Travis McGee]

"It's a fact -- as a child he could not have seen a Soviet tank in Styria," the southeastern province where Schwarzenegger was born and raised, historian Stefan Karner told the Vienna newspaper Kurier.

Did Arnold say he saw Soviet tanks in Styria? I missed that part. Please point it out to me.

[Abcdefg]

Respond to the fuggin' liar at "chatterbox@slate.com"

[RightWhale]

The USSR occupied Austria but withdrew when the occupation zones were created.

[Lancey Howard]

If this is true, it is as bad as "Christmas in Cambodia."

Yeah, it is seared into Bush's memory.
Now go back where you came from, Chuckles.

[aruanan]

If this is true, it is as bad as "Christmas in Cambodia." I would like an explanation.

You live in the British sector. Your uncle lives in the Soviet sector. You grow up hearing the stories and see the difference between the two sectors. What's not to understand about the Soviets?

[wattsmag2]

Did you bother to read the transcripts of Arnold's speech? Obviously not.

[Porterville]

the Soviets occupied part of Austria. I saw their tanks in the streets.

Historia for the masses... let's see...Austria's history between '45-'55

In 1945, Austria was treated as a defeated nation. like Germany partitioned into 4 zones of occupation, as was the capital city of Vienna (which coincidentally, as in the case of Berlin, was completely surrounded by the Soviet zone of occupation). Austria had been regarded as the first victim of Nazi aggression, but Austrians had contributed to the Nazi atrocities; Austrians such as ERNST KALTENBRUNNER and ARTHUR SEYSS-INQUART were among the defendants in the Nuremberg War Crimes Trials. In theory, Austria was to be jointly administrated by the 4 Allied powers; relations between the Soviets and the western allies soon turned sour. It was only in 1955 that a STAATSVERTRAG was negotiated, according to which the Allies withdrew from Austria, granting independence, under the (Soviet) condition of political neutrality. (There is More)

[Porterville]

Once the center of power for the large Austro-Hungarian Empire, Austria was reduced to a small republic after its defeat in World War I. Following annexation by Nazi Germany in 1938 and subsequent occupation by the victorious Allies in 1945, Austria's status remained unclear for a decade. A State Treaty signed in 1955 ended the occupation, recognized Austria's independence, and forbade unification with Germany. A constitutional law that same year declared the country's "perpetual neutrality" as a condition for Soviet military withdrawal

Arnold Schwarzenegger actor, producer Birthdate: July 30, 1947. Birthplace: Graz, Austria

[edwin hubble]

This is report is nonsense.

The Soviets occupied part of Austria in the early post-war period. They withdrew, and the allies did also, under an agreement, with the condition that Austria become neutral.

The agreement came together because of the terrain and the presence of Switzerland, this was the only incidence of Russia pulling back from a wartime occupation.

[colorado tanker]

It's nonsense like this that shows how ignorant most liberals are, despite all their condescension.

Austria is a small country and Vienna is the only sizable city. Because of the Cold War it took many years to negotiate independence and an end to the occupation with the Russians.

The idea that Arnold never traveled to Vienna or the Soviet zone during all those years is an idea so stupid only an intellectual could believe it.

The claim that Austria has a conservative government is also wrong. For most of its post-war existence Austria has been governed by a left-right coalition that has created a typical European socialist-lite state, like Germany and France. Arnold was right to point out our economic system is much better at producing wealth and jobs - which is why Europeans continue to migrate to America and why the whiny liberals who keep threatening to leave don't.

[xm177e2]

Arnold never said he grew up in the Soviet Zone, he specificially said his family had to cross a border to get there. Why else would he be afraid of Soviet BORDER POLICE guarding the BORDER of the Soviet Zone that his family was passing INTO?

At the end of the day, Slate wants John Kerry in the White House. That's the only explanation I've got for this. Otherwise sane members of the media are now doing whatever they can to get their man elected.

[ozzymandus]

Duh, he saw russian tanks in the russian zone? Jeeze.