Free Republic

Cold War archives reveal Soviet perfidy By Andrew Borowiec THE WASHINGTON TIMES January 7, 2006 GENEVA -- Secret archives of the now-dissolved Warsaw Pact show that the former Soviet Union was prepared to sacrifice much of Poland in the event of a nuclear war with the West. The Soviet plans for a nuclear war in Europe were among a raft of secret documents that Polish authorities threw open on Thursday to international researchers and to the general public in Warsaw. A cursory study by Polish analysts shows that the deployment of Soviet nuclear weapons would have prompted retaliatory strikes by...

CARACAS - Venezuela will receive the first of 100,000 Russian-made assault rifles starting next month in a deal struck earlier this year. Russia will deliver 30,000 Kalashnikov assault rifles and three helicopters to Venezuela by year's end, Russian and Venezuelan officials said during talks Thursday. The first 15,000 rifles will arrive Dec. 15, with an identical shipment to follow on Dec. 30, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Zhukov said. They will be the first weapons under a deal for 100,000 Russian-made Kalashnikov AK-103 and AK-104 rifles signed in May by Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez's government. The remaining 70,000 rifles will...