alexander koryagin wrote to Roy Witt:

 <skipped>

 ak>>> There are many KGB traitors who have caused great damage to Russia
 ak>>> when they sold top secrets to CIA, and they were given asylum in
 ak>>> the US.

 RW>> Perhaps they were disgruntled spys with a bone to pick with the
 RW>> KGB...

 ak>    "with a bone to pick with the KGB..." - what does it mean?

"a bone to pick" or "pick a bone" is an English cliche' meaning that there
is a controversy or a dispute that needs to be negotiated.

 ak>>> The situation looks similar -- Russia has been wanting to suit
 ak>>> them as criminals, but the US is not in the mood to extradite
 ak>>> them. So, for Russia, Showden could be just a small revenge.
 RW>> We've been there before. Most, if not all, former KGB agents
 RW>> re-patriated to Russian seem to have disappeared.

 ak>    Neither Russia nor the US have never repatriated traitors. That
 ak> would be a bad sign for future traitors, won't it? ;-))

I wasn't talking about traitorus spys, I was talking about spys that have
been caught and held in prison, then repatriated back to their home
country. Check into USSR history and you can find an American U2 spy plane
incident where it was shot down over the USSR and the pilot kept in prison
and charged with spying, then returned to the USA through negotiations
which included a prisoner exchange.

 ak> Can you give me at least one example when Russian KGB traitor was
 ak> repatriated to Russia and disappeared there?

See above. Whether the KGB agent returned to the USSR was a traitor or not
would be the opinion of the politburo or the KGB. However, with that said,
I doubt that any KGB agents returned from the USA to the USSR would have
been returned if there was any chance that they would be considered to be
traitors.

 ak>>> As for Putin's words, that "Snowden could stay in Russia on
 ak>>> condition that he stops to cause damage to the US" -- all
 ak>>> politicians are liars and hypocrites. IMHO, it was just a formal
 ak>>> statement, and after that Putin's spokesman had said that Snowden
 ak>>> would no be extradited in any case (because there is a death
 ak>>> penalty in the US).

 RW>> Snowden's own publically spoken words convicted him before he was
 RW>> charged with any crimes. This is what I meant when I said he was a
 RW>> smart man, but not a very smart man.

 ak>    If he behaves himself correctly his secrets will guard him. And
 ak> probably the US will understand that it is better to leave him alone.

He's tried to keep his information from being revealed, but that may not
last, depending on who has that information now.

 ak> If Snowden has not opened another secrets so far he has no intention
 ak> to do it. He needs to keep something for his own safety. KGB also
 ak> cannot get access to them -- it cannot even interrogate him, because
 ak> Snowen has constant contacts with his friends (from Wikileaks, for
 ak> instance).

Yes...that helps him somewhat.

 ak> <skipped>

 ak>>> Well, as a rule guests are not unwanted. We say about our guests
 ak>>> that stay very late, without thinking that the good time to leave
 ak>>> had passed long ago. I remember as Winnie-the-Pooh was Rabbit's
 ak>>> guest and got into a tight place. But all the Rabbit should have
 ak>>> done was to ask the bear for some honey. ;-)

 RW>> I haven't read Winnie the Pooh, but having some kind of lubricant
 RW>> to help release someone caught in a tight place seems logical...

 ak>    It depends on how much honey the bear ate before trying to get out
 ak> from Rabbit's house hole. ;-) It had eaten too much then.

So his fat belly kept him from exiting the rabbit hole...I see...


         R\%/itt


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