View From The Porch: News: Thank you, Captain Obvious.

Monday, August 13, 2007

News: Thank you, Captain Obvious.

East German Border Guards Had 'Shoot-to-Kill' Orders to Stop Defections to West

No kidding? I guess those machine guns and land mines weren't set to "stun", then?

16 comments:

staghounds said...: The IGB was the most terrifying work of man I've ever seen close up.

Anyone feeling less than angry and frightened by communism should read Along the edge of the forest: An Iron Curtain journey
by Anthony Bailey.

http://www.amazon.com/Along-edge-forest-Curtain-journey/dp/0394523954/ref=sr_1_1/103-2152345-4282219?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1187019266&sr=8-1; 11:43 AM, August 13, 2007
NotClauswitz said...: I went through Checkpoint Charlie once, it was a grim, scary, and depressing feeling in that ugly lousy concrete box-city they built. Tenement after tenement. and the gubbmin't buildings and businesses looked pretty much the same. The only good stuff was what was left over from before. The rest of the city was just low-grade plumbing-fixtures and bad caulk. Bleh.; 12:51 PM, August 13, 2007
Don said...: Uhhhhh . . . . didn't we all know that, like, a long time ago?

It wasn't exactly a theoretical debate. People GOT shot trying to cross that thing with depressing regularity.

But people will insist on forgetting the past. I'm reading The Gulag Archipelago and find that I become shocked on every page. Why?
Don't I already know what the Soviets did to their people?; 1:29 PM, August 13, 2007
T.Stahl said...: With regards to the land mines they could at least claim their purpose was to keep the imperialists out.

Too bad there aren't many left (if any!) they can charge for it.; 1:49 PM, August 13, 2007
Anonymous said...: My dad was called back to active duty in '61 because of Berlin. We all figured he'd be commanding a tank company at the Gate or pushing back at the Fulda Gap through a NBC cloud.

For Christmas of '89 I was able to give him a chunk of concrete that had once been part of the wall. I have that piece in my home now.

Regards,
Rabbit.; 2:18 PM, August 13, 2007
Anonymous said...: People were shot (and WORSE) escaping what Col. Cooper aptly called "Mordor, the prison of the world." I saw The Line in 1988, and the wreck of the system behind it in the early 90's. Anyone that views Communism as anything less than despicable should be required to read the chapter "The Line" from To Ride, Shoot Straight, And Speak The Truth. I still get angry when I read it.......; 2:57 PM, August 13, 2007
Anonymous said...: There was a section of The Wall on display in Seattle. One side was covered (completely) with graffiti, the other side was pristine clean concrete. Not too hard to figure out which side faced which country.

Just sitting here thinking about standing next to that wall and what its implications were is quite enough to bring the anger level near max.; 3:58 PM, August 13, 2007
ibex said...: But walls and fences don't work, dontcha know?; 4:17 PM, August 13, 2007
7.62x54r said...: I ain't just communism, it's gov't in general. Try leaving this country by plane without showing your documentation and see if you aren't shot also.; 4:45 PM, August 13, 2007
Anonymous said...: Try leaving this country by plane without showing your documentation and see if you aren't shot also.

Bullcrap.

Comparing the US to a socialist dictatorship is overblown hyperbole, at best.; 4:56 PM, August 13, 2007
Draven said...: In other news, winter is cold, water is wet, and fire burns.; 6:45 PM, August 13, 2007
7.62x54r said...: Get back to me in ten more years.; 7:48 PM, August 13, 2007
Anonymous said...: Stating that this might lead to tyranny is OK, and probably good prophylaxsis, especially if acted upon.

Claiming bush=hitler, or expect a bullet in the back if you don't produce ID, especially when the statement is provably wrong, might make you look a bit silly.

There are plenty of things wrong with security theatre and the drug war, without having to make stuff up.; 11:20 PM, August 13, 2007
Anonymous said...: Kristopher,
Then prove it wrong. Push through the TSA checkpoint at a major airport and get on an international flight, without showing id. I bet you are shot, tased or bodily tackled and thrown in jail. How is that different from the socialist paradises of the past?

No, I am not saying that we are living in a state that is as bad or worse than the former "communist" states. However, we are heading in that direction at a rapid pace.; 3:29 AM, August 14, 2007
Anonymous said...: Gregg .... try reading the link I posted.

No ID ... but the person was still able to board.

As for pushing past a cop ... if you do that to ANY cop, including ones around last century, you are going to get a drubbing.; 3:17 PM, August 14, 2007
7.62x54r said...: Which makes my point very well thank you.; 5:27 PM, August 14, 2007