Rich, I really do not get your love of Russia and Putin.
That was just my response to a stupid comment to my comment. I see it was too terse and not clear enough.
I knew damn well when I was leaving Poland and my family that I was not going to engage in anything that would pis* off the UB while in the US. I also knew what to do if the Polish agents asked me to spy against the US considering that my first job was at Stewart Warner - a company doing military work for the DoD.
Litvinenko forgot that simple rule and was treated accordingly. The moron was also reckless enough to drag the UK into his private war with Russia.
My respect for Putin is similar to the respect the US generals had for their German counterparts. Nothing more, nothing less. No, I didn't forget Katyn and remember it as well as Poles remember Auschwitz.