“I believe that you will serve our common cause selflessly and courageously. I believe in the final victory over the treacherous enemy. This belief has given me strength. [The men and women of the SVR] must save the world in a situation when the danger of nuclear war and the resulting self-destruction of humankind again have been put on the agenda by irresponsible politicians.”
George Blake — Former KGB Double Agent
November 18 2017 — On the eve of his 95th birthday, former KGB double agent George Blake said that officers of the SVR — the Russian foreign intelligence service — have “the difficult and critical mission” of saving the world. Follow us on Twitter: @INTEL_TODAY
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“Both sides [The United States and China] have to accept that a conflict between major technical powers of comparable capacities must not occur for the preservation of humanity.”
Former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger (November 2021)
UPDATE (November 20 2021) — In the summer of 1957, a little-known scholar from Harvard University was featured in a front-page Times story. [The New Yorker : Henry Kissinger’s Tactical-Nuclear Shadow — Jeffrey Frank]
The author argued that, with a new generation of smaller, more transportable atomic weapons, a “limited” or “little” nuclear war was not as outlandish as it sounded.
This real-life Dr. Strangelove had just published a book called “Nuclear Weapons and Foreign Policy,” which he then adapted, in the form of an article, for the quarterly Foreign Affairs.
A year later, the Harvard faculty became a national hero when he appeared on “The Mike Wallace Interview” explaining to millions “How He Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb!”
Heinz Alfred Kissinger had become Doctor Henry Kissinger and his long march to fame and influence had begun.
That was then… Today, Kissinger is the oldest living former U.S. Cabinet member and the last surviving member of Nixon’s Cabinet.
And, on second thought, the old man is not so sure anymore about the consequences of a “little” nuclear war…
A virtual summit this week between U.S. President Joe Biden and Chinese leader Xi Jinping marked a “good beginning” for the world’s biggest economies to avoid a conflict, former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger said. [Bloomberg — Biden-Xi Talks a ‘Good Beginning’ to Avoid Clash, Kissinger Says]
“They now have to be followed by concrete discussions that lead in a direction both presidents have affirmed they want to pursue.
We’re through the mountain pass, on a precipice from which you can look in both directions. And now it depends which direction is chosen.
The two nations must move towards a pattern in which disputes are attempted to be mitigated, and in which they realize that a victor is not possible without a risk of destroying humanity.
Both sides have to accept that a conflict between major technical powers of comparable capacities must not occur for the preservation of humanity.“
Cyberwarfare Risks — “The logic of cyber-warfare is to operate at a speed which is beyond human capacity, and therefore the temptation is to build automatic responses into weapon systems,” Kissinger said.
RELATED POST: On This Day — Stanislav Petrov Saves the World from Nuclear War (September 26 1983) [2021]
“But if you deprive these issues of any human element, then the danger that systems might make a judgment which you didn’t foresee, and the danger of an automatic conflagration, becomes very grave.”
END of UPDATE
“But if you deprive these issues of any human element, then the danger that systems might make a judgment which you didn’t foresee, and the danger of an automatic conflagration, becomes very grave.”
Former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger (November 2021)
On November 10 2017, SVR chief Sergei Naryshkin congratulated former KGB double agent George Blake on his birthday, describing him as “a reliable comrade, a man of great wisdom … and a skillful teacher” who had been a role model for the agency’s officers.
George Blake hailed Russia’s modern spies as the heroes of “a true battle between good and evil”. “They must save mankind from nuclear destruction”, he added.
About George Blake
George Blake (born George Behar 11 November 1922) is a British former spy who worked as a double agent for the Soviet Union.
He became a Communist and decided to work for the KGB while a prisoner during the Korean War.
Discovered in 1961 and sentenced to 42 years in prison, he escaped from Wormwood Scrubs prison in 1966 and fled to the USSR.
He was not one of the Cambridge spies, although he associated with fellow traitors Donald Maclean and Kim Philby after reaching the USSR. [Wikipedia]
Cold War Spies George Blake
In Friday’s statement Blake said that after seeing civilians killed by “the American military machine” he decided to become a double agent.
“I realised back then that such conflicts are deadly dangerous for the entire humankind and made the most important decision in my life to cooperate with the Soviet intelligence voluntarily and for free to help protect peace in the world.”
UPDATE (November 18 2018) — On November 18 2017, General John Hyten — the top US nuclear commander — said that he would resist President Donald Trump if he ordered an “illegal” launch of nuclear weapons.
“I provide advice to the president, he will tell me what to do.
And if it’s illegal, guess what’s going to happen? I’m going to say, ’Mr President, that’s illegal.’ And guess what he’s going to do? He’s going to say, ’What would be legal?’
And we’ll come up with options, of a mix of capabilities to respond to whatever the situation is, and that’s the way it works. It’s not that complicated.
If you execute an unlawful order, you will go to jail. You could go to jail for the rest of your life.”
Some senators want legislation to alter the nuclear authority of the US president.
In November 2017, a Senate committee held the first congressional hearing in more than four decades on the president’s authority to launch a nuclear strike.
UPDATE (November 18 2019) — In a recent interview with the BBC’s Steve Rosenberg, former President Gorbachev called for all countries to declare that nuclear weapons should be destroyed.
The former Soviet leader warns that current tension between Russia and the West is putting the world in “colossal danger” due to the threat from nuclear weapons.
END of UPDATE
UPDATE (November 18 2020) — On November 10 2020, Vladimir Putin congratulated former KGB double agent George Blake on his 98th birthday.
END of UPDATE
UPDATE (December 26 2020) — George Blake Dies in Moscow, aged 98. — George Blake has died, Russian news agencies report. Blake — one of the famous “moles” in British intelligence — spied for the Soviet KGB during the 1950s before being arrested in 1961 and sentenced to 42 years in prison.
His arrest was made possible due to information that a triple-agent (Polish intelligence officer Michael Golenevsky) reported to the CIA regarding a Soviet agent in MI6.
After serving four years in prison, Blake managed to escape. With the help of friends, he moved through Berlin, and then to Moscow in 1965.
МОСКВА, 26 дек — РИА Новости. Легендарный советский разведчик, экс-офицер британской MI6 Джордж Блейк скончался на 99-м году жизни, сообщил РИА Новости руководитель пресс-бюро Службы внешней разведки России Сергей Иванов.
“The legendary intelligence officer George Blake has passed away today,” the spokesman for Russia’s SVR foreign intelligence service Sergei Ivanov told the TASS state news agency.
“George Blake sincerely loved our country and admired our people’s achievements during World War II”.
George Blake was promoted to Colonel of Russia Foreign Intelligence. He wrote two books (memoirs ) : “No Other Choice” and “Transparent Walls”.
For his services in ensuring the state security of the USSR and Russia, George Blake was awarded the Order of Lenin, the Red Banner, the Order of the Patriotic War of the 1st degree and a few others.
A bronze portrait of Blake stands on the monument to Russian intelligence officers, opened in September 2020, at the SVR headquarters.
END of UPDATE
REFERENCES
George Blake: Russian spies must save world from nuclear hell — GUARDIAN
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Former Double Agent : “Self-destruction of humankind has been put back on the agenda”
One Year Ago — Former Double Agent : “Self-destruction of humankind has been put back on the agenda”
Two Years Ago — Former Double Agent : “Self-destruction of humankind has been put back on the agenda”
Three Years Ago — Former Double Agent George Blake : “Self-destruction of humankind has been put back on the agenda”
Three Years Ago — Former Double Agent George Blake : “Self-destruction of humankind has been put back on the agenda” [UPDATE : George Blake Dies in Moscow, aged 98.]
Four Years Ago — Former Double Agent George Blake : “Self-destruction of humankind has been put back on the agenda” [UPDATE : In Conversation with Dr. Henry A. Kissinger]
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