Medvedev is on a winner, his stance will allow us to get everything on the table. It will allow us to fully elaborate on the external actors with their deliberate destructive influences in our past. It will allow us to separate politics and personal traits, it will allow us to separate the accomplishments from the suffereing, it will allow us to see historical events in their true international compartive setting. In all it will defeat the liars on the world stage, especially those close to home. Russia leads and Russia wins. We have a spec in our eye the British Europeans and US have logs in theirs.

"Stalin of course, destroyed millions, but at the same time – thanks to his ‘strategic genius’ – the country won WWII, conducted industrialization and so on..." Sometimes even the worst of guys can do some good work. Why should we close our eyes to it? Saying the truth does not make one a Stalin's fan. Similarly the Soviet Union wasn't just a totalitarian regime opressing the people. It was also a place where every citizen had a house, a job, free medical care and so on... And similarly saying the truth doesn't make one a commie... USA dares to come and talk about Stalin while they plan to exterminate the 90% of human population. Take a look at Georgia Guidestones and an AWARDED university professor named Erik Pianka. Doomsday EBOLA massacres, eugenics for a new ... aryan tribe and other nazi stuff. When it comes to evil, Dark Lady USA never disapoints me....

ergatis, spot on in Iraq alone the US has already surpassed in executions the total number that Stalin did.

Medvedev’s comments and the debate they provoked have focused solely on Stalin’s atrocities against Russians. This is a logical starting point – but only a starting point... Stalin died in 1953, but his influence did not. Stalin’s brutality, contempt for humanity, indifference to suffering which he caused, the lies with which he plastered just about every aspect of the state, the ignorance in which he cocooned the population, the paranoia he engendered and encouraged amongst all, his contempt for the rule of law and the predatory cynicism that underpinned his dealings with neighboring countries remained, to one degree or another, the defining characteristics of the Soviet Union to its very end. The damage this did to Russia is vast, and continues to today. Eventually the debate has to expand from what Stalin did to Russians in the 1930s to what Stalin did to Russia throughout all Soviet history and beyond through the enduring distortions which he stamped into the fabric of Russia. And the debate must then expand further to what Stalin and his successors under Stalin’s influence did to neighboring countries, and the bitter legacy that this has left to Russia and its international relations today. Only after working honestly through such a national debate and clearly coming to understand the realities that it uncovers will Russians be able to distinguish between reality and the fantasies and half-truths that still pass for official Russian positions, and come to really understand why Russia’s influence at home and abroad is such as it is. And only after that will Russians and their leaders be able to make the changes that can heal Russia’s internal Soviet-era wounds, and heal the ongoing bitterness and mistrust which Russia’s behavior, past and present, inspires amongst its neighbors. There is still a long, long way to go. I hope that Medvedev’s initiative is truly a beginning, and not a mirage.

At the moment of reading 51 voted this ROAR marking it 1.2. ROARs are generally informative masterpieces never missing 7W and quoting accuracy. If one so positive issue of President Medvedev is marked 1.2 out of 51 readers – we can only conclude that RT is under full blast of Soros swarming.

How is the world dealing with current and recent political criminals who embrace genocide as a tool?. Are some just too important and influential to ever get their day in court? Tons of money can often buy most anything. Can it buy war criminals and those who commit crimes against humanity a free pass to avoid prosecution. It would be interesting to see a list of all the modern day politicians who qualify for a trial at the Hague and possible punishment.

I hold no brief for Stalin-my grandmother was condemned to be shot by the Bolsheviks but escaped from prison in mid winter andcrossed on foot into Finland. But one must give praise where praise is due. Despite these current attempts to undermine Stalin by "liberal democrats" his position as war leader was analysed by Field Marshal Viscount Alanbrooke (who had no love of the Soviet regime) in November 1943, as "I had already formed a very high idea of his ability, force of character and shrewdness but did not know yet whether he was also a strategist. I knew that Voroshilov would provide him with nothing in the shape of strategic vision...During this meeting and all the subsequent ones which we had with Stalin, I rapidly grew to appreciate the fact that he had a military brain of the very highest calibre. Never once in any of his statements did he make any strategic error, nor did he ever fail to appreciate all the implications of a situation with a quick and unerring eye". And he compared him to Roosevelt who had "no pretence at being a strategist" and his own boss, Churchill, who was far more erratic, brilliant at times but far too impulsive and inclined to favour quite unsuitable plans

Paddyrusski, Absolutely; praise must be given, where praise is due. It is a moot argument whether anyone else could have led the Soviet Union in the Great Patriotic war to victory. But the truth and facts are that Stalin did it. He led us to victory, he liberated Europe from the Nazis alongside the allies. Remember the Axis powers had been responsible for around 80 million deaths, they were never going to stop eradication of other people. The Soviet union under Stalin paid a huge price to win and defeat the Nazis. These are all facts, plain and simple. No one can deny this great positive achievement of Stalin and the Soviet Union. Without it there would be no Europe, there would not be European peace for so long. This doesn't make Stalin a great guy in terms of civic development of a sustainable society, but it does make him an absolute hero in terms of putting the sword to the Nazis. Now put this in context with the Russophobes, they never mention the 1 million Iraqi deaths in the building of a western Iraqi society, indeed they are falling into the same trap as Stalin. The Bush political and oil driven purges in Iraq and Afghanistan, are creating oppressed people, they rise up more and more, so the oppressive purges continue. The numbers are larger than Stalin, yet the Russophobes are quick to ignore them. But Stalin took on and defeated Nazism, a Pandora's box that opened; and still today people find it a miracle that it was closed again, all due in large part to the Soviet Union under Stalin. For these reasons as I have stated earlier we need all the facts on the table and a sensible debate and account of Stalin. People are using Stalin as both a weapon and a shield, when really he was just Stalin, with many around him and many external comparisons possible. It is important for Russia to set the record straight, because only Russia can do it. Let the debate continue. This is a multidimensional debate.