CHICKEN OR EGG

Russia Honors Riffraff, Not Its Real Heroes (Yulia Latynina, Moscow Times, January 19th, 2005)

Russia is a strange country. We celebrate the creation of the Red Army on Feb. 23, the day when the Red Army fled before advancing German troops near Pskov. We honor 28 nonexistent members of the 316th Infantry -- the so-called panfilovtsy, named after the division's commander, Major General Ivan Panfilov -- as heroes of World War II. Patriots defend the only hero of the war in Chechnya, Yury Budanov, a colonel who raped and murdered an 18-year-old girl.

Could it be that Russia has no heroes? Or that we don't remember the ones we do have?[...]

The history of Russia is the history of a state that betrays the very people who defend it. It is a history of false heroes created by decree and real heroes consigned to oblivion.

Some Israeli soldiers told me recently that they had fought for three days to recover the corpses of two comrades, losing 12 more men in the process. Because they do not leave their own to the mercy of the enemy, even in death.

Some Russian soldiers told me about how a wounded Russian officer was put on an overloaded chopper, but was thrown overboard when he died to lighten the load and make flying easier. No one would admit to this, of course, and the officer was officially listed as "missing in action." Because of this, the military refused to pay his widow the pension to which she was entitled.

Wars are not lost on the field of battle. Wars are lost when the leadership regards its soldiers as cannon fodder. And when we honor riffraff instead of real heroes.

All very fine to blame the riffraff and the leadership, but maybe the problem is a little deeper.