KGB - necessary for the state or just overkill

[Vinny Rafarino]

http://www.che-lives.com/cgi/community/upload/kgb.gif

Please give me your views on the Komiter Gosudarstvennoi Bezopasnosti (KGB)

Were they necessary to keep the Soviet state free from subversionists? Or merely the Soviet Gestapo.

Please be subjective and informative.

This sure makes a good Avatar for our Hard-line comrades....

[Pete]

I'd share if I wasn't so knowledgeless in this catergory. Do you have a non-western-propaganda link for this?

[Vinny Rafarino]

Here the page I yanked the emblem from...pretty informative...but nothing special

http://www.fortunecity.com/victorian/riley...viet/index.html (http://www.fortunecity.com/victorian/riley/787/Soviet/index.html)

[Nobody]

Not that I know a whole lot about the KGB, but in a true communist society there would be no need for a secert police, becasue everyone would be happy. There would be no counter-revolutionary activety

[Cassius Clay]

This term 'Secret police' is very misleading, if so it's the worst kept 'secret' in history. The KGB included everyone from traffic cops to international super-spys. Personally I think the KGB from the 70's onwards was a very corrupt orginisation, recieving something like 15% higher wages than the average worker. Just look at all them Mafia folks, all ex KGB. Personally I think a non-corruptable (well as uncorrutable as possible) non-discriminating and just police force is perfectly acceptable, ofcourse a slight bending of the rules come Revolution time may be neccassarry.

[Sensitive]

Some of my relatives worked in a factory that produced goods for (and was controlled by) the early KGB (the CHEKA)...

Besides that I do think the KGB was needed to stop counter-revolutionary activity. Although, if the revolution had spread across the whole planet there obviously would not have been a need for a secret police. But as we all know, that sadly did not happen...

[Vinny Rafarino]

Slight is an understatement Comrade. we all know what's necessary to prevent subversionists from p"planting their putrid seed" as I like to call it. It's a job not everybody is capable of doing but should be done for the advancement and protection of the state not for a better wage.