Glad to see sensible numbers starting to appear for the numbers who were put through the Gulags. Estimation is always a difficult thing, but sometimes it is good to do a quick confidence comparative, just to see how it all fits in. If you take the US prison system for comparison, which has been referred to as no better than communist labor camps, then if you take very rounded conservative (beneficial to the US) figures of 2 million in prison at any one time (mostly non-whites), a re offending rate of 50% and an average prison stay of 5 years. Then you can say that there would be a hardcore of offenders that would cycle through the system of about 1 million. In 30 years, these would amount to 6 (30/5) prison stay units, so you could say that there would be 6 million stays cycled through the prison system (same people) over the 30 years. Now if you add to that the 1 million non re offenders over 30 years, given the same average prison sentence, then you would get 6 million different people cycled through the prison system. So this would give you another 6 million prison stays. So using very conservative figures, you could say that over 30 years, the US labor camp system has cycled 6 + 6 or 12 million people through its doors. This seems to agree with the 14 million conservative estimate given in the article. Obviously now you can make the estimates less conservative (7 million under the correctional eye, 38% re offending, 6 months average sentence, longer than 30 yr) and generate any telephone numbers you like. But for me with simple figures it all seems to add up. In terms of incarceration rates for a large country over time, that is running an oppressive regime for its citizens. I just did this as a quick data eyeballing exercise, but you could get the real data and see over a 30 year period how many different individuals cycled through the US prison system, you could then divide those into different tiers of establishment, to make the comparison more accurate.

Stalin was a criminal regardless of number play. He alone turned the Soviet system into tyranny. Our Soviet Heroes of the Patriotic War suffered. Many of those who survived the Leningrad siege disappeared under Stalin's order because they ''survived without him''. Just about every Soviet crime anyone complains about goes straight back to this man. To those who think we won the Patriotic war because of him, they are wrong. Soviet people won that war. Just like the Soviet Union was supposed to be, a unity of the people. He corrupted that with evil. There are many comparative evils and Western nations aren't clean themselves, but for us to re-erect images of Stalin is just being brain dead. The Russian people suffered the most under his tyranny, yet we are the only ones left to hold images of him. I don't believe Russians need tyranny and I also don't believe Russians are doing good now under this Imported "ME" society from the West. I just saw on the news a woman hit 2 older women with her car. What does she do? Gets out of her car and checks to see the damage of her car. The 2 women just lay there lifeless and no one even checks them. "ME ME ME". Thank you MacDonald's and MTV for teaching us to indulge ourselves only, I'm lovin it!

What appears to be an irrational nostalgia for Stalin might reflect feelings of disappointment of the president condition. Stalin was evil, but at least during the war he listened to great military leaders such as Zhukov. If he acted as foolishly and stupidly as Hitler, there would not have been a Russia or Slave nations today. Stalin's evilness was based on his weaknesses as poorly educated man with viciously jealous personality. Stalin’s purges of the Red Army leaders is the singular reason why the Red Army was not able to contain the initial phase of the German invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941. However, he was cleaver enough to enlist the true patriotism of the Russian people to win the war. I think this is why some still have mixed feelings about Stalin’s legacy.

Sadly it is to discover the postings regarding the late Premier Joseph Stalin, as an agent over Communist ( Red ) Russia before and after WW11. This collective observation of the man of whom saved Britain from total destruction has been forgotten. Taking no side of these political contradictions is no sauce on my Western steak, things as they actually had existed, is more palatable in my and good to digest. It seems to me that several of these posters have passed much time in reading the New York Times, the Washington Post, for the last five years. Forgot to mention the Reader's digest, of which is guaranteed not to over work one single brain cell. Indeed Stalin saved the Bank of England, English colonialism and the Great Depression in the United States. And less we forget, the ever lingering seed of international ( Bolshevism ). Since a leopard cannot change its spots, incipient Socialism is up and running; Britain still retains its City of Gold, and America its national news media's scheme to absolutely lobotomize all fools,who are to lazy and indifferent, in recognizing an open attack on the nation's middle class, disruption of the laboring element, concealed with Marx's passion for mob hatred, of the blue collar perception, that one can make it on individual responsibility. Bla, Bla, Stalin!

Britain is a good subject, but what a country to save, they have such good numbers. The British were fond of transporting prisoners to Australia for a huge range of offences on the 'death code' as well as their political prosoners. The survival rate for these prisoners was around 30%. But the British really out did themselves when they were imprisoning the American's as terrorists on prison ships, here they excelled and got to around 70% death rate. In terms of death rate for penal institutions, Britain is certainly Great. A nice reminder of the "The British Prison-Ship" (look it up if you want more) THE various horrors of these hulks to tell, These Prison Ships where pain and penance dwell, Where death in tenfold vengeance holds his reign, And injur’d ghosts, yet unaveng’d, complain; This be my task —ungenerous Britons, you Conspire to murder whom you can’t subdue

As long as he stays dead, you're safe.

Some of us can point to Stalin's badness, but if it were not for Stalin and his government people, there would be no Russia or Western Europe (at least as we know them) today. I doubt that USA would have had the will or would have been able to defeat Hitler without using nuclear weapons as they did in Japan which actually saved lives in the longrun..

To say his "bad" can be forgiven, because he did so much "good" for his country - is like saying the priest who molests the alter boys is not a bad man because hae has a soup kitchen for poor people. It's madness! Stalin was a MAD MAN! His images should be burned, not honored!