Snowden's Russian lawyer Anatoly Kucherena spoke to the state-owned channel Russia Today

[Savannahmann]

29. History is vital.

In understanding History, you learn how we got where we are. You learn the mistakes, the missed opportunities that will come around again. Look at now, we are as a nation, making the same mistakes that have been made time and time again in history. But those who have read it, assuming anyone in power has, are looking to avoid the tactical mistakes while making the strategic mistakes all over again.

Understanding Russia today, truly understanding it, means you have to understand how it got where it is. That isn't just reading a report or two. It means in our case, the United States, actually reading Democracy in America. It means you read the classics that describe our nation's history. Even the classic fiction tells you many truths about the era. True, no one named Hawkeye single handedly saved his beloved during the French and Indian wars. But there were battles that are mentioned, and the atrocities on both sides were horrific. The fictional story allows the author to tell the larger truth.

History is vital, and if I were going to live in Russia, I'd certainly want to understand the nation as much as possible. To those who are foolish enough to want to call America home from wherever they are coming from, I'd suggest the same thing, read the books on our history, and learn how we got into this mess where our Government thinks they can spy on all of us at any old time while lying about protecting us.

Frankly, if we were faced with a real war, and a real enemy, say China. I wouldn't join the Red Cross to help out the common cause.