May 19,2008: Two U.S. military officers (an Army O-5 and a Navy O-4), serving as military attaches at the U.S. embassy in Russia, were expelled from Russia several weeks ago. This was because the two had, last March, attempted to visit a Siberian factory that manufactures the Su-34 (the Russian equivalent of the U.S. F-15E). Russia has been returning to Soviet levels of paranoia and secrecy, and would probably not have allowed the two officers to make an official visit. However, unofficial attempts sometimes work. It was a long shot, and it failed. The factory officials refused to admit the two, and reported the incident to Russian security officials. These fellows were not amused, and insisted that the two intrepid officers be expelled, before they got lucky.