Cuban exiles rejoice after Castro cedes presidency

The biggest difference between us and them is we actually TRAIN !

Warsaw Pact pilots had very few hours in their planes compared to their NATO counterparts.
Also even in ground warfare our training wasn't 'scripted' all Warsaw Pact exercises were.

Now look at non-Western & non Warsaw Pact militaries aka 3rd Word. These militaries have only a 'theoretical' familiarity with their weapons. All modern technically sophisticated weapons in the hand of a 3rd World (even in many cases 2nd World !) military is days within turning into a piece of expensive junk.

Did you see this.

Rumors and information
As you can imagine, rumors are rampant right now within circles of the Cuban-American community. Ive heard that there was one person who witnessed the bearded bastard die personally. Of course, I cant cofirm the validity of that report. Nor, I suspect, will we be able to confirm any report of any kind regarding this issue. the Cuban government is holding all the cards on this right now.

Im getting emails from folks who have been in contact with family in Cuba, most of which saying that there's an eerie silence in the island and most family members are apprehensive about discussing the events via telephone with family abroad for fear of reprisals.

Im told that the US Interests Section in Havana is busy preparing for come what may.

Again, at this point I want to stress that we cannot confirm much, if anything, of the information that is seeping out of the island and I certainly dont want to get everyone's hopes higher than they already are. We are all just going to have to be patient, perhaps until some member of the MSM in Cuba shows some cojones and does some real reporting as opposed to trumpetting the Cuban government's statements.

We will do our best to bring you all whatever news and information we can as soon as humanly possible. But until we can get verifiable facts and data, we're going to hold off on calling for the champagne to start pouring.

We've waited almost half a century. A few more days is but a drop in the bucket.

But let's all keep our fingers crossed, por si las moscas.

Update: Some of the emails Ive been receiving are heartbreaking. Many are from sons and daughters and grandchildren of Cubans in exile who have already passed away. They all say the same thing: " I wish my father or mother or grandfather or grandmother had lived to see this day." I'd like to assure them all that all of our family member that have passed on are watching the event unfold from up in Heaven. It is through you all, who quite possibly do not remember a thing from Cuba or were born here in the States, that freedom for Cuba is carried. Enjoy these moments as there will be much hard work to come.

Posted by Val Prieto at 09:53 AM

Link: http://www.babalublog.com/

I'd love to hear an elaboration on the MIG-25 - how was it better and worse?

- Short range
- Used lots of vacuum tubes (which while heavier/bulkier, could hold up to electronic interference - especially nearby nukes, and could handle bad weather and were easier to replace for the ground crews)
- The engines were too fast for their own good - the MiG-25 that did the mach 3.2 or 3.3 run over Israel in the early '70s nearly came apart - the engines were totalled after it was over, from the stress.
- The airframe could not handle some of the stresses of a serious dogfight (an F-4 could out-manuever it!).
-It was steel, not titanium like was thought (and the thing was incredibly heavy - which limited the range and maneuverability).

Also, it was hand-welded. It was however, fairly reliable, rugged, and easy to maintain if you kept it within parameters, and it had one helluva radar - could easily kill small animals (and probably humans) along the runway if you turned it on while taxiing, and would go right through our best signal jamming at the time.

I heard somewhere it could hit 100,000 feet in under 4 minutes, but in a one-on-one situation, just about all of the NATO fighters could defeat it (in all fairness, it was really built to scramble and go after high-altitude Mach 3 bombers like the XB-70).

Belenko was a real character and one of the gutsiest people I know of - he planned it for years, and when he was finally in a position to defect, the man loaded his cockpit with technical manuals and guides to the MiG-25 and some of the other Soviet fighters. The US gave him a nice pension/trust fund.

He reminds me of the Cubans that take old Chevy trucks and cars and turn them into boats and literally drive them across the ocean to the US (even if it is a short stretch, it's still driving a CAR in the OCEAN). It's a shame we continue to turn those types back - they probably would appreciate freedom more than many Americans born here.

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