[AdmSmith]

the 1991 Gulf War, which resulted in astounding loss-to-kill ratios for the Iraqis, came because once deprived of Soviet guidelines and command and control, Iraqis were “incapable” of “dogfighting or even fleeing effectively.

In the 80s that was the general estimate of Russian pilots as well in case they had no command and control: “highly trained monkeys”

[SunkenCiv]

In the 1973 war, the Soviet pilots who had trained the Egyptian air force openly ridiculed the Egyptian fliers (the ones who'd managed to survive). Show us how it's done? They also got their asses handed to them, and those who survived passed on the invitation to an after-action party given by their allies, the Egypt pilots. I don't have an argument against Pollack's apparent general thesis, but wonder if he took motivation into account.