Posted on 08/14/2008 1:52:39 PM PDT by lizol
Fight in Georgia Exposed Weak Points in Kremlin's Aging Army
By JEANNE WHALEN
August 14, 2008; Page A6
MOSCOW -- The Kremlin's short and victorious campaign in Georgia shows that Russia's military has improved from its dilapidated state in the 1990s, but analysts said the aging equipment and tactics also underscored how much more work Moscow faces in its quest to turn its army into a world-class fighting force.
Modernizing Russia's military has been a major priority for the Kremlin, which has boosted annual military spending from about $7 billion in the late 1990s to about $35 billion today, with further increases planned. Last year, then-President Vladimir Putin installed a new defense minister who vowed to accelerate efforts to make the military more compact, nimble and better equipped.
The military made fast work of what it called "Operation Clear Field," sending Georgian troops into retreat early in the five-day conflict over the South Ossetia separatist region. To many that was no surprise, given that Russia's million-strong military dwarfs Georgia's modest armed forces. "You would expect the Russians to roll over the Georgians," says Siemon Wezeman, a weaponry expert at the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.
Some military experts said they saw signs of more modern equipment in Russia's armory, including smart bombs. And the losses Russia reported Wednesday -- 74 dead, 19 missing and 171 hospitalized with wounds -- were "limited," says Alexander Pikayev, director of the department for disarmament and conflict resolution at the Institute of World Economy and International Relations in Moscow.
(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...
Racistly underestimating your enemies is a long-term recipe for disaster.
Patton analyzed our enemies accurately, you think you’re smarter than he was?
WW amd WW2 Russians were killed by the Millions they couldn’t fight.
[others may believe]... that the Displaced Person is a human being, which he is not, and this applies particularly to the Jews, who are lower than animals.
Moscow can spend 350 billion on their military, but they’ll still be a glorified bunch of slavic savages led by only marginally more intelligent officers.
It isn’t about ‘accepting’ his views, try refuting them.
You might start by referencing the last major Russian military victory prior to their recent Georgian operation. As for Patton being a bigot, he had more experience dealing with various nationalities (such as the Russians) than either one of us, and his analysis can’t be dismissed on the altar of political correctness.
And I might add, we’re not talking about Patton’s views on Jews, we’re talking about his views on the slavic savages of Russia.
Hey Comrade, the only reason the Soviets won the ‘Great Patriotic War’ was because of tons of lend lease from the U.S. and the West that was never paid for, and the reason the vaunted Red Army had such a hard time was because Uncle Joe Stalin purged the military of any truly capable officers and was left with political apparatchiks and other Communist Party stooges.
But you go right ahead and enjoy your fantasy world.
In short, and I do not want to talk about politics:
1. Georgia hada:
NATO- armed
Israeli- trained
- Better equiped military
Yet they were crushed within 24 hrs by simmilar size Russian Army.
By the words of Saakashvilli himself.
“Russians poured 6,000 men and 150 pieces of armor”
Lets stop bull*hiting.
Russians used same quantity of troops agains georgians as Georgians hade. And they destroyed them.
NATO modeled Georgian army was crushed, without Pentagon knowing that Russians entered Georgia!
If I was US general, I would change something, something BIG.
Sorry...
How old are you?
15? 20?
OK General Kronos, I’ll play: what would you change?
And more,
Did you knew that commander of Russian 58th Army was wounded in georgia while he was LEADING his troops?
And when that hapened to georgian or NATo general?
Im talking about B-A-L-L-S.
That, my friend you truly need wor winning the war.
Russians hade them and Georgians didnt.
if it werent for the nuke, Soviets would destroy ....
If it werent for daylight it would be dark all the time too.
You sound like a fan of an aggressive and imperial Russia.
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