[SauronOfMordor]

The Russians were shocked at what we did during the first gulf war. Their generals were told for years that they would beat the US in a ground war. In reality, they didn't have a chance.

And the Soviet Union fell shortly after the Soviet military discovered they would be annihillated in any conflict with the US. Coincidence?

[Tokhtamish]

And the Soviet Union fell shortly after the Soviet military discovered they would be annihillated in any conflict with the US. Coincidence?

Not in the least. The Soviet Marshall who supported Gorbachev, Akhramatov, I believe his name was, stated that the day he was converted to the cause of reform was the day the Israelis destroyed the much touted integrated air defense system they had build for Syria in the Bekaa Valley losing only one plane.

That air defense system was built as well as the Soviets could build it. I'll bet it was every bit as good as the one around Moscow. It was destroyed because Israeli decoy drones simulating a massive air strike tricked the Russian radars into switching from passive to active to target them. Then the real Israeli massive air strike simply targetted the active Russian SAM radars and destroyed the sites. That persuaded the Soviets that their smokestack heavy industry military could not compete in the new age of digital technology. The "quantity has a quality all its own" doctrine just would not work anymore.

[JimRed]

And the Soviet Union fell shortly after the Soviet military discovered they would be annihillated in any conflict with the US. Coincidence?

Combined with some higher up Soviet officials finally "getting it". "Hey, the west really is NOT interested in attacking us, just like they always said".