... in response to We should be allies!, posted by Travis on May 25, 2003Putin wants an all volunteer army.
The army brass doesn't want any changes.
They will trumpet their nuclear capabilities,
since they are the world leader in megatons
ready to launch. What they won't mention is
that there is no plausible scenario for
launching one, let alone all, of their nukes.
So the interesting bits will be the stuff they
don't talk about--the non-nuke stuff.
I suspect the army will have to show how they
would succeed where the iraqies failed.
russian military doctrine (post iraq):
1. put raw recruits and field pieces all in a row
2. watch the tanks and guns get blown up from the air
3.
4. Victory!
Right now all they've got for step 3 is nukes,
which they are not prepared to use unless they
get nuked first. So, they don't have a step 3,
and that's what this exercise is all about.
It's a political necessity for Putin. The
brass needs to step on it's collective crank
before they will admit there's a problem.
As to their choice of imaginary opponents:
Tradition, pride, and practical considerations
all require that they plan on taking on the
biggest bad-asses on the planet. Don't let
it bother you.