Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!ginosko!gem.mps.ohio-state.edu!apple!bionet!ames!amdcad!military From: cperlebe@encad.Wichita.NCR.COM (Chris Perleberg) Newsgroups: sci.military Subject: Re: Future of the Military Message-ID: <27450@amdcad.AMD.COM> Date: 23 Sep 89 18:46:08 GMT References: <27406@amdcad.AMD.COM> Sender: cdr@amdcad.AMD.COM Organization: NCR Corporation Wichita, KS Lines: 65 Approved: military@amdcad.amd.com From: cperlebe@encad.Wichita.NCR.COM (Chris Perleberg) Most of the comments I would like to make on this subject don't belong in sci.military. I try and stick to hard facts. [Thank you. Anyone who wants to discuss the political side of this should take it to talk.politics.soviet, please. --CDR] In article <27406@amdcad.AMD.COM> wmartin@STL-06SIMA.ARMY.MIL (Will Martin) writes: >There were some rather incredible statements made during this program. ^^^^^^^^^^ a good word! >Soviet military leaders said things like, "We have never considered the >United States to be our enemy" and "We were allies during WW II, and should ^^^^^ well, there was the Berlin blockade, the Cuban Missile crisis, the Korean war, the Arab-Israeli go-rounds, Vietnam, etc. Where have these generals been? >be allies now" and the like. ^^^^^^ Let's remember that, as allies, we were only a second choice. The Soviets were Hitler's ally first. >It appears that glasnost has pretty thoroughly >imbued the upper levels of the Soviet military, at least in their "for >public display" personae! ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ A key distinction. The basis of disinformation is not to say what you're thinking, but to say what you want the other side to think you're thinking. >What if it all is for real? What if there is a fundamental alteration in >the USSR's government and attitude, and this persists beyond Gorbachev's >period in power? What if things really do change for the better? To my knowledge, the Soviets have not pulled a single soldier out of the Central Front. A top Soviet general admitted to Congress recently that the Soviets built "only" 1000 tanks (presumably T-80s) last year -- that's 5 or 6 divisions worth. Soviet defense spending went up at least 3% last year (I think the figure is higher, but I haven't got it handy). If they really want to help their economy, they can cut their military spending -- like most of the West has. >If the Soviets continue to project this "good guy" image for much longer, >it doesn't seem likely that continued high military spending will be >defensible in the Congress. So some sort of change is inevitable. Will ^^^^^^^^^^ That's certainly true, and is the point of the whole campaign. Gorby has promised to reduce forces in Europe by (I think) 1996, but people are already acting as if he has already done so. Until he does, until he stops producing tanks, until he reduces his defense budget, we should be very, very, skeptical about what he says. NOTHING HAS CHANGED ON THE MILITARY FRONT DESPITE GLASNOST! [And that's the bottom line from a Military point of view. In analyzing threats one MUST consider capability, not intention. To base national security on a single man's percieved friendliness, weighed against centuries of history, seems more than a little wishful. --CDR] Chris Perleberg cperlebe@encad.wichita.ncr.com