Path: utzoo!attcan!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!wuarchive!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!att!cbnews!military From: yla@IDA.LiU.SE (Yngve Larsson) Newsgroups: sci.military Subject: Re: WW III stories (was Re: Tom Clancy) Message-ID: <12309@cbnews.ATT.COM> Date: 14 Dec 89 03:36:24 GMT References: <12095@cbnews.ATT.COM> <12145@cbnews.ATT.COM> Sender: military@cbnews.ATT.COM Organization: CIS Dept, Univ of Linkoping, Sweden Lines: 48 Approved: military@att.att.com From: Yngve Larsson In article <12145@cbnews.ATT.COM> beckerd@grover.cs.unc.edu (David Becker) writes: >At points Hacket uses the books as his personal soapbox. He champions weapons >systems and complains about NATO unrediness. The Soviets are portrayed >as fighting the enemy because the KGB is worse but then again Clancy >does that too. The good guys win as Soviet Empires disintegrates from >within. > It's been a long time since I read _TWW_, but I remember being disappointed by the (in my opinion) blatant axe-grinding by Hackwell. Obviously, he feels that NATO is underarmed and unprepared, and this shines through in the book. What disturbed me most is that all NATO assessments and preparations seemed pathetically off-target, but all the Soviet dito were diabolically correct and clever. _Red Army_ by Peters(?) is a much better book, IMHO. To bring this back into the realm of sci.military, I would like to discuss military intelligence. Presumably, the US has a technological advantage in areas such as satellite imaging and communication analysis (such as counting radio messages between higher echolon army units in Ukraina, etc.). BUT, the soviets seems to have an advantage in human-based intelligece, i.e. pure old-fashioned spies. Now and then, one hears about US military personnel, high-ranking british officials or West German politicians (or at least their secretaries) being revealed as Soviet spies. Also, western military secrets has a history of showing up in the Soviet Union rather fast. Seldom, if ever, is there a story about western spies in the USSR. As I see it, this can only have four explanations: 1) Western spies caught in the USSR are not mentioned in the press. 2) There is a fraction of extreme-left individuals doing this out of ideological reasons. 3) The Soviets pay very well. 4) There are no worthwile secrets in the Soviet Union. [mod.note: Might I add: 5) Western spies in the USSR are so good they don't get caught. Not, mind you, that I suggest this is the case, but it *is* within the realm of possibilities. - Bill ] What is the concensus of the net? Yngve Larsson UUCP: ...mcvax!enea!liuida!yla Dept of CIS Internet: yla@ida.liu.se Linkoping University, Sweden Phone: +46-13-281949