Behind Russia's Bluster -- The Russian Army

Russian Army Girls Group Picture (Click To Enlarge)

From Front Page Magazine:

While Russia's bombs rained and its tanks rolled over Georgian soil, much of the world oscillated between shock and bewilderment. Something just didn't appear to add up. As President Bush pointed out from China, Russia’s response is completely out of proportion to the stakes involved in the Ossetian territorial dispute. By flexing its military muscle in this way, the Kremlin is clearly pursuing some other agenda.

A clue as to what it is happening can be found in an avowal made last month. After Condoleezza Rice had signed an agreement with the Czech Republic to host a radar in the ballistic defense shield, the Foreign Ministry issued a statement which said that Russia “will be forced to react not with diplomatic, but with military-technical methods.”

This was not the first time Russia expressed its objections to the ballistic shield. A year ago, then President Vladimir Putin shocked the world by raising the possibility of nuclear measures against the project’s European participants. In a move designed to frighten and intimidate, Putin said this the eve of last year’s G-8 meeting:

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My Comment: The number one problem with todays Russian Arm Forces is its military culture. A throwback to the U.S.S.R. days, it is ill equipped and understaffed. There are some top and well trained units (with most in the Chechnya war zone ..... which is bad news for Georgia), but the majority of the Army are kids who are conscripts. To develop a professional army will probably take a decade (if not more), and an enormous amount of money. Something that Russia is in short supply for now .... even with its oil wealth.

From my own experience I have had the good fortune of meeting (face to face) men who serve in the American military, and with men who serve in the Russian Army. The differences are night and day. American soldiers are professional men and women who are 100% serious with their work. Russian soldiers are conscripted kids who are more concerned about their next pack of cigarettes. The only two Russian military men that I met on my last trip that impressed me were my uncles. One being a retired Soviet General, and the other being a director in Russia's Space Satellite program .... and even they lament for the old days, shaking their heads with the state of the Russian Army today.

On a side note, I doubt that the Russian Army girls in the above picture are within 100 miles of Georgia. But if you want more ..... I will recommend this link.