Russian Posturing

Campus Report ^ | April 16, 2008 | Bethany Stotts

[bs9021]

Russian Posturing

by: Bethany Stotts, April 16, 2008

With the media making such a big deal about Russian posturing, from the nation’s recent polar explorations to the launch of new missile submarines, fears have risen that Russian military action may again threaten U.S. national interests. This apprehension has provided ample ground for policymakers to advance their own pet projects, including the Law of the Sea Treaty (LOST)....

(snip) But how big a threat is Russia to American national interests? A recent panel by the Heritage Foundation on the state of Russian military modernization provided a less than awe-inspiring portrait of the former world power’s military strength. ...(snip)...

“The problem is that this [modernization] program will never be fulfilled,” said panelist Alexander Golts. Golts is a military expert and the Deputy Executive Director of the Russian online magazine Yezhednevnyi Zhurnal.

Excluding Dr. Holmes, the panelists uniformly described an understaffed, demoralized Russian military without the capacity to launch an effective non-nuclear assault on its neighbors, much less its North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) “enemies.”

Russian military spending is increasing, argued Dr. Eugene Rumer, a Senior Fellow at the National Defense University—but the majority of expenditures are for personnel rather than procurement. This signifies an attempt to upgrade an outdated, demoralized force of which

· 70% of conscripts have a high school education

· 50% of conscripts are not fit to serve in elite units

· many lack the technical expertise necessary to operate modern machinery

According to Professor Mikhail Tsypkin of the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School, volunteer Russian soldiers earn between 6,000 and 8,000 Rubles ($254-339) monthly—far below the Russian average wage of 13,527R ($574). Only officers, who are charged with the command of thousands of other soldiers, earn the average Russian wage mentioned above. Yet 34% of officers live below ...

[Prophet in the wilderness]

Although Russia is a worry, they should focus more attention on China's military build up.

[Fishing-guy]

The Russians are going to breed (and drink) themselves out of existence.

[redstateconfidential]

By breed I guess you mean not have intercourse. One of the little secrets behind all the Russian brides marrying European, American and even the Noveau Riche of China is that the Russian men are either drunk or absent(Damn ,they all be playahs!).They can’t or won’t work, the countryside is practically empty, and the those that have any ambition will likely go overseas.
Also Aids STDs, and Drug use are epidemic.