Free Republic

VENEZUELAN military officers have started classes in unconventional warfare to repel an invasion left-wing President Hugo Chavez warns Washington is planning. Snipers draped in foliage and civilian reservists armed with knives, catapults and handguns crawled out of a hidden tunnel in a mock demonstration as an instructor lectured officers on resistance tactics. Captains joined lieutenants straining behind a cordon to see another soldier camouflaged inside tree perch as he fired a bow and peppered a uniformed dummy target with arrows. "If no one comes, then that's fine, we can continue as the free and sovereign country we are, but we...

In the 1970s and 1980s there were several indications about Saddam Hussein’s development of the WMD programs (biological, chemical and nuclear). The Israeli attack on the Iraqi French-made Osirak nuclear reactor in 1981 slowed down the progress of the Iraq’s nuclear weapons program but the biological and chemical WMDs were highly developed, due to the Soviet assistance, Iraqi scientists and a sophisticated system of procurement, organized by the Iraqi Intelligence in Western Europe and in other parts of the World. The nuclear weapons program was never abandoned by the regime, and before the first Gulf War (1991) Iraq was very...

Venezuela has received the first three of at least 10 military helicopters purchased from Russia. Military officials say the three MI-17 helicopters arrived Tuesday in Caracas. Venezuela bought the helicopters as part of a $120 million deal signed last March. Caracas also agreed last year to buy 100,000 Russian-made Kalashnikov assault rifles. U.S. officials have criticized the deals, saying they could trigger an arms race, destabilizing the region. MI-17s can be used in an assault role or as a transport craft. Venezuelan military officials say the helicopters will be used to patrol the border with neighboring Colombia. The remaining helicopters...

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez spent over $2.17 billion in 2005 to acquire Russian assault rifles and helicopters, Spanish transport aircraft and missile-capable corvettes, and Brazilian turboprop light attack aircraft. In January 2006, however, the U.S. State Department denied Spain and Brazil permission to sell Venezuela military transport and light attack aircraft containing U.S.-owned engine and avionics technology. The U.S. government’s action killed deals worth over $600 million to Spanish firm CASA-EADS and Brazil’s Embraer. It also created a major hindrance, albeit not an insurmountable obstacle, for the president’s military expansion plans. The Bolivarian revolution’s military weapons buying spree will continue...

Russia to meet pledge on air defense system deliveries to Iran MOSCOW, Feb. 9 (Xinhuanet) -- Russia will meet its pledge on deliveries of air defense systems to Iran, a senior official said on Thursday. Moscow cut a 1 billion-U.S. dollar deal with Tehran in November to supply it with Tor-M1 short-range missiles. Russian officials said these missiles are air defense systems used only to bring down aircraft and guided missiles at low altitudes but cannot strike ground targets. "As you know, we have a contract on the delivery of anti-aircraft missile systems to Iran. There is no reason not...

enezuelan President Hugo Chavez has told a huge rally of supporters that he wants to buy more weapons to defend his country from invasion. Speaking in the capital Caracas, Mr Chavez said 100,000 Kalashnikov assault rifles already on order from Russia were not enough. Venezuela needed a million well-armed men and women, he said. Mr Chavez also likened US President George W Bush to the German Nazi leader, Adolf Hitler. Diplomatic relations between Venezuela and the US have been strained, but they worsened earlier this week when both countries expelled one another's diplomats after Caracas accused the US embassy of...

The unpredictable flight trajectory of the Russian missile makes it immune to destruction The successful test launch of the Topol-M missile has proved that the up-to-date Russian warhead is capable of subduing the USA's air defense, Russian military specialists say. Russian strategic troops performed the test launch of the intercontinental ballistic missile RS-12M Topol on November 1. The chairman of the press service of the troops, Colonel Alexander Vovk, stated after the test launch that the missile successfully hit the conditional target on the Balkhash range ground in Kazakhstan. It is worthy of note that yesterday's launch of the Topol-M...