Article

2007-02-21 Iraq

The Elite's Feeling the Heat (Russian Elite)

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Posted by Sherry 2007-02-21 12:24|| || Front Page|| [5 views since 2007-05-07] Top

#1 I'm surprised the Russian Generals said carpet bombing would be the only way Iraq would lose. If I remember correctly, the Nazi's leveled Stalingrad and this gave the Russians an advantage in urban fighting because the ruble was great cover and heavy armor could not be brought in. The red bastards never seemed to make much sense to me anyways.

Posted by Angenter Crolugum3645 2007-02-21 12:47|| 2007-02-21 12:47|| Front Page Top

#2 Back in the 1980s, it was pointed out that after the Napoleonic wars, every major army on the planet adopted Napoleon's tactics, for two opposing armies to meet in a wide front, while a second eschelon looked for a weak point to split the enemy forces. Sometimes called the "axe strategy".

The first major conflict after Napoleon's wars was the American Civil War, and the Americans discovered the fatal flaw of the strategy: when both sides used it, it resulted in stalemate.

In Europe, however, this was not discovered until World War I, neither the revolutions of 1948 nor the Franco-Prussian war really giving it a chance to be discovered.

But it took a long time, and Russia had left the war before the light dawned that the axe strategy no longer worked. So Russia never got the big lesson, and continued to embrace that strategy.

World War II also never presented a chance to test it again, as fronts were too flexible and terrain changed hands too quickly.

So into the Cold War, Russia still embraced these tactics. Every new innovation they integrated into the existing model, be it armored helicopters used like heavy cavalry; or even tactical nuclear and chemical weapons.

This was why Soviet tactics always looked so antiquated--because they were. And also why when those tactics were tried in a modern war and failed horribly, there was such shock in the Kremlin.

Their entire philosophy of war was broken.

Posted by Anonymoose 2007-02-21 15:02|| 2007-02-21 15:02|| Front Page Top

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