New Documents Reveal How a 1980s Nuclear War Scare Became a Full-Blown Crisis

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34. alfredo

alfredo

Indeed - Iranians have no love for Al-Qauda, Taliban or Saudi-Arabia for that matter - and if it had not been US who invaded Afghanistan in 2001, the iranians would have doing it - as they was seeking to punish the Taliban, for killing their diplomatic staffers in Kabul - the Taliban had no qualm about killing diplomatic staff, who was residing in Kabul - and who under international law, was protected against exactly this things... And have been that - since the Parthia-ns and Eastern Romans had made international agreements and treaties AD 500s or so.. And even the Islamic Caliphate, who both Al-Qauda and Taliban seek to return to the world - accepted the idea that diplomatic staff was protected against violence from the host country.. In this case Afghanistan - and the host of the country was pr then, the Taliban, who had the capital..

Paranoia was definitely a feature who had the old guard in Kremlin in their firm grasp - and it was not easy to even try to explain the issue if you had an opinion about it.. And if you wanted to get up in the Soviet power structure - you better keep your mouth shut - and work inside the system. And not challenge the status Que - even if it was clearly for everyone that a change had to start....

And I guess - the provocation from the US, who sometimes happened by accident - sometimes on purpose - was making the old guard in Kremlin really going off their rukors - and into a stage of paranoia and fear.. Remember, this was the guys who had grown up under Stalin - had been young when Stalin was in charge - and had survived long enough to sit on the top after a long and sometimes troublesome rise to power.. No one of them was not hurt by the past - and had no illusions about the future - other than the need to keep it tighter any means nessesary...

The irony of it all -is maybe the fact that the military - who loved Bush, finally the restraints from the Clinton eras where they had almost been "starving" in difference from what they had been doing before the Clinton era. The Clinton was no friends of the military - and wanted to do something with the system - and put the military on a strict diet for a while.. It helped Clinton get the money necessary for other means - even though it also meant that the military had to do without old budgets.. And had to change to a different world... But as you point out - the many wars decimated the army - not just in hardware but also in man power - many was maimed for the rest of their life - because the LEADERSHIP in Pentagon and The White House was not able, or willing to do the job they had - to make sure the soldiers had the best weapons and equipment at hand, when going to war.. And the coldness the Administration of Bush responded to the dear straits from the armed forces, was not making their some friends in the uniformed ranks either.. It is not the generals who make up the army - it is the NCO and mid grade officers who make up an army, without them, an army is just as weak as the weakest link.. It in the NCO and mid grade officers the know how about how to make an army function really is - and it is there some of the best officers are made - not just by going to West Point.. Even though going to West point really make an carrier in the military a good one..

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