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Politics : Clinton -- doomed & wagging, Japan collapses, Y2K bug, etc

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To: PHarris who wrote (385)	9/19/1998 9:08:00 PM
From: SOROS	of 1151

Russian army daily says forces close to collapse By Martin Nesirky MOSCOW, Sept 18 (Reuters) - Russia's austere armed forces newspaper lashed out with uncharacteristic venom against the government on Friday, saying the military was now so hard up it could soon lose its ability to defend the country. ''What fascist troops failed to do 50 or so years ago, a little group of modest accountants has managed quite easily,'' said Krasnaya Zvezda, or ''Red Star.'' ''The 'undefeatable and legendary' (armed forces) are months or maybe even weeks away from utter collapse.'' Krasnaya Zvezda left no doubt the hard-hitting remarks were sanctioned on high by making the article by commentator Yuri Gladkevich the main front-page story in the defence ministry's official daily. Even more surprising, the commentary followed a pledge from President Boris Yeltsin on Thursday to clear half of the government's wage arrears to soldiers this month. Gladkevich painted a grim picture. Some serving personnel and those made redundant had committed suicide. Professional officers were giving blood or working at night as taxi drivers or car park attendants to raise cash to feed their families. Western and Russian defence specialists have long pointed to underfunding as a source of low morale, although they tend to caution against alarmism. But they agree military stability in the world's second nuclear power is a prime reason for the West to help Russia avoid total economic meltdown. The article said the armed forces -- more than one million men serving from the Baltic to the Pacific -- had received only a third of the 65.8 billion roubles it had been allotted in this year's budget. That is $4.5 billion at Friday's official exchange rate but was worth more than $10 billion before the rouble crashed last month. Armed forces personnel are owed 16 billion roubles in wage arrears and officers are receiving food parcels, including bread handouts, instead of cash food allowances. ''It is possible the Russian armed forces will soon cease to exist as a combat-capable organism,'' Gladkevich wrote, saying this was more important than talk of whether the armed forces would remain loyal or not. ''The financial policy of previous governments and above all of the finance ministry is leading with increased pace to the point at which the army and navy will completely lose their ability to fulfil their destiny of being a guarantor of the state's external security.'' The article said underfunding meant thousands of tanks were out of action, hundreds of aircraft entombed in hangars and navy vessels in bad shape. Krasnaya Zvezda's commentary appeared to be the latest round in a funding feud between the defence and finance ministries. The finance ministry issued a statement earlier in the week saying it was not grossly behind with its payments. That followed comments from the defence ministry's press office that money to pay food suppliers had been cut off. With Defence Minister Igor Sergeyev reconfirmed in office in Prime Minister Yevgeny Primakov's embryonic government, security experts say there is a clear pitch to try to secure a sympathetic finance minister in the team and to ensure the state coughs up overdue funds soon. ^REUTERS@

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