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To: Enigma who wrote (92503)	1/7/2003 12:07:25 PM
From: Professor Dotcomm	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 116824

<Third World Power> (Oxymoron?) The talk these days of being a 'world power' seems a bit old fashioned and somewhat similar to those who said years ago that Christianity is a 'world religion'. (Worldwide maybe, but touching less than 6% of the world population in any active way). As an average - and restive - taxpayer I cannot see much advantage in being a member of a 'world power'. Look at Costa Rica. It decided way back in 1947 that armed forces were a waste of money and a luxury it could do without - and it has prospered for the 50 odd years since. Perhaps it is the atavistic urge in us that pushes us on to want to win a war (or win a football game).

To: Enigma who wrote (92503)	1/7/2003 1:12:09 PM
From: Bill Jackson	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 116824

Enigma, In the military good training is everythingn. After WW2 the USA/UK evolved superior methods of training their troops. Israeli troops were trained by British veterans at the getgo in 1948. USA also helped a lot. As a result of that training they defeated markedly superior(on paper) arab forces. I am sure you have seen pictures of arabs firing into the air in celebration? Arab soldiers were very likely to crouch out of sight and fire into the air instead of taking aim...and exposing oneself to enemy fire. The idea of all eyes on guard is, every shot an aimed shot is very important in determining the effectiveness of two opposing groups. The physical training where every soldier can put out a sustained high level of exertion with all combat muscle groups is also something the arabs neglect. The Russians also lack this training, as witness the differences in effectiveness in Afghanistan. The Russian and Arab military is not driven by merit, but by payoffs and cronyism, so the guys in command are useless warriors who do not know how to train their troops. Think of a bunch of grandmothers in wheel chairs playing hockey with a group of Gretskies. That gives you some idea of how effective Arab troops are against israeli troops and why 10:1 superiority on the part of the arabs is not enough. On top of this you add, fire and forget smart weapons, longer ranged tanks and artillery and Iraq has no chance. The idea of Saddam telling his men that they are better is a stupid lie that will get them killed, as it did once before. They may be king of the walk in Iraq but they are far from ready for prime time versus the UK or USA. The UK, has a far smaller force than the USA, but it is every bit as well trained as the US forces. Bill

To: Enigma who wrote (92503)	1/7/2003 6:52:20 PM
From: E. Charters	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 116824

Lesser Britannia is a tiny Island overcrowded with proles who know not even enough to revel in past glory, now faded. The remained is a sea of bowler hats without a shred of industrial thinking or progressive vision, micro managing what the they know ill about to premature death. The quality of its engineering cadre due to 11 plus streaming is about as good as the technical school graduates from the Phillipines, with the result that products from the Islands are shoddy and short lived. It's economic importance is about equal to Albania. EC<:-}