A defense analyst I spoke with, who advises American ground forces, said to rebuild the Georgian military along conventional lines might be
the wrong approach. Instead he suggested a different force model, that of Hezbollah. What Hezbollah did so effectively, as was shown in the
2006 Lebanon war, was combine modern weaponry with a distributed infantry force that fought in guerrilla fashion. Fighting as distributed
networks, Hezbollah rarely presented an inviting target for Israeli air and artillery attack, but their well trained tactical units were
able to swarm at the point of attack of Israeli armored incursions and hit the Israelis hard with precision anti-tank weaponry.
Equipped with top-shelf anti-armor systems, such as the U.S. Dragon and Javelin and the Russian-built RPG-29 and AT-14 Kornet, such a
force would perhaps better be able to exploit Georgia’s mountainous and urbanized terrain against channelized Russian armored columns than
a conventionally organized combat brigade, as Hezbollah did in south Lebanon. The lessons from the initial Russian incursion into Grozny in
1994 are instructive as well. Fighting in small tactical teams organized around close range anti-armor weapons, the Chechens savaged Russian
tank columns.
This "analysis" only makes sense if you believe in the Official Truth of Georgia as innocent victim of the perfidious Russia of course. A
Hezbollah style army doesn't work so well if you actually want to invade any seccessionist areas protected by the neighbouring superpower. Not
that this model of resistance would work as well against the Russians as against the Israelis in 2006 as unlike them, the Russians are not that
bothered about losing a couple of thousand soldiers subjugating a difficult enemy. The Chechens may have beaten off the Russians back in 1994,
but didn't do quite so well the next time around.
This is just a place for me to jot down some random thoughts and reactions to the news so I don't have to yell at the television or radio, or mutter to myself whilst reading the news.
Waffle
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the various space programs. Recommended for all spacenuts.
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Pharyngula
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Real Climate
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