🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <2331@cbnews.ATT.COM>, lvc@cbnews.ATT.COM (Lawrence V. Cipriani) writes:

> The best (peaceful) way to get the Soviets to change their ways is economic.
> If they waste their resources on the military then their consumer economy will
> suffer.  Over time, Soviet citizens will demand reform; this seems to be
> happening now.

There is a major problem with this argument.  Soviet over-spending on their
military has traditionally been matched by USA over-spending on its military.
All the statements Lawrence makes above can just as easily be applied to the
USA.  And a "who started it first" argument is nothing more than a chicken/egg
discussion.

> A Soviet Union that is fat and happy with the status quo would seem to
> me to be more likely to engage in military adventures.

Sorry, but you have this backwards.  All nations engage in military adventures
only when they feel threatened.  The USSR is the world's leading expert at
paranoia, its land mass having been invaded 101 times and its currrent
boundaries surrounded by enemies.  Any internal problems cause them to lash out
at whatever they perceive to be a threat, even if their logic is often faulty.
When things are comfy you don't feel threatened and don't feel a need to send
out the troops to protect your interests.

> Dealing with the Soviets is a very tricky business, but one fact is very
> clear, they respect military strength.

I'm not sure what you mean by this old cold war statement.  In what way do the
Soviets respect military strength more than other nations?  I fail to note any
historical data to substantiate this.

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