[speaker001:] Go ahead.
[speaker002:] Okay, do I still can-, still can feel that the Soviet Union, as such, is still a threat to the civilized western world? Absolutely. And my reasons are based upon not only from what I read in the newspapers, what I see on the newspapers, but up against some of the, fun and exciting things I ran into during my six years as a soldier in the Fifth Special Forces Group.
[speaker001:] Um. Okay. I guess I don't see them as much of a threat as they used to be, but I think just the instability of the country right now is, sort of scary.
[speaker002:] Well, that's what makes it a powder keg. The, um, I'll go back in time a little bit, to about eighty-one,
[speaker001:] Uh-huh.
[speaker002:] when my first real involvement with the military started. Um, naturally we were at the time, the Soviet Union was considered to be the big military power and the big threat. So we got lots, quite a bit of information as well as indoctrination on Soviet tactics and weapons.
[speaker001:] Uh-huh.
[speaker002:] I went to Lebanon in eighty-three, before the marines ever got there, with the U N Peace Keeping Force. And with the training I received prior to going there, with captured weapons we kept running up against. These weren't, these weren't Chinese made copies. These were Soviet made, top of the line, fresh out of the box, A K forty-sevens.
[speaker001:] Um, uh-huh.
[speaker002:] As well as a lot of the explosives we were running into. In Granada, in October, twenty-fifth, eighty-three, we invaded the place. Sure there were Cuban soldiers there, but there was also a bunch of Russian advisors that were damn good shots. The team I was with, we jumped in on the western tip of, of the island down on Point Salinas. And for every Cuban there was at least five Russian advisors.
[speaker001:] Huh.
[speaker002:] And they were all shooting state of the art Soviet weapons. In eighty-four, I was down in Central America, as an advisor to the Honduran Army. Again we were running up against Cubans quite a bit, plus Soviet advisors. And the equipment we were capturing and taking from the Nicaraguans, was brand new, out of the crate, Soviet made material. Do I consider them a threat? Absolutely. They have a university in Moscow called the Patrice de Lamumba University. About like A and M or U T, where they're teachings subjects like that, they're teaching terrorism. Some of the people we went up against in Lebanon were graduates from that place. And let me tell you, they are nothing nice to go up against.
[speaker001:] Huh.
[speaker002:] I'm surprised during this Iraqi crisis we didn't have more incidents than they did. These guys are top of the line. When they, when they graduate from there, they can pull terrorist actions anywhere in the free world. And they are very, very good at what they do. So until I see the entire, quote, old guard of the Soviet military, of the Soviet government completely roll over and disappear, preferably buried, I still consider them a threat.
[speaker001:] Uh-huh.
[speaker002:] Their military is different from ours, to where there are extremist gen-, generals that actually control tens and thousands of troops. That irregardless of what Soviet policy is, they're going to do what the general tells them.
[speaker001:] Yeah. I guess that's what concerns me the most. Is they're, they're so unstable that somebody like that could make, uh, decisions that would jeopardize a lot of people.
[speaker002:] Well, it's in-, interesting watching the different Soviet states, Albania, Lithuania, doing their little revolts down there.
[speaker001:] Uh-huh.
[speaker002:] Each one of those sectors has got a Soviet general over the troops that are there. So far they haven't run into the real psychos yet. There's probably five or six, which would be an equivalent of our joint chiefs of staffs, that are in positions over some of these Soviet states. If uprisings hap-, happen in their sectors, it is, it's going to be a total blood bath.
[speaker001:] Yeah, it looks like it's come close to that as it is.
[speaker002:] Actually, they're showing remarkable restraint. They get real nasty, the hyundee helicopters come out and they, would level entire areas. Okay, you're from the Dallas area, right?
[speaker001:] Uh-huh.
[speaker002:] Okay, you know, basically the size of, uh, the area around Richardson?
[speaker001:] Yeah.
[speaker002:] You put five Soviet hyundee helicopters in the air, they can level the entire area and there won't be anything left alive. And they can do that in about four minutes.
[speaker001:] Huh.
[speaker002:] And they've got entire squadrons of those just standing by. They used them in Afghanistan, did re-, remarkably well considering the terrain they were flying in. But on a highly populated area, like some of the Soviet cities would be, with the weaponry that's attached on those things, there is no place to hide. If the bombs don't get you, if the bullets don't get you, then, then the nerve gas definitely will get you. The only drawback on that little piece of machinery is they only got five minutes of air time. They drink that much fuel.
[speaker001:] Uh-huh.
[speaker002:] Were you, have you, I take it you haven't spent any time in the military?
[speaker001:] No, I haven't.
[speaker002:] As a civilian that's never been attached to any form of the military, I know a lot of this stuff that I was involved in, never did make the newspapers.
[speaker001:] Uh-huh.
[speaker002:] But, during that same time frame, didn't you get some feeling, that, I mean, they're getting all these weapons and stuff? Didn't it bug you a little bit why they kept coming up with all this stuff?
[speaker001:] You mean in the, in the most recent conflict?
[speaker002:] In any of them since eighty-one.
[speaker001:] Oh. Yeah, definitely. I, I'm, I'm a little bit shocked to what the U S has done in terms of selling to Iraq [LAUGHTER] in the past ten to fifteen years. Yeah, I think we, we kind of shoot ourselves in the foot that way too. It's bad enough that the Soviets do it.
[speaker002:] It all boils down to, whether it's our side, their side, it's a matter of money,
[speaker001:] Um.
[speaker002:] to a certain extent.
[speaker001:] Uh-huh.
[speaker002:] The deal the Iraqis have with the Russians was for oil.
[speaker001:] Yeah. It's scary to know that they're supplying that many people with weapons. Especially when it's to the south of us.
[speaker002:] Uh, the ones to the south are more regional conflict. They're not really that worried about invading north. They're more interested in, they've got a screwed up situation, I'll give them that. From Mexico all the way down into Cen-, Central and South America. The situation down there is weird and it's very screwed up.
[speaker001:] Uh-huh.
[speaker002:] Inflation is out of this world and the governments, which our government has technically supported for years, are corrupt as all get out. And generally the people,
[speaker001:] [Cough].
[speaker002:] are getting screwed, and they're tired of it, and they're willing to try anything to get out from under it, even if that means going to communism.
[speaker001:] Yeah. Well, I think Russia is getting to the point where they're, they're about to do something to get out of communism. I guess I'd would like to see somebody like Yeltsin to get more power. I think Gorbachev has about had his day.
[speaker002:] Unfortunately, Yeltsin's got too many connections with the old guard. That's the only drawback that I see with the entire thing.
[speaker001:] Yeah.
[speaker002:] Gorbachev has made his attempt and he's had his problems with some of the old guard himself.
[speaker001:] Uh-huh.
[speaker002:] Yeltsin's in tight with the old guard. So it may be trying to choose between the lesser of two evils,
[speaker001:] Uh-huh.
[speaker002:] at this point.
[speaker001:] True [long pause]. I don't know, I sure wouldn't turn my back on them.
[speaker002:] You mean, I understand when they pulled the troops out of, uh, or they reduced the number of troops in Europe after the Berlin Wall went down, I thought that was great. But by no means do I endorse or approve pulling everybody out.
[speaker001:] Uh-huh.
[speaker002:] It may be a much reduced force than what we used to have over there. But you still better have the key players in place, if something does go down. Even if it's a regional conflict. If United States is going to flex its muscle and be the super power that it is, not only does it, it can talk the talk, but it's got to be able to walk the walk. It's got to have the stuff to back it, back up what it's saying. If you've only got a token force there, you can't hold your ground.
[speaker001:] At least they're learning a little bit from history. I mean, uh,