[speaker001:] go ahead
[speaker002:] okay do I still can't 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 uh-huh
[speaker002:] well that's what makes it a powder keg
[speaker001:] so scary
[speaker002:] 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 UN 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 AK-47s
[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 UT 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 generals 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 interesting 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 hadn'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 happen 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 remarkably 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 the 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 but
[speaker001:] uh-huh
[speaker002:] 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 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 US has done in terms of selling to Iraq 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 to a certain extent
[speaker001:] um uh-huh
[speaker002:] the deal the Iraqi's 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 Central 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 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 Gorbachev has m ade his attempt and he's had his problems with some of the old guard himself
[speaker001:] yeah uh-huh
[speaker002:] Yeltsin's in tight wi th the old guard so it may be trying to choose between the lesser of two evils at this point
[speaker001:] uh-huh true 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