To: 
From: "Vern Humphrey" 
Reply-To: r_catholic-l{at}yahoogroups.com

To: seanmbrook{at}aol.com [mailto:seanmbrook{at}aol.com]
> > > > >
> > SMB> Again, interesting!  Don't think any of the current
> > > leading generals of Saddam's army was that smart,
> > > tho.  The nearest approximation being the general
> > > who surrendered the Iraqi Fifth Corps in Mosul.
> >
> > VH> Yes -- but there would have been a broader span of control,
> had Saddam
> > been
> > dead, I think.  Of course, he could be dead and they not know it -- and
> > still tremble at his shadow.
> > >
>  First, I'm not sure I understand what's meant by
>  "broader span of control."  Senior Iraqi generals
>  acting more decisively and independently?

Yes -- probably by one of them, or a small clique assuming total command.
>
> > VH> Yep -- that's the price you pay when you rule through fear.
> >
>  In many cases, yes.  But what about the USSR during
>  the '30's and '40's?  Stalin certainly ruled thru TERROR,
>  not mere fear.  And the insane Army Purges did huge
>  damage to the Red Army.  One thinks of the amazing
>  successes of the Germans in the early months of
>  Operation Barbarossa.
>
>  But, the Red Army did recover and stabilized the
>  front near Moscow.  And competent generals like
>  Zhukov came to the fore.  What made the USSR
>  so different from the Iraqi situation?

The force disparity was not so great in WWII.  And the Russians had a lot
more space to trade.  That gave them time to throw up generals who either
learned or died -- and those who learned, got better.
>
>  The stupid cruelty of the Nazis in the occupied
>  territories did much to stiffen opposition to them.
>  And, should the traditional Russian love of the
>  Rodina also be thought a factor?
>
All that was a factor -- the Germans considered the Russians sub-humans.
Had they treated the conquered people with respect, they might have won the
war.
>


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