Top Ten Armies of the World

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mike_golf RE:Canadian Newbie - North Korea 4/6/2004 10:19:25 AM

As I said in an earlier post on this topic, dealing with North Korea is like dealing with aliens from another planet. They are rational within their own system, the problem is that their system is completely disconnected from the world around them. It is likely that Kim would be diagnosed as mentally incompetent were he to be examined by a psychiatrist in Europe or the US. Why? Because he can't tell reality from fantasy, by our standards. He is completely competent by the standards of his system, unfortunately for him, and more importantly the citizens of the DPRK, his system isn't real. This is why they are starving even though he has one of the largest military arsenals on the planet. Power does come from the barrel of a gun, but long lasting power that can influence the world comes from the strength of your culture and economy, as the UK and US have demonstrated repeatedly for over 3 centuries now. So, why is this a problem? Well, being that out of touch with reality, it is quite possible for Kim to convince himself that he could use a crude atomic weapon in a terrorist style strike against the US, Japan or ROK without fear of retaliation. Looking in from the outside world, the reality of global power, diplomacy and economics, we know this is not true. But Kim is not part of that world. It is possible that, if he feels his power slipping, he could try something like that. This was the nightmare scenario as the USSR started to collapse. We know now that it wasn't really a likely scenario with the USSR, they were pretty in touch with reality. But Kim and the DPRK are different.

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fullamongo RE:Canadian Newbie - North Korea 4/6/2004 2:26:47 PM

South Korea would beat north korea hands down. The north fire off their artillary barrage. What then? The South Koreans have basicaly terraced much of the 51st paralell. Its like a giant step. Also the worlds largest minefield is there. The US is putting in new mines that can be remotely de-activated to clear a path for the allies. The South Koreans can move into the north but not vice versa. The north koreans are starving. armies can't fight on empty stomachs. However the north isn't tetering on the brink. Kim has built up a Big Brother style personality cult around himself. The North Koreans have been brainwashed into loving the guy! The changes won't come till kim croaks. Ad. Surely the thing that an army should be measured by first and foremost is the ability to defend its country? Also you forget that Russia and China are land based powers. They don't need to move their armies across the sea (cept. the Taiwan straight in China's case). Your measuring Russia and China according to US/UK criteria for what makes a good army. Their goals are different.

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Ad RE:Canadian Newbie - North Korea 4/6/2004 3:05:25 PM

Ok then if we look at defence, then Britain is superior there too, as I doubt any nation other than the US would even get near the White Cliffs of Dover, let alone land there. A combination of local naval and air dominance, which could only be bettered by the US, would allow Britain a relatively easy victory. Yet, only the French and the Yanks could attempt this sort of operation. China and Russia could defend its self, but it couldn?t prevent an invasion. So if were looking at the bigger picture, then Britain can be both offensive and defensive and in a superior manner to the Chinese or the Russians.

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Advocate Of REason mobilization 4/6/2004 6:14:19 PM

I think you all need to consider a coutry's ability to mobilize as well as their standing military. For example Israel has amndatory 2 years of service when a male child turns 18, and since then every male citizen above 18 and under 50 goes through a minimum of three weeks training so in time of war Israel's 500,000 strong military can be further enchanced by about 1.5 million troops, whore are not simply emergency conscripts, but men who are already organized into their fighting organizations and have an averege of almost a years worth of military training and familirization with their tasks. So technically Israel's reserves is the entire male population of military age, and this is all not even including the amounts of women who volunteer in massive numbers (there are over 50,000 female volunteer reservists in Israel). I'm not sure but i think that of all the other armies Israel has the best mobilization capacity.

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Advocate Of REason RE:mobilization 4/6/2004 6:16:14 PM

I forgot to include that the three weeks training is every year until they turn 50 and in the same units with the same people, so when called up the reserve units are very well organized, almost as well as the regular army

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Advocate Of REason RE:mobilization 4/6/2004 6:29:50 PM

And in my 1 year estimate of training i forgot to include the mandatory 2 years when the man turns 18, so its actually an averege of 3 years per every one of those 1.5 million reservists. also there are 2 typos in my original post: "troops, whore are " is supposed to be just "troops, who are" and "has amndatory 2 years " is supposed to be just "has a mandatory 2 years" just making sure everything is crystal clear

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ya2 RE:mobilization 4/6/2004 7:06:27 PM

we serve 3 years when we turn 18 and 3 weeks every year untill the age 45, but they usually change this age.. i think its 40 now but not sure ..

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Ad RE:Price of War 4/7/2004 7:27:15 AM

Yodah writes ?tell me friend where has Britain fought in last few years without american backing . and as for trainning of indian forces i think it is as good as any in the world considering that men from US and FRAnce regularly come totrainning schools heer and china CAN hit england so dont kid yourself UK is nothing but a vassal of USA as for spending on troops u forget economies of china and india are bigger then UK and they would go to any lengths to maintain top condition forces which they d? The Falklands, was the last war fought by any Western nation on their own. Britain has fought in 143 years worth of conflicts since 1945. Ask RM-Nod for the total list of nations, where Britain has participated, as a single nation and as an ally to others as part of a broader coalition. All this ?US puppet? nonsense. Tell me, if Britain was such a bit part player to the Second Gulf War, then why did the UK 1st Armoured Division spearhead the attack into Iraq? Secondly, you cannot compare the training of a volunteer solider in Britain, with that of an Inidan or Chinese conscript. There is no comparison on the level of training and money spent to finance it. Also, if US and French troops do go to India, it is only to advise on training level and to improve general command at platoon level for instance. Something vital for a conscript army to get right and improve. Thirdly, please tell me how China could ever dream of attacking Britain, with out using Nuclear weapons? (which would signal the end for China, as it would bring NATO against them, and a few British D5?s as well as some US ICBM?s) China has no projection power? Please come back and give me a detailed account of how the Chinese armed forces could hope of attacking Britain, I?m eagerly awaiting a response on that! Finally, Britain has the fourth largest economy and spends triple on defence of what China does. $20 billion spread over an armed force the size of nearly two million isn?t going to buy a lot of bang for your buck.

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Ad RE:Yodah 4/7/2004 7:42:22 AM

?do,and the per capita expenditure is therefore less also you forget if all this force projection works against small countries which are decidedly weaker . If it is so great why are the UK and US forces chasing iraq and oyther poor buggers when North Korea is sitting their thumbing them openly? thats because all this " force projection" wouldnt matter much then because they would startb throwing nukes around at the" force " first and then their " friendly " countries next. so all this talk is empty if you cannot hit your equal or reasonalbly strong country and get away with it. english still think they are anything worth listening too . the empire is gone and now they are hanging on to US coat tails and beliving they matter.Unfortunately the rest of the world doesn't find it funny and says so. I think UK could at most fight and win against indoesia or malyasia in asia or quatar or bahrain in middle eas? We do not need to fight NK as Mike Gulf said (illiterate as well as stupid?) it easier to wait for NK to fall apart and for Kim to die of old age. NK don?t have any delivery vehicles with which to throw their one or two war heads. Please explain why the UK is on the US?s ?coat tails? don?t just say it, explain how. Do you understand the concept of ?Power Projection??

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Polar RE:Price of War, Economics and math 4/7/2004 7:49:43 AM

1. Germany was considered a minor military force in 1933. Then Hitler took the shop over and eight years later they smashed Czecheslovakya,Poland, the Netherlands, Belgium and France to the ground, with minor losses. And if they did not make the strategic failure to attack Stalin before whiping the RAF out, well, welcome to Nazi Europe Union, thank the Gods and Fate it did not happen. 2. Never heard of a Chinese or Indian nuclear plant explode. Your corporate raiders head for China and India for PRODUCTION, hell. Indian informatics are employed all over the world for their quality/price-ratio. PLUS a stable people growth. And you are confident of your economy? Calculate down the rent for your flat and the price of your food and then take a new look on a foreign economy. = I am not that confident about angloamerican-continantaleuropean "We take down anybody anytime" anymore. Even without muslim terrorists planebombing your cities, trainbombing your fellows, carbombing your soldiers or selfbombing yourself. Welcome to 21st century.

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