#16
gazeta.ru
April 10, 2003
Russian military reform no more than an illusion
By Tatyana Morozova
A round-table conference dedicated to military reform in Russia was held in
Moscow on Wednesday. Political scientists, military experts and human rights
activists, who took part in the debate, concluded that the discussion of the
issue over the past 10 years has not helped to work out a viable plan.
Resulting from the 6-hour discussion, participants of the conference,
including State Duma deputies, the Union of Soldiers' Mothers, human rights
activists, political scientists and military experts arrived at two key
conclusions: there can be no Russian state without a strong army, but at
present, there is no basis for creating such an army in Russia. Therefore,
military reform in Russia is unviable.
Military reform may prove a success provided there is economic growth; but if
the country's economy is in crisis, reform may entail further disintegration of
the country -- that thesis was reiterated in the speeches of almost all the
participants.
For instance, Makhmut Gareyev, the president of the Academy of Military
Sciences, claimed that protecting an enormous country like Russia at such low a
level of economic development is impossible.
Therefore, in the near future Russia may become but a geographical definition
of the territory between east and west. Grigory Tishchenko of the Russian
Institute for Strategic Research shares this opinion. ''To conduct major changes
in the armed forces, one needs, first and foremost, money, and so far, the
reform has amounted to merely decreasing the strength of the armed forces.''
In future armed conflicts Russia cannot afford to lose as many human lives as
were lost in the 20th century's w
ic crisis. That's why special emphasis has to be laid on the
creation of a nuclear shield and the development of high-tech equipment, believe
the experts.
Today, there is the impression that Russia has no enemies, and nobody
threatens it, but one must not forget, that there are no friends in politics,
just interests. ''As history shows, almost all wars were waged solely for
control over natural resources,'' says Anatoly Dolgolaptev, the president of the
League of Assistance to Defence Enterprises. ''That is why the fight for the
riches of our subsoil is quite likely. We must be strong, to repulse the
attacks.''
The military is convinced that the United States still remains the main
threat to the national interests of Russia. However, Russia is unable to compete
with America. The domestic military-industrial complex is on the decline and is
not able to produce new weapons, while the weapons the Russian army uses are
obsolete and are continually being stolen.
President of the Foundation for Support of Military Reform Pavel Zolotaryov
recounted that Russia spends 15-20 times less on training its soldiers than the
international norms. Only 20 per cent of the national armed forces are equipped
with modern weapons. At the same time, even those ''lucky'' units experience
severe shortages of spare parts.
''It is a miracle that we still have the military-industrial complex at
all,'' holds Zolotaryvov. ''In the past 10 years the complex received orders for
only 4 planes and 6 helicopters.''
Anatoly Sitnov, the head of the Centre of International Cooperation, agreed
with Zolotaryov, pointing out that since 1991 the state stopped financing
scientific research, and the disintegration of the defence industry began. As a
result, Russia has fallen some 15-20 years behind western states in terms of
high-tech developments.
Thus, the military experts agreed that in the current situation Russia has no
army to protect itself and to ensure national security.
The vice-president of the board of military experts Alexander Vladimirov said
that presently for Russia there is no sense in trying to catch up with the US in
terms of defence industry development, since Russia's revenues account for a
mere 1 per cent of world trade.
He also recalled the moral decay of the Russia army, and theft and corruption
flourishing among the top brass. ''For many years a system of negative
selection, and staff close to the authorities involved in stealing has formed in
the army. Criminals cooperate with criminals, because it makes it easier to
agree,'' Vladimirov said. Only the public will, the moral effort on the part of
each citizen is able to overcome that system both in the army and in the
government. Therefore, the expert concluded, Russia lacks an important condition
vital for conducting successful military reform â€" a civilized society.
State Duma deputy Alexei Mitrofanov told the round table that in his opinion
the plans to transfer the armed forces from conscription to a contract principle
of recruitment were alien, since it is not in the Russian people's tradition to
serve and protect one's homeland for money. Mitrofanov said that what Russia
needs is not a small professional army but a large army that would be able to
handle the natural calamities and harvesting. To explain his idea, Mitrofanov
recalled the disaster at the Chernobyl nuclear pant. Soldiers were dispatched to
Chernobyl to clean up the consequences of the disaster. ''Would contract
soldiers go there? No. And those soldiers went because they were under oath.''
Most of the participants of Wednesday's discussion agreed with Mitrofanov's
opinion that creating a contract-based army is impossible in Russia. With oil
prices soaring and the Central Bank's reserves amounting to $55 billion, Russia
still cannot afford a professional army. ''This is so, because the army is not
on the government's priority list,'' the deputy concluded.
The experts also noted that army reform has been discussed since 1993, but no
clear and viable plan has been worked out in that time. Ida Kuklina of the
Soldiers' Mothers' Union expressed the opinion -- backed by other participants
of the discussion -- that what is currently going on in Russia is not reform but
an imitation of it. Certainly, successful and effective military reform in
Russia has so far proved impossible.
BACK TO THE TOP  #252 CONTENTS NEXT ARTICLE
|
