Why Is Putin’s Army Inept?

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Posted: Oct 06, 2022 12:01 AM

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WASHINGTON — Whatever happened to the Russian Army? For that matter, whatever happened to the Russian Air Force or the Russian Navy whose flagship is now at the bottom of the Black Sea? The answer is nothing. Nothing has happened to the Russian military for 50 years, and President Vladimir Putin should have thought twice before heaving his armed forces into war.Their disastrous performance puts me in mind of an appearance I made on CNN’s “Capital Gang” on Dec. 2, 1989. That was 33 years ago. The show featured Bob Novak, Pat Buchanan, Al Hunt, and Mark Shields, and all were in general agreement. They thought the Cold War was going to continue, apparently unto eternity. The lone dissenter was me. President George H.W. Bush had just met with Russia’s President Mikhail Gorbachev in Valletta, Malta, and their meeting went swimmingly, or swimmingly enough. To the consternation of my fellow guests, I said the Cold War was over. On Dec. 4, two days later, Gorbachev agreed with me. He told The New York Times that “many things that were characteristic of the Cold War should be abandoned.” Incidentally, I was never invited back to “Capital Gang.“I do not know who …