http://www.geostrategy-direct.com/
Iran's push for nukes leaves conventional forces in the dust Despite its nuclear and missile program, Iran has failed to modernize its conventional military. The Center for Strategic and International Studies said Iran has been unable to rebuild much of its forces following Teheran's war with Iraq, which ended in 1988. The Washington-based center said in a new publication that Iranian military platforms were obsolete and could not compare with many of the arsenals of Middle East states. "They have a 340,000-man army, but 220,000 of them are 18-months-conscripts," said Anthony Cordesman, author of a book on Iran. "Its artillery is old and worn and its 1,600 tanks and about 300 airplanes are outdated even by Middle Eastern standards." Cordesman's new book is titled "Iran's Developing Military Capabilities." A former Defense Department official, Cordesman asserted that Iran has declined in conventional military capability since the 1970s. "Iran is a far less modern military power in comparative terms than it was during the time of the shah or during the Iran-Iraq War," he said. "Nevertheless, it is slowly improving its conventional forces, and it is now the only regional military power that poses a serious conventional military threat to Persian Gulf stability." Iran's military has moved from conventional to asymmetrical warfare and nuclear weapons. Cordesman said Teheran could employ guerrilla tactics to attack U.S. troops in Iraq as well as in Gulf states. The most capable of the forces was the 120,000-member Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps. "These are pretty capable forces," Cordesman said. "They could very quickly move large numbers of people to a country like Bahrain." The book warns that Iran appears to be developing "both a long-range missile force and a range of weapons of mass destruction." Iran would likely "continue to covertly seek nuclear weapons." ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Take a look at donorschoose.org, an excellent charitable web site for anyone who cares about public education! http://us.click.yahoo.com/_OLuKD/8WnJAA/cUmLAA/TySplB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [EMAIL PROTECTED] -------------------------- Brooks Isoldi, editor [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.intellnet.org Post message: [email protected] Subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. OSINT, as a part of The Intelligence Network, is making it available without profit to OSINT YahooGroups members who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the understanding of intelligence and law enforcement organizations, their activities, methods, techniques, human rights, civil liberties, social justice and other intelligence related issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. We believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
