Pentagon Prepares For Possible War With Russia

[Ryan Ruck]

Pentagon Prepares For Possible War With Russia

U.S. Defense Secretary thinks that American armed forces must be ready for a large-scale war, the Associated Press reports. “We need a full set of measures to conduct a war, including both special military units necessary for war against terrorists and infantry troops to be able to fight against large regular armies. We do not know what changes can take place in such countries as Russia, China, North Korea, Iran and others,” Robert Gates stated.

He made this statement February 7 during hearings in the U.S. House Committee on Armed Services, when congressmen were discussing United States’ military budget of FY2008. Gates supported the military budget, which supposes to increase the number of U.S. infantry and marines. These measures must increase the number of ‘free detachments’ under the control of Pentagon, in order to be able to respond to possible new threats.

It is worth mentioning that after the end of “cold war” Russia and China were not labeled by the higher command representatives of U.S. army as potential enemies alongside with North Korea and Iran, which are included in the list of the so called “axis of evil”, Lenta.ru reports.

[Ryan Ruck]

Moscow Requests U.S. Explanation For Gates' Russia Remarks

The Russian authorities have requested a U.S. explanation for remarks made by Pentagon chief Robert Gates regarding Russia, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Mikhail Kamynin told Interfax on Monday.

"Acting through the U.S. ambassador in Moscow, we have requested a clarification of the extent to which Robert Gates' remarks match the official position of the U.S. administration," he said.

At a U.S. congressional committee meeting last Wednesday, Gates spoke about the uncertainty surrounding the future development of the situations in Russia, North Korea, Iran and China.

Moscow "has naturally paid attention to the U.S. minister's remarks, especially as high-ranking representatives of the U.S. defense agency and intelligence community have more than once made statements about Russia recently that cause our surprise," Kamynin said. It is difficult to get rid of the impression that all these remarks are parts of "a certain system of negative assessments of our country," he said.