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| Europe |
| Georgia conflict delays Swedish defence plan |
| 2008-09-09 |
| Sweden's defence minister Sten Tolgfors confirmed on Tuesday that the government's report on the future of the Swedish Armed Forces will be delayed until spring 2009. "The reason is that I want to carry out a renewed and updated security policy assessment taking into account what happened in Georgia. We need a serious analysis of what has happened," Tolgfors told the Svenska Just days after a Georgian military offensive into the breakaway republic South Ossetia prompted Russia to send troops into Georgia, Tolgfors continued to assert that the new defence plan would be ready this autumn. But the prolonged presence of Russian troops on Georgian territory has caused Tolgfors and others involved in the defence planning process to reassess the future of Sweden's military. The defence minister now says that past reports submitted last December and June by the government's commission on defence will be given a new supplement to be prepared by the government and the Armed Forces. While Sweden has 30,000 active duty troops, a decision taken earlier in the decade to scrap many of the resources needed for mobilization means that it would currently take one year to mobilize 10,000 Swedish ground troops, according to SvD. ONE YEAR! Great Moltke's Ghost! The speed at which Russia was able to mobilize its troops for the Georgia campaign gave Tolgfors and others in Sweden's defence establishment pause. "We saw in Georgia that it wasn't huge forces, a few tens of thousands of men at its peak on the Russian side. However, it happened very fast Kinda like the Golden Horde ... -- and Sweden's military hasn't been under political control in that way previously," said Tolgfors to SvD. "What we see in Georgia is that speed is a deciding factor. It wasn't a large force, but rather that Russia has committed to rapidly mobilized and accessible units." While the government has said previously that it wants to trim defence expenditures by nearly 2 billion kronor ($297 million) over the next three years, Tolgfors offered little information on how the new defence policy assessment would affect any eventual funding. "I won't comment on how the funding will look. On the other hand, it is important to take a look at resource utilization," he told the paper. Big deal - cut the defense budget by the $297 million and opt for the five-year mobilization plan. And buy plenty of white bedsheets. |
| Posted by:mrp |
| #8 Compare iwd TOPIX > INSIDE THE UK'S TERRITORIAL ARMY. Taken collectively, THE UK IS ONLY SLIGHTLY BETTER OFF THAN SWEDEN IN ITS POST-COLD WAR/9-11 ABILITY TO DEFEND ITSELF. + GUAM PDN > THE USA IS "DANGEROUSLY VULNERABLE". * ION REDDIT [paraph]> FIGHTING LUCIFER WITH BEELZEBUB: NY POST WRITER RALPH PETERS CALLS FOR US TO FUND AND ARM MUSLIM SEPARATIST/MILITIA GROUPS AGZ RESURGENT RUSSIA. Argued USA should dust off its successful 1980's anti-Soviet Afghanistan Strategy for use AGZ RUSSIA, INSIDE RUSSIA??? * Also, INTERFAX > CAUCASUS SITUATION SHOULD NOT AFFECT CENTRAL ASIAN STABILITY. Yeeeeaaahhh Riiiiggghhhhtttt ......... |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2008-09-09 22:19 |
| #7 I used to hear it this way: Ten thousand Swedes ran through the weeds Chased by a lone Norwegian; The dust from the weeds made snuff for the Swedes In the Battle of Copenhagen. |
| Posted by: 3dc 2008-09-09 19:30 |
| #6 Ten thousand Swedes ran through the weeds Chased by one Norwegian; Ten thousand more ran to the shore, In the Battle of Copenhagen. |
| Posted by: mrp 2008-09-09 18:37 |
| #5 One year to mobilize 10,000 men? I remember a Swiss (not Swedish) Army guy telling me they could mobilize 1 million men in two weeks. |
| Posted by: Ulusoling Hatfield4645 2008-09-09 18:23 |
| #4 Yes. From 2001: Then there's the Swedish Navy, which announced in May that because of spending cutbacks, it would scale back its operations from around-the-clock to nine to five, Monday through Friday. Anyone wanting to invade will just have to wait. I recall their navy having to break off a hot sonar pursuit because it was 'five o' clock'. |
| Posted by: Pappy 2008-09-09 17:51 |
| #3 This is a joke right? Sweden has an army? I thought that was just something like their version of boy scouts. Hard to believe these people were vikings. |
| Posted by: Silentbrick 2008-09-09 17:24 |
| #2 As I remember, isn't their army on an eight hour day? |
| Posted by: tu3031 2008-09-09 16:00 |
| #1 "it would currently take one year to mobilize 10,000 Swedish ground troops" I'd like to take a 1/2 dozen english soccer players with me, declare war on sweden first, before the rush starts. |
| Posted by: flash91 2008-09-09 14:16 |