[escepticos] russia caos

["Xavier Nardo" <xavin@...>]

Still furious over United States criticism of Russia's war in Chechnya,
President Boris Yeltsin has placed his most deadly intercontinental nuclear
missiles on "combat alert."
The Moscow bureau of the London Express is reporting that, on his orders, 10
of Russia's newest, most sophisticated weapons - capable of striking the
U.S. - have been deployed in full readiness.

This unprecedented dramatic warning has Western observers nervous about the
possibility of an inadvertent launch at a time when it is known that
Russia's missiles are not fully reprogrammed to avert all millennium-year
computer failures.

Russia just recently sent computer and missile experts to Washington to work
with American specialists in averting Y2K glitches.

Yelstin's hawkish missile deployment is just the latest move of a laundry
list of recent military developments in Russia.

In October, Yeltsin's Prime Minister announced Russian government plans for
a massive military build-up, with plans to raise the military budget by 50
percent.

Last month, the Russian Navy fired two intercontinental ballistic missiles
from a submarine. They struck a target range more than 3,000 miles away on
Russia's Kamchatka peninsula. Since the Kosovo war, Russian military and
civilian leaders have made clear that their war game exercises are
preparation for a conflict with the U.S.

Toronto's Globe and Mail reported the most recent missile test firing was
the first time Russia has launched an ICBM from a nuclear submarine in four
years and the third time in a month it had fired off missiles.

The paper called it "an intimidating wave of test launches."

At the same time, Russia has been deploying subs and planes on cat-and-mouse
surveillance with U.S. ships and jets, which the Toronto paper said is "the
first time in years that the Russians have played such Cold War games."

TOPOL-M DEPLOYMENT

Yeltsin's deployment for combat of the missiles - the Topol-Ms - is the most
serious military development yet. With a striking range of 6,200 miles, the
Topol-Ms are based in the Saratov region, 400 miles southeast of Moscow.

According to the Express:

Although the West was advised in advance, as required by nuclear treaty
commitments, the rarity of this move can be regarded only as a deliberate
and serious show of force to underscore Yeltsin's outrage.

It coincided with his return to Russia after a trip to China, where he
warned Clinton and other Western leaders to stay out of Russia's business in
Chechnya.

Yeltsin brandished Russia's still great missile threat by thundering,
"Russia is a great power that possesses a full nuclear arsenal. It is we who
will dictate."

Recently, Gen. Vladimir Yakovlev, the Russian missiles-forces commander,
also bragged, "Of the five nuclear powers, none of the others will match
these weapons in the next few years.

"Topol-M is able to breach any anti-missile system that exists in the world
and any which will be built in the near future."

Also troubled by the missile alert are Russian politicians and analysts who
regard Yeltsin as too ill to have his finger on the trigger of the world's
second largest nuclear power.

Britain's leading independent nuclear expert, John Large, said, "There was
an unwritten agreement for both Russia and the U.S. not to deploy nuclear
weapons before the Y2K period.

"Even if the weapons themselves are OK - which I very much doubt, since
their testing system has been effectively down and out for three years -
they would have to work within the strategic defense system there, which is
full of Y2K glitches.

"There is no real need for it - it is a risk they don't need to take.

"I am not suggesting that these nuclear bombs will go off on their own, but
we do expect to see the defense systems playing up a bit."