Now, that’s how you fight a war!

First, you have the Ministry of Finance increase the defense budget for the coming year by a whopping 30 percent.

Then, on the same day, you issue a decree calling for more than 130,000 additional citizens between the ages of 18 and 30 to be drafted into military service by the end of the year. [Benjamin Quenelle, Le Monde, October 1, 2024.]

Done, and done.

Apparently, Vladimir Putin has no intention of ending his “special military operation” in Ukraine in the foreseeable future. Yet the announcement of this latest conscription assured the Russian people that these new draftees “will not be involved [in the] special operation [zones].” The same promise has been made before; but families have told of their young men being sent to the front. [Id.] Or perhaps they’ll be utilized in the fighting at the rear, where Ukrainian troops have crossed into and occupied portions of Russia’s Kursk region.

Vice-Admiral Vladimir Tsimlyansky, head of Russia’s conscription office, has described the term of the latest draft as being the same as always: for twelve months of service. “I would like to note that conscripts will not be called up to participate in the special military operation in the new regions,” he is quoted as saying. [Lidia Kelly, Reuters, September 30, 2024.]

This latest move follows on the heels of Putin’s order in September that the Russian army be increased by 180,000 troops to 1.5 million active servicemen, making it the second largest in the world after China’s. [Id.]

So that’s how it’s done: no Congressional (or Parliamentary) approval or expert opinion required; no discussion, no arguing, no delays. Just the word from on high.

That’s what they call an autocracy. And it works . . . but it stinks.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
10/4/24