Bret Devereaux
Bret Devereaux

@BretDevereaux

4 Tweets Feb 20, 2023
A bit puzzled by the beginnings of what we're seeing in terms of Russian mobilization. The scale seems larger than what was intended and the organization of it seems rushed and shaky.
Of course all of this comes with the necessary caveat that I'm not a Russia expert...
...and w/ the fog of war I may just be misunderstanding what we're seeing so far.
But so far it seems like we're getting a reminder that making a rapid-call-up masss-conscript army work was really hard which is why early 20th century European states focused so much on it.
The chiefs of the general staff explaining to their various kings, tsars and prime ministers in 1914 that mobilization, once started, could not be delayed or stopped without fouling the whole system were saying that for a reason.
A proper system for this is really complex!
And for now - again, with the caveats above about expertise - it sure *looks* like Russia is trying to implement a system like that without the same level of careful planning.
It raises real questions for me as to how effective these fellows will be when it comes to it. /end.

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