Jophiel wrote:
fhrugby the Sly wrote:
3) Build a big military using the windfall
Not that I'm championing Chavez here but let's not pretend that this turns Venesuela into a military giant.
You are correct, I should have wrote "a bigger military." What I wrote could be infered to mean a military the size of the US or other big nations. Chavez does not need a mitary capable of taking on the US, just capable of taking on his internal opponents and keeping the US form giving minor military support to such without commiting a substantial force. The ploy of pputtign an aircraft carrier off shore as a political and logisitc support for one side will not work if Chavez has these submarines. And given the coast line he has to defend and the worlwide deployment of US submarines, 9 submarines is a lot.
I remember reading a book or maybe an article several years ago about the seriousness of the threat posed to US aircraft carriers by deisel submarines. They were protrayed as very capable of getting into the path of an Aircraft Carrier and sinking one. I think it might of been Tom Clancy's SSN, but I am not sure.