[ed martin]

OK, I think I saw this topic on the Discovery Channel.It was about the importance of having good intelligence and how pivotal it is in determining the outcome of battles, wars and ultimately the fortune and future of nations. If I recall, the Germans had a window of opportunity to march into Moscow with virtually no opposition. However the Germans were completely unaware of this, due to a lack of good intelligence and completly missed a golden opportunity to conquer Moscow unopposed. Knowlege ofhis simple information and the Germans marching directy into the city instead of amassing on the outskirts would have complety altered the momentum and the course of the war. If my memory is correct,I think this course of action is a case study of one of the largest intelligence blunders in military history. The reason Moscow was left vulnerable is because Stalin had a non
aggresson pact with Hitler, so Stalin diverted his troops to the east to ward off the Japanese threat. This was despite all the information from
Stalin's intelligence officer's warning him of an imminent German invasion. Stalin was in complete denial of these reports and even went as far as to punish or imprison officers that communicated these warnings. Of course once the Germans started the invasion there could be no further denial, but hesitation in the German advance bought Stalin time to redivert his troops and of course the onset of the Russian winter ultimately doomed Hitler's plan to level Moscow. That was Hitler's intention by the way,to completely destroy the city. There were also plans on the table for long range bombers to bomb the America. There were some kinks to work out in that plan and utimately funds were diverted elswere to adress some other crisis of the moment. For what the German's lacked in intelligence capacity they made up for in innovative technology. The Russians had an incredible intelligence capability that even extended to far within the walls of Washington. If you think about it, it's really how they aquired most of their present technology.