Leonid Breznev was an old man and despite his own military experience in World War II, he on the other hand was not very close to the military.
Helmut SchmidtI hate the idea that someone think the destruction of Chicago as strategic affair, the destruction of Hamburg as a tactical one.
Helmut SchmidtI think that the solution of the question of numerical superiority of Russian conventional forces has to be solved.
Helmut SchmidtThe Alliance and NATO is two different things. France is a member of the Alliance. NATO is an organization not mentioned in the North Atlantic Treaty, has been built up in the course of history, in the course of history France has left that organization. Normally the Alliance has been lead by consent, building up consensus on important issues of questions, in many instances over the last 30 years that I have followed events closely. In many, many cases was being done under the spiritual guidance of the American President, that is true, but sometimes also at the guidance of others.
Helmut Schmidt