Duma Security Committee member Gennadii Gudkov (Unified Russia) said that the dismissal of Army General Anatolii Kvashnin as chief of the General Staff is not connected with the dismissal on 19 July of many top military officials serving in the North Caucasus, NTV reported. Gudkov said that the policies the General Staff followed under Kvashnin\'s leadership since 1997 harmed Russia\'s national interests. Gudkov noted that during Kvashnin\'s term, \"we left our bases in Cuba and in Vietnam, put forward no serious conditions regarding Russian bases in the Transcaucasus, and failed to negotiate any [favorable terms] in exchange for NATO\'s expansion toward our borders.\" Meanwhile, Federation Council Security Committee Chairman Viktor Ozerov told Interfax on 19 July that \"a whole era ended with Kvashnin\'s departure, an era of military reforms that were not thought through, [and] unmotivated reforms of the types and branches of forces, management structures, and the reduction of troop numbers.\" Colonel General Leonid Ivashov on 19 July described Kvashnin\'s dismissal as a correction of the mistake made in choosing him in the first place, saying that he was not qualified for the position and \"brought nothing good to the army,\" NTV reported. (RFE/RL)