by Jack
Twice recently the Russians have buzzed US Navy warships in a provocative manner that could have spelled disaster had it been an actual attack. The aggression was not by some rogue pilot either, the two incidents were obviously staged to see what kind of a response they would get. The picture to the left shows a Russian jet flying past a destroyer in open waters in the Baltic Sea.
Putin knows that short of sinking a warship with all hands, Obama won’t do a thing and there’s a fair chance they could get away with sinking a U.S. warship and call it an unfortunate accident. Obama’s lack of leadership, his inaction on so many fronts, particularly in Syria, has put our men and women in the military at an unnecessary risk. The threat of force or the use of force is not something Obama feels comfortable with and he seems to have no grasp of the potential of our US military. His military advisers and even his Secretary of Defense, rarely last more than a year before they are fed up or fired.
I honestly believe that even that the far left dove, Hillary Clinton, has more courage and resolve than Barack Obama and that she would take a more decisive action under the same circumstance. Granted, it may not be much better, but anything would beat what Obama has done…which is nothing. Too bad he wasn’t as hesitant at issuing presidential orders that undermine our Constitution. Putin must be laughing back in the Kremlin, wondering how far do I have to push this Obama guy to get a rise out of him?
This is nothing new. I had a friend who was a Navy pilot, he did the very same thing to Soviet ships during the cold war.
He said sometimes the Soviet sailors would smile and wave.
Jim, I wouldn’t be so quick to dismiss this as “nothing new.” You have to look at it in the context of today’s world and the message that Putin is sending. Putin has a desire to reconstitute the old USSR and to the extent that it is possible he’s done what he could and scared the heck out of the Ukraine. He’s also expanded into Syria and he doesn’t like the fact the US has been supplying arms to the people they are fighting. Putin has usurped power and violated Russia’s constitution to maintain control. This is a dangerous guy who has out maneuvered our president on every encounter. Those aircraft in the Baltic are sending a political message, unlike your buddy who did a fly over for fun, these are two quite different circumstances and you should not try to conflate the two.
Ship commanders considered the actions provocative and inconsistent with international agreements, prompting the ship to issue several radio queries and warnings. Jim, this was a violation of an international agreement – this is not a small thing.
By the way, it just happened again (15 hours ago) only this time it was a U.S. aircraft and the pilot performed aggressive maneuvers around the plane and came within 50 feet of it’s wing tip. The Russians denied it happened and that is disturbing too. But, the video evidence tells a different story.
Still want to dismiss these incidents as nothing? Putin is taunting Obama and my guess a lot of it stems from events in Syria.
My “buddy” didn’t do it for fun, it was his mission. They were testing the defensive radar on the Soviet ship. The Russians were probably doing the same thing here.
Yes, Putin is acting tough and showing off. He knew this action would get a lot of press and attention, which is probably just what he wanted.
I’m sure the soviets are well aware of this as well—
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2016/04/17/budget-cuts-leaving-marine-corps-aircraft-grounded.html?intcmp=ob_article_sidebar_video&intcmp=obinsite
RHT447 these Marines are literally using some planes as a bone yard. They can’t get the new parts they need to the planes…no budget for repairs.
The left likes to blame Republicans and point to the sequestration budget cuts as the cause of this but the history of what was always intended by this administration and what actually happened is well documented in an article in the Wall Street Journal last year. The focus at the time was cuts to the Army but the defense budget cuts effected all branches of the military. Obama made a terrible mistake in thinking he had diminished the enemy and gambled that he could use the sequestration to bargain for deeper cuts to the military and tax increases.
The military and defense of the nation is constitutionally mandated. The Presidents pledge to uphold and defend the Constitution isn’t worth beans. His social engineering projects and the fundamental transformation of America is his only objective.
“Obama made a terrible mistake….”. Terrible, yes. IMHO, not a mistake but part of the plan.
I’ve smelled this odor before, when I was stationed in (the former) West Germany under Jimmah Cartah. I was in a maintenance unit—my job was small arms repair. My duties included traveling to customer units to inspect and repair their weapons (rifles, pistols, mortars, machine guns, etc.) on site.
The military budget was slashed back then too, to be spent on social programs. Getting parts for repair was like pulling sticks from molasses on a cold morning. So, we would have to hang a tag on each weapon that was down awaiting parts for repair. In many cases, these were in addition to the tags that were still there from our last visit (and the visit before that as well). We had a standing joke that if the Soviets attacked through the Fulda Gap at midnight, we might as well just meet them at our mess hall for breakfast.
While I’m on a roll, today is April 19.
By the rude bridge that arched the flood,
Their flag to April’s breeze unfurled,
Here once the embattled farmers stood,
And fired the shot heard round the world.
…and Kalifornia gets this—
http://www.breitbart.com/california/2016/04/19/licensed-gun-dealer-ban-committee-ca/
Former Soviet Fighter Pilot: Russian Jets ‘More Aggressive’ Than During Cold War.
Col. Ralph Peters on Putin:
Smart man. I’ll add that Obama’s destruction of America continues apace with eight long months ahead to do even more damage with his phone, his pen, and his jet.
Ramirez weighs in on Putin.