This is coolbert:
From the Chicago Tribune today:
"World briefing"
"Putin vowing ‘answer’ to ships"
"MOSCOW - - Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said Tuesday that Russia will respond calmly to an increase in NATO ships in the Black Sea but promised ‘there will be an answer.’"
"Russia has complained that NATO has too many warships in the Black Sea . . . two U.S., one Polish, one Spanish and one German ship are there."
Four ships at once are too many??!! How many does Putin feel WOULD BE APPROPRIATE THEN!!?? My suspicions are that ONLY the number ZERO would satisfy the Prime Minister.
Turkey is a member of NATO in good standing! The Bosporus [Dardanelles in ancient times!] is an international waterway that NATO warships have a right to transit, entering into the Black Sea.
"Several international treaties have governed vessels using the waters . . . the Montreux Convention Regarding the Regime of the Turkish Straits of July 1936. That convention, which is still in practical force as of 2008, treats the straits as an international shipping lane, but Turkey does retain the right to restrict the naval traffic of non-Black Sea nations"
[Russian warships too have a right to exit the Black Sea and enter the Mediterranean, sailing south through the Bosporus.]
One of those two American vessels is a naval cruiser now docked at Poti, DELIVERING HUMANITARIAN SUPPLIES! This is A PRESUMABLY A DIRE THREAT TO ALL OF RUSSIA!!??
Russian naval power in the Black Sea has been severely diminished in the last two decades. Negotiations with the Ukrainians have been on going for some time about Black Sea and Crimean naval bases being leased or ceded to the Russian Navy??
Russia - - again - - is seeking to make a big splash on the world stage!!
Tu-95 "Bear" reconnaissance flights - - Cuban military bases - - territorial claims to the North Pole - - the Georgian conflict - - Trans-Dneister - - oil and gas pipelines to western Europe - - thinly veiled threats against Poland!! Now NATO warships in the Black Sea!
A clear, consistent, troubling and very surprising and unexpected trend continues!!
This is all the result of Russia being awash with petro-dollars??!! A glut of money has gone to the heads of the Russian leadership?
An aggressive, assertive Russia, thought to be out of play for some time now on the global scene - - again - - a force to be reckoned with??!!
coolbert.
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1 comment:
You are surprised Russia is pushing back? Clinton promised we wouldn't enlist countries on Russia's border in NATO.
Maybe it's in the Russkies character to play hard guy when they can. Still, we have been baiting them for quite a while now and they react. Stop being a crybaby.
"A glut of money has gone to the heads of the Russian leadership?"
Ridiculous. They took a shot at a spot we are over extended and they were not the aggressors. They were smart and we were stupid. Unless you think Cheney issuing the blank check the other day was statesmanship.
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