Putin Sends Russian Bombers To “Patrol” Near the USA In The Gulf Of Mexico

November 13, 2014 By Greg Campbell

In November, 1962, the United States hurled closer and closer to the brink of mutually-assured nuclear annihilation with the Soviet Union. Our Democrat president, John F. Kennedy, demonstrated U.S. foreign policy weaknesses with such disasters as the Bay of Pigs fiasco and the Soviet Union, noting the inherent weakness in the Kennedy Administration, moved in to establish nuclear missiles 90-miles off our shores in Cuba.

 

Though that crisis thankfully abated with a backroom deal to remove missiles from Turkey, a new Russian threat has emerged: Russian long-range bombers will soon be circling the skies near American airspace in the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean.

 

As Russia continues to eye Ukraine, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg stated, “Over the last few days, we have seen multiple reports of large convoys moving into Eastern Ukraine. We assess that this significant military buildup includes Russian artillery, tanks, air defence systems and troops.”

 

Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu denied the aggressive build-up, but did note that Russia intends to beef-up forces around the globe. He announced that long-range bombers would be conducting flights along Russian borders and into the Arctic Ocean and also noted, “In the current situation we have to maintain military presence in the western Atlantic and eastern Pacific, as well as the Caribbean and the Gulf of Mexico.”

 

He also promised that long-range planes would conduct “reconnaissance missions to monitor foreign powers’ military activities and maritime communications.”

 

This would be a first for such an aggressive maneuver as Russian long-range bombers have never routinely been tasked with flying in these areas- not even during the Cold War.

 

Russian bombers equipped with nuclear warheads had made treks over the Atlantic and the Pacific and gotten close enough to launch a strike, but such hostility has not occurred since the fall of the Soviet Union.

 

Though this heightened aggressive posturing should alarm Defense Department officials, the Pentagon has maintained a tranquil tone with regards to Russia’s belligerency.

 

Yahoo News reports on the Obama Administration’s response: 

Col. Steve Warren, a Pentagon spokesman, declined to call this a Russian provocation. He said the Russians have a right, like any other nation, to operate in international airspace and in international waters.

 

The important thing, Warren said, is for such exercises to be carried out safely and in accordance with international standards. 

It seems that like the Soviet leaders in 1962, Vladimir Putin smells weakness coming from the Obama Administration. Will this be another showdown?