WhatFinger

Take us to Defcon "meh."

Russian Su-27 buzzes U.S. Air Force RC-135 recon jet - flies within 5 feet

By Robert Laurie ——--June 20, 2017

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One day after the United States downed a Syrian aircraft, prompting a verbal rejoinder from the Russian government, an armed Russian fighter flew dangerously close to a large U.S. recon craft over the Baltic Sea. From Fox News:
An armed Russian fighter jet buzzed a U.S. Air Force reconnaissance aircraft in the Baltic Sea on Monday, two U.S. officials told Fox News. The Russian Su-27 jet had air-to-air missiles under its wings and approached the U.S. Air Force RC-135 recon jet "rapidly," coming within five feet of the American aircraft, the officials said.
Once alongside, the Russian jet was “provocative” in its flight maneuvers and flying “erratically,” according to another official. Since June 2nd there have been over 35 interactions in the Baltic Sea region between U.S. and Russian jets and warships, but the incident Monday morning is notable because the U.S. military considered it “unsafe,” according to one official. Honestly, it's not all that notable. As Fox notes, we've seen it a lot lately. Back in February, we watched as four "unsafe and unprofessional" Russian SU-24's swooped down and buzzed a US Navy warship. That interaction generated some impressive footage, a bit of complaining, and little else. Since then, Russian planes have been encroaching on U.S. airspace regularly, and it seems like they're having a good time flexing their muscles.

Honestly, I doubt anyone thinks Russia is really spoiling for World War III

Honestly, I doubt anyone thinks Russia is really spoiling for World War III with the United States. This is all probably less actual provocation and more standard saber-rattling. We downed a Syrian aircraft, Assad is an ally of Putin's, and Putin has to respond. We're watching that response. The problem is "five feet." While most of us are pretty sure no one will "push the button" on purpose, it's not hard to imagine a situation where an accident sparks a major conflict . Call it the "Strangelove" scenario. A Russian pilot accidentally hits, or otherwise destroys a US aircraft, and (whether they meant it or not) things spiral out of control until we suddenly have Barry Corbin taking us to Defcon 1 in Wargames.

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We'd all like to avoid that if possible. On the political side of things, Democrats have some decisions to make. Is Trump still Putin's puppet, even though Putin is now harassing the U.S.? Or, is Trump a loose cannon who's spoiling for a major war with the red menace? Dems have been making both arguments this week, and they should really settle on one of them. Also, since high-profile lefties like Bernie Sanders have spent 40 years praising Russia (or honeymooning there) they're going to have to figure out which side of this potential fight they're on. Who do they despise more? Trump or Putin? P.S. ...Don't worry too much about it. WWIII, at least with Russia, isn't coming any time soon. There's too much global money involved. No one - on either side - wants to see their fortune incinerated, so de-escalation will happen, if gradually.
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Robert Laurie——

Robert Laurie’s column is distributed by HermanCain.com, which can be found at HermanCain.com

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