Russian bomber jets resume Cold War sorties

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070809/pl_nm/russia_military_flights_dc ^

[jhpigott]

doesn't that just make you feel all warm and cuddly on the inside

[TChris]

[darkwing104]

Just as long they are not dropping bombs or firing missiles...at us...

[AU72]

Guess we’re going to have to re-target our ICBMs again.

[RKV]

Which is a procedure which can be done in less than an hour, if they ever were re=targeted in the first place.

[Spruce]

I bet they exchanged ‘birds’. Not smiles.

[edcoil]

One SAM could change this re-started tradition.

[Lurker]

"It has always been the tradition of our long-range aviation to fly far into the ocean, to meet (U.S.) aircraft carriers and greet (U.S. pilots) visually,"

L

[Ancesthntr]

doesn't that just make you feel all warm and cuddly on the inside

That's exactly the feeling I got when Bush looked into Putin's eyes and "saw his soul" (or some such crap). The guy is an ex-KGB general - and like the Mafia, I don't think that there's really every an "ex-", especially at the level of a "made" member. He's smart as a whip, dresses nicely (unlike Arafag and other political gangsters), gives lip-service to democracy, etc. IOW, he's good at misleading people, all the while consolidating (at first) and growing (recently, now and planned for the future) his power - at our expense.

As my father's cousin, who left the Ukraine in 1994, told me when I asked about the political situation there since Gorby got kicked out: "Same wall, different wallpaper."

We have much to be worried about, beginning with the Russkies selling all manner of sophisticated weapons to the Arabs and Iran. An anti-US/anti-Western alliance with China is my nightmare scenario, and even if it isn't a formal thing, both of them hate our guts and want to bring us down a few notches. We need to wake up, fast, because the Cold War never ended - it only took a breather. This is very much like the thesis that WW1 and WW2 were 2 acts of the same play, with the 2nd act being far bloodier. Heaven help us, we're going to need it.

[BallyBill]

Until names like Vladimir and Leonid take over Mohamed and Obama (I mean Osama) on the most wanted list, the Ruskies need to take a number and we’ll get back to them.

[FormerACLUmember]

Obsolete bluster. The turboprop Tu-95MS bomber is so unbelievably noisy that the crews are all stone deaf in no time. It is so loud, that submerged submarines recognize its sound signature on sonar.

[jhpigott]

re-starting these sorties is a fairly serious step

i guess they are pretty upset about the whole missile shield thing

[Badeye]

I find it amusing they send two planes out, then feel the need to brag about it.

Those of us that played a part during the Cold War, especially out in the fleet, remember when it was routine, daily event, sometimes twice per day.

All over the world, not just one 13 hour flight in the Pacific.

Putin’s bluffs are becoming pathetic, in short.

[Daus]

Obsolete bluster.

Is has to be weird for the US crews.... They must feel like they are at a vintage aircraft show when they see these things coming. You'd expect to see some old dude, in an old leather bomber jacket sitting at the controls. :)

[dfwgator]

Charlie: Eh lieutenant, what were you doing there?
Goose: Communicating.
Maverick: Communicating. Keeping up foriegn relations. You know, giving him the bird!
Goose: You know, the finger
Charlie: Yes, I know the finger, Goose.
Goose: I-I’m sorry, I hate it when it does that, I’m sorry. Excuse me.

[VOA]

Just as long they are not dropping bombs or firing missiles...at us...

Russia has plenty of petroleum assets...
let 'em burn them off and wear out their planes if it makes
them feel good.

[FormerACLUmember]

Is has to be weird for the US crews.... They must feel like they are at a vintage aircraft show when they see these things coming. You'd expect to see some old dude, in an old leather bomber jacket sitting at the controls. :)

Crack Russian pilots in their scary Tupolev Bear.

[epluribus_2]

looks like a DC-6-ski.

[darkwing104]

let 'em burn them off and wear out their planes if it makes them feel good.

That and it also prevents our guys from getting complacent. We need to be always on the watch and alert.

[CJ Wolf]

Yep serious.

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