Thread: As Ukrainian situation heats up, armed Russian ship docks 200 miles off Florida coast

As Ukrainian situation heats up, armed Russian ship docks 200 miles off Florida coast

By Leada Gore | lgore@al.com
February 28, 2014 at 8:49 PM, updated February 28, 2014 at 9:02 PM


File photo of a Russian SSV-175 class ship.

As U.S. concerns mount over the volatile military situation in Ukraine, a Russian spy ship has docked in Cuba's Havana Bay for an unannounced visit.

The Viktor Leonov SSV-175 entered Cuban waters earlier this week before docking at a cruise ship terminal, Reuters is reporting.

Such visits are not unusual but are usually preceded by an official announcement of the visit. No such announcement was made this time and state-run Cuban media has remained quiet on the move.

The intelligence-gathering ship is reportedly armed with 30mm guns and anti-aircraft missiles. It arrived on Wednesday.

The move comes at a particularly tense time in U.S./Russian relationships, asPresident Barack Obama issued a stern warning to the former superpower to avoid becoming embroiled in the Ukrainian conflict.

Reports emerged Friday Russia had deployed as many as 2,000 troops to the Crimea region of the Ukraine. In response to the report, Obama said the "United States will stand with the international community in affirming that there will be costs for any military intervention in Ukraine."

The Russians have said the movements are part of a pre-scheduled military exercise. Later reports indicated the armed forces may not be military but rather a Russianprivate contractor force.

Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel said earlier today he expects other nations to respect Ukraine's sovereignty and avoid provocative actions.

"I expect Russia to be transparent about these activities, and I urge them not to take any steps that could be misinterpreted, or lead to miscalculation during a ... time with great tensions," Hagel said.

http://blog.al.com/wire/2014/02/as_u...n_heats_u.html

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http://www.alipac.us/f9/large-number...kraine-298397/

Let's see what the open borders, pro amnesty, pseudo conservative libertarians have to say about not getting involved in foreign events. There is a big difference between unnecessary intervention i.e. being "policemen to the world" and being pro active to protect American's vital interest. We should be selective about when and where to intervene in foreign events. But total disengagement from foreign events is a sure policy for national disaster. The US stayed out of the Nazi invasions of European countries and we came very close to loosing all of Europe. We stayed neutral until the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor forced us to pay attention to the world around us.

We should have learned from WWII that military weakness puts an end to peace. That "Peace Through Strength" does work. Russia has militarily moved into the Ukraine precisely because of the power vacuum created by American global retreat because of Obama's foreign policies.

What are we as a nation going to do now, wait until Russia reconquers the nations of Eastern and Middle Europe? And when the embolden despot Putin seeks hegemony over all of Europe, what will our response be then? Will we wait patiently for the next Pearl Harbor sneak attack, or endure the slow death of an isolated, besieged nation surrounded by hostile enemies?

Here is an example of our failure to intervene in a foreign country to protect our vital interests. Under Jimmy Carter the US was afraid to interfere when militant Muslims overthrew the pro Western Shaw of Iran because we were told he was a tyrant, and it would be bad for us to help a tyrant. So the US sat and did nothing. And what happened? A pro Western ally who was a tyrant was replaced by an American hating, even more repressive tyrant. From the development of nuclear weapons to aid in money and arms to anti Western forces through out the Middle East, Iran has been a major destabilizing influence. The same scenario played out in Cuba when we got Castro who is incessantly trying to interfere in Latin American countries. There are other examples, but this post has already run too long.

Think about this: a balance between protecting our vital interests and not capriciously getting involved in all international events. It is critical to have military power adequate to protect us globally. And now under Obama that is in jeopardy and becoming worse.

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   1. As Ukrainian situation heats up, armed Russian ship docks 200 miles off Florida coast
      al.com (blog) ‎- by Leada Gore ‎- 16 hours ago
      As U.S. concern mount over the volatile military situation in Ukraine, a Russian spy ship has docked in Cuba's Havana Bay for an unannounced ...
   
   
   1. Russian spy ship docked in Havana
      
      Yahoo News‎ - 2 days ago
   
   
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4. Russian spy ship docked in Havana - Yahoo News
   
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   3 days ago - From Yahoo News: Havana (AFP) - A Russian warship was docked in ... of Havana's cruise ship area, near theRussian Orthodox Cathedral.
5. Russian spy ship visits Cuba | FLORIDA TODAY | floridatoday.com
   
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   2 days ago - Raising the ghost of the Cold War, a Russian spyship has docked in Cuba amid Moscow's ... bases in Cuba, Vietnam, Nicaragua, Singapore, the Seychelle islands off Africa. ...After delay, beach renourishment work resumes.

http://www.alipac.us/f9/ukraine-mobi...on-war-298467/