Russian Subs Patrolling Off East Coast of U.S.

[Deff Gordon]

full article:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/05/wo...trol.html?_r=1

WASHINGTON — A pair of nuclear-powered Russian attack submarines has been patrolling off the eastern seaboard of the United States in recent days, a rare mission that has raised concerns inside the Pentagon and intelligence agencies about a more assertive stance by the Russian military.

The episode has echoes of the cold war era, when the United States and the Soviet Union regularly parked submarines off each other’s coasts to steal military secrets, track the movements of their underwater fleets — and be poised for war.

But the collapse of the Soviet Union all but eliminated the ability of the Russian Navy to operate far from home ports, making the current submarine patrols thousands of miles from Russia more surprising for military officials and defense policy experts.

“I don’t think they’ve put two first-line nuclear subs off the U.S. coast in about 15 years,” said Norman Polmar, a naval historian and submarine warfare expert.

[PETA]

The Russian military has recovered (not fully) a great deal with Putin. They're getting boats back into the water. They've declared their indifference to sovereign states by assassinating former Russian citizens abroad. They probed a NATO response by invading Georgia (and found NATO impotent). etc etc etc. They cannot compete with us currently nor can they engage in another arms race - their economy cannot withstand it - ours can. They know this. They also know their population demographics. They are a former giant empire reassserting itself before it finally dies by the end of this century. A last gasp if you will. Still, that gasp could hurt others a lot.

[johnny861]

They have working subs again? Nice, they must have finally put an end to Naval personnel stripping the gold wiring out of their ships for money to feed themselves.

[Hey Bubu]

Vodka for everybody!!!

[Deff Gordon]

Originally Posted by PETA

The Russian military has recovered (not fully) a great deal with Putin. They're getting boats back into the water. They've declared their indifference to sovereign states by assassinating former Russian citizens abroad. They probed a NATO response by invading Georgia (and found NATO impotent). etc etc etc. They cannot compete with us currently nor can they engage in another arms race - their economy cannot withstand it - ours can. They know this. They also know their population demographics. They are a former giant empire reassserting itself before it finally dies by the end of this century. A last gasp if you will. Still, that gasp could hurt others a lot.

funny, that's what that book "Next 100 Years" (i'm reading now) is saying.

[PETA]

Originally Posted by Deff Gordon

funny, that's what that book "Next 100 Years" (i'm reading now) is saying.

Yeah? Weird

Friedman and any number of foreign policy prognosticators have been saying that for a while. On that one I think they've got a lot of good evidence to back up their supposition. But who knows?