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Russia Sends Its Bombers To Venezuela. To Wind Washington Up

September 13, 2008

Russia Sends Its Bombers To Venezuela. It’s A Wind Up For Washington Christopher Lee writes: So, the Russian Navy is going to exercise with the Venezuelans in November. Two Russian Tupolev-160 strategic bombers (yes, outdated but still capable of carrying nuclear bombs) are down there already. If this isn’t a timely wind up for the Americans, I don’t know what is.   As the US prepares to vote in the presidential elections, what will the White House do? And what will the two presidential candidates have to say? The only good thing for everyone is that hardly any American will notice the Russian deployments. Americans don’t do foreign news. As has been said for years, only war teaches Americans geography. Yet, John McCain has to be careful that he doesn’t awaken an interest in what’s going on by telling everyone that it’s time to kick Russian ass. Americans don’t really want a President that will take them into another war. They want one who’ll get them out of the two they are already in. As for Barack Obama, all he has to say: we’re watching and the Russians know it.

Hugo Chavez knows that too. That is why he was so happy to welcome the Russian bombers and even said that he is going to fly one of them personally. Probably hopes that it will do wonders for his image at home. Not to mention getting a chance to tug the American tail.

The serious side to all this is the way the struggling Putin & Co needs to use Orwellian illustrations to inspire support at home. Distant sounds of war games, putting out more flags. Says a lot about the true state of Putin’s Russia.

In the meantime, the flagship of the Russian navy, Peter the Great, has taken to the seas. It’s a fine looking ship (as is the Moskva in the Black Sea) and as long as they’ve got enough air miles the Russians will fly close air support on her and, presumably, provide an ASW (anti-submarine warfare) ship that will go with her.

The Americans on their part will have a great time flying ELINT (electronic intelligence) sorties, watching Peter the Great and estimating her operating efficiency and doing an antennae ID to see what she is expected to do. It’s just like the good old days of the Cold War. At least that was the sort of conflict the Americans knew they could win. As the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, Admiral Mike Mullen said this week, the US is not sure that it’s winning in Afghanistan.

Why on earth don’t the Americans realise that no one wins in Afghanistan. Just as no one wins in the Latin American wind-up.

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