3 Russian warships visit Cold War ally Cuba

Yahoo ^ | Fri Dec 19, 10:04 am ET | AP

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

H/T to the Drudge report:

The Admiral Chabanenko vessel is unfurling black plumes of smoke as it chugs toward Havana Bay, flanked by two smaller boats.

[al baby]

Dropping of some Missiles and stuff

[GOP Poet]

Russia is not threat. Since gas prices have come down they are rendered even less of a threat. They just like throwing on occasion a piece of wood in the turning wheel. Wa-a-a. I need attention! Russia is such a drama queen sometimes, but no threat to the US.

[KoRn]

Too bad we didn’t deploy any mines.

[Drew68]

Russia is such a drama queen sometimes, but no threat to the US.

Exactly. Sometimes it's better foreign relations to just indulge their self-esteem a bit. Plus, it's a little hard to reprimand them for pulling into Cuba when we're making port calls in Ukraine.

[NormsRevenge]

Do they accept rubles there? I guess , huh?

50 years and Viva la Revolution and all that stuff..

Aging Castro still rules 50 years after revolution
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2152047/posts

[GAB-1955]

Probably not. It’s a cruiser, not a cargo ship.

[pleikumud]

The United States should invade Cuba, put the Castros in jail at Gitmo, and liberate the country. This should have been done years ago, not because the Russians have a couple of ships there. The Russian ships are of little military consequence.

Why should we tolerate a Communist, anti-American regime 90 miles off our coast?

[al baby]

the ol cargo ship made to look like a cruiser trick

[DaltonNC]

“Why should we tolerate a Communist, anti-American regime 90 miles off our coast?”

The pentagon is ignoring them. Just what they should do.
Tells the Russians just how irrelevant they are. This should be an embarrassment to them, but they would deny it. We are the USA-The greatest nation on earth. I tell my 6 and 9 year old grandchildren over and over that we live in the greatest nation in the world. We don't have to tell anyone how powerful we are, don't brag about it. Aren't you proud!!!

[ken21]

betting on gas and oil,

but ignoring high tech,

the russians will be a 4th rate power

in the new economy.

[ETL]

Of course the Russians are a threat to us. Plus they're not in it alone.

From the Sino-Russian Joint Statement of April 23, 1997:
"The two sides [China and Russia] shall, in the spirit of partnership, strive to promote the multipolarization of the world and the establishment of a new international order."
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Central_Asia/HI29Ag01.html
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Russia, China flex muscles in joint war games
Reuters: Aug 17, 2007

CHEBARKUL, Russia (Reuters) - Russia and China staged their biggest joint exercises on Friday but denied this show of military prowess could lead to the formation of a counterweight to NATO.

"Today's exercises are another step towards strengthening the relations between our countries, a step towards strengthening international peace and security, and first and foremost, the security of our peoples," Putin said.

Fighter jets swooped overhead, commandos jumped from helicopters on to rooftops and the boom of artillery shells shook the firing range in Russia's Ural mountains as two of the largest armies in the world were put through their paces.

The exercises take place against a backdrop of mounting rivalry between the West, and Russia and China for influence over Central Asia, a strategic region that has huge oil, gas and mineral resources.

Russia's growing assertiveness is also causing jitters in the West. Putin announced at the firing range that Russia was resuming Soviet-era sorties by its strategic bomber aircraft near NATO airspace.
http://in.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idINIndia-29030120070817?pageNumber=1&virtualBrandChannel=0
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From National Public Radio (NPR):
August 29, 2006
"Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has been visiting countries such as China, Iran and Russia as part of an effort to build a 'strategic alliance' of interests not beholden to the United States. He considers the United States his arch enemy.":
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5729764
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Venezuela's Chavez welcomes Russian warships
Nov 25, 2008
LA GUAIRA, Venezuela – Russian warships arrived off Venezuela's coast Tuesday in a show of strength aimed at the United States as Moscow seeks to expand its influence in Latin America. The deployment is the first of its kind in the Caribbean since the Cold War and was timed to coincide with President Dmitry Medvedev's visit to Caracas — the first ever by a Russian president.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081125/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/lt_venezuela_russia;_ylt=Aubowfbe9_MUlOufaFqMD.OMwfIE
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Venezuela Set to Develop Nuclear Power With Russia
September 29, 2008
CARACAS, Venezuela — President Hugo Chavez said Sunday that Russia will help Venezuela develop nuclear energy — a move likely to raise U.S. concerns over increasingly close cooperation between Caracas and Moscow.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,429441,00.html
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Russian nuclear bombers in Cuba?
July 23, 2008

The media has been abuzz today at the prospect of Russian nuclear bombers being stationed in Cuba if the US goes ahead with plans for missile defense bases in Eastern Europe.

The story has riled the US enough that a US general has been wheeled out to tell the world’s press that any Russian attempt to build another nuclear base in Cuba would cross US “red line”.

The story broke earlier this week, when Russian newspaper Izvestia quoted an un-named source from within the Russian military. He told the Russian daily:

“While they are deploying the missile shield in Poland and the Czech Republic, our strategic bombers will already be landing in Cuba.”

The quote hasn’t been independently confirmed, but the Russian Defense Ministry added fuel to the fire when they refused to comment on the story.

The prospect of Russian nuclear forces being stationed in Cuba - which is, after all, only 90 miles from the US coast - would bring back some rather unpleasant memories for the US of the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962, where the Soviet Union under Nikita Kruschev launched an audacious and foolhardy bid to station nuclear missiles on the Caribbean island.

http://www.siberianlight.net/2008/07/23/russian-nuclear-bombers-cuba/
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"the greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the [20th] century" -Russian leader Vladimir Putin on the collapse of the Soviet Union...
"World democratic opinion has yet to realize the alarming implications of President Vladimir Putin's State of the Union speech on April 25, 2005, in which he said that the collapse of the Soviet Union represented the 'greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the century.'
http://www.hooverdigest.org/053/beichman.html

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[Fred911]

Yeah....I shaking at the very thought of 3 Russian warships in Cuba. No doubt the russian sailors are jumping at the chance to “date” 14 yr old cuban girls.

I have no doubt that if Ivan even gets close to lighting off a Topol, their boat will be sitting on the bottom before we shoot the missle out of the sky.

F the big bad russians.

[Cenobite]

What a piece of shit! The radar mast looks like something from the ‘60s. The only allegory I can think of is the poor Spanish fleet that was destroyed in a day in Manilla all those years ago. Sad, just sad...

[headstamp 2]

Looks like a coal boiler.

[Eric in the Ozarks]

The two Rooskies in the background have that BO look about them.

[Drew68]

I shaking at the very thought of 3 Russian warships in Cuba. No doubt the russian sailors are jumping at the chance to “date” 14 yr old cuban girls.

Could be the first port they've ever visited where the hookers weren't their sisters. I swear, every port I've ever been to has been crawling with Russian prostitutes.

And yeah, some of them were damn smokin' hot! Not the crackhead streetwalkers we have here.

[Larry381]

One thing that can never be denied is that Russia, and the Ukraine, produce some of the worlds most beautiful women.