[x_plus_one]

You realize that our ship is in the Baltic? Next to Lithuania - a provocation at the very least. Visualize a russian ship up in the chesapeake bay or on the great lakes or off houston - same difference. You don’t send your warships half way around the world to the front door of russia and sit there with known nukes on board. Russia sees the baltic as their back yard - they have every reason to do so.

[Krosan]

So Poland should have placed itself farther away from Russia in order to not provoke it by it’s existence?

In my opinion that is giving Russian bully too much.

[Wildbill22]

Like when China sent warships into US territorial waters off Alaska when Obama was visiting Alaska? I don’t think we buzzed their warships. Obama doesn’t have the guts for that, or for being POTUS for that matter.

[Wildbill22]

“You don’t send your warships half way around the world to the front door of russia and sit there with known nukes on board.”

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This is incorrect. The US took all nuclear weapons off the general purpose fleet, along with all tactical nukes, in the 1990’s. The only nuclear weapons the US has at sea are thestrategic deterrent force in Trident 2 sea launched ballistic missiles on the Ohio class subs.

[Tallguy]

The US Navy does exactly that. And the Royal Navy did it for a hundred years before that. “Freedom of Navigation” is the USN’s calling card. It shows the countries of the world that the USN is on-guard to protect sea-born trade, wherever. The US Navy is the cop on the beat in peacetime.

The Russian Navy doesn’t, and won’t ever do that. The Chinese Navy (PLAN) might, as they are already looking to control sea-lanes between Asia and the Persian Gulf.

[RC one]

By Russia’s own admission, our ship was in “neutral waters” and perceived weakness is weakness.