Team Infidel
Forum Spin Doctor
CNN
March 16, 2009
The Situation Room (CNN), 4:00 PM
WOLF BLITZER: Believe it or not, right now there are fears we could be seeing something very similar to one of the most threatening confrontations in American history. That would be the Cuban Missile Crisis. And those fears are raised now that Russian officials are openly talking about landing bombers within striking distance of the United States.
Let's go straight to CNN's Brian Todd. He's got the story for us.
Wow, Brian. What's going on?
BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, a top Russian military official, Wolf, talking about the possibility of deploying Russian bombers very near American shores. And it's always the distances here that have people in nervous.
Now, here, we're in Washington, D.C., about 1,100 miles from Cuba. But you roll the map down to Miami, that's only about 200 miles from the center of Cuba. And another place being talked about for Russian deployment, the Venezuelan island of La Orchila is about 1,300 miles from the American coast.
Now, here's what at least one Russian military official is saying about this possibility.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) TODD: A top Russian air force general says his country's ready to flex its muscle in America's back yard, telling a Russian news agency his military may want to land strategic bombers in Cuba. "If the two chiefs of state display such a political will, we are ready to fly there."
Another Russian official said that was only a hypothetical. We got no response in Havana from the Cuban government. A U.S. official tells CNN there appears to be no hard offer from the Cubans, but another U.S. antagonist near American shores has made an offer.
HUGO CHAVEZ, VENEZUELAN PRESIDENT (through translator): Every time the Russian strategic air force needs to stop over in Venezuela as part of its strategic plans, Venezuela is available.
TODD: The Russians have already staged military exercises with Venezuela. Experts say the Russian planes which could land there or in Cuba, bombers called the Bear and Blackjack, would likely be used to spy on the American Navy. Some of them can fire cruise missiles, but analysts say the Russians already have plenty of missiles that could hit America, and this is likely not a return to the Cold War.
STEVEN PIFER, BROOKINGS INSTITUTION: What they're trying to do is remind people, and perhaps most importantly, their domestic audience in Russia, that Russia continues to have global military capabilities. (END VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER: Now, as you know, Brian, there's some suggestion this is retaliation, if you will.
TODD: That's right. And analysts say you can't escape that.
The Russians are very upset that the United States conducts military exercises in the Black Sea, right off of its shores. They did that last summer after the invasion of Georgia, they do it about once a year.
Also, the United States is planning to deploy that missile shield in Eastern Europe, in Poland and the Czech Republic. The Russians don't like that at all. This is a way, they say, of kind of retaliating a little bit, at least diplomatically, militarily, saying, look, if you can go on our doorstep, we can certainly do that on your doorstep, and that's what we're going to do.
BLITZER: But they may have some other motives as well, the Russians, in this kind of language.
TODD: Absolutely. We've talked to analysts who say that, look, the Russian military has not been funded really properly the way the Russians want to since about the 1980s. That the 1990s really took a toll on them, as far as the military funding there.
They have got new energy money, they're able more to fund their military. And some Russian military leaders want to find enemies in places, you know, where they can find enemies to justify the military expenditures. That's what they're after.
BLITZER: A potentially tense moment right now.
TODD: That's right.
BLITZER: All right. Thanks very much, Brian, for that report.
March 16, 2009
The Situation Room (CNN), 4:00 PM
WOLF BLITZER: Believe it or not, right now there are fears we could be seeing something very similar to one of the most threatening confrontations in American history. That would be the Cuban Missile Crisis. And those fears are raised now that Russian officials are openly talking about landing bombers within striking distance of the United States.
Let's go straight to CNN's Brian Todd. He's got the story for us.
Wow, Brian. What's going on?
BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, a top Russian military official, Wolf, talking about the possibility of deploying Russian bombers very near American shores. And it's always the distances here that have people in nervous.
Now, here, we're in Washington, D.C., about 1,100 miles from Cuba. But you roll the map down to Miami, that's only about 200 miles from the center of Cuba. And another place being talked about for Russian deployment, the Venezuelan island of La Orchila is about 1,300 miles from the American coast.
Now, here's what at least one Russian military official is saying about this possibility.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) TODD: A top Russian air force general says his country's ready to flex its muscle in America's back yard, telling a Russian news agency his military may want to land strategic bombers in Cuba. "If the two chiefs of state display such a political will, we are ready to fly there."
Another Russian official said that was only a hypothetical. We got no response in Havana from the Cuban government. A U.S. official tells CNN there appears to be no hard offer from the Cubans, but another U.S. antagonist near American shores has made an offer.
HUGO CHAVEZ, VENEZUELAN PRESIDENT (through translator): Every time the Russian strategic air force needs to stop over in Venezuela as part of its strategic plans, Venezuela is available.
TODD: The Russians have already staged military exercises with Venezuela. Experts say the Russian planes which could land there or in Cuba, bombers called the Bear and Blackjack, would likely be used to spy on the American Navy. Some of them can fire cruise missiles, but analysts say the Russians already have plenty of missiles that could hit America, and this is likely not a return to the Cold War.
STEVEN PIFER, BROOKINGS INSTITUTION: What they're trying to do is remind people, and perhaps most importantly, their domestic audience in Russia, that Russia continues to have global military capabilities. (END VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER: Now, as you know, Brian, there's some suggestion this is retaliation, if you will.
TODD: That's right. And analysts say you can't escape that.
The Russians are very upset that the United States conducts military exercises in the Black Sea, right off of its shores. They did that last summer after the invasion of Georgia, they do it about once a year.
Also, the United States is planning to deploy that missile shield in Eastern Europe, in Poland and the Czech Republic. The Russians don't like that at all. This is a way, they say, of kind of retaliating a little bit, at least diplomatically, militarily, saying, look, if you can go on our doorstep, we can certainly do that on your doorstep, and that's what we're going to do.
BLITZER: But they may have some other motives as well, the Russians, in this kind of language.
TODD: Absolutely. We've talked to analysts who say that, look, the Russian military has not been funded really properly the way the Russians want to since about the 1980s. That the 1990s really took a toll on them, as far as the military funding there.
They have got new energy money, they're able more to fund their military. And some Russian military leaders want to find enemies in places, you know, where they can find enemies to justify the military expenditures. That's what they're after.
BLITZER: A potentially tense moment right now.
TODD: That's right.
BLITZER: All right. Thanks very much, Brian, for that report.
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