In the final dogfight in the movie “Top Gun” the Captain of the US aircraft carrier Enterprise is alarmed when enemy fighters close to within 160 miles:
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jqfXXaOisKo[/youtube]
A couple of days ago Russian bombers buzzed the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan.
“There were two Russian Tu-142 Bear aircraft that approached the USS Ronald Reagan on the morning of Oct. 27 … while the Reagan was operating in the Sea of Japan,” said Navy Capt. Jeff Davis, a Pentagon spokesman.
Four F/A-18 jets were launched from the carrier to intercept and escort the Russian aircraft, he added.
“The interaction was characterized as safe,” Davis said, noting that prudent defensive action was taken by the carrier.
Asked whether the aircraft posed a threat, Davis said: “Anytime there are aircraft operating in close proximity to a U.S. Navy ship, particularly an aircraft carrier, we’re going to take action to launch and make sure we are tracking it very closely.”
“But there was nothing to indicate they were posing a direct threat,” he said.
During the incident, however, the Russian two aircraft, anti-submarine warfare versions of the Tu-95 Bear nuclear-capable bomber, were flying at a height of only 500 feet and came within a mile of the Reagan.
It’s not an isolated incident:
Earlier aerial activities by Moscow included flights by two Russian Tu-95 strategic bombers that circumnavigated the Pacific U.S. island of Guam twice, once in November and again in December. The island is a major U.S. military hub for the Obama administration’s pivot to Asia.
A Russian Su-27 fighter flew dangerously close to an RC-135 reconnaissance jets near the Sea of Okhotsk in April 2014.
The most recent Russian aircraft intrusion of U.S. air defense zones took place July 4 when two Tu-95 bombers flew within 40 miles of the California coast and communicated a message to U.S. jet interceptor pilots that escorted the bombers out of the area. The message from one of the Russians was “Happy birthday,” according to U.S. officials.
The California bomber incursion also took place the same day that President Obama held a telephone conversation with Putin.
A Russian Su-27 fighter jet conducted a dangerous aerial intercept of an RC-135 reconnaissance aircraft over the Black Sea earlier in May. Around the same time, a Russian Su-24 jet interceptor buzzed the destroyer USS Ross in the Black Sea, near occupied Crimea.
The response was as lame as one would expect from a subjugated President. The incident was described as “not unprecedented” but “not a regular occurrence.”
This is not just embarrassing, it’s dangerous to the military. Exactly what does it take for Obama to look like a President? Putin knows Obama is a flat out pussy. He knows that he can shove Obama around anywhere on the planet. He knows Obama is so risk inhibited that Obama would not likely respond to a bombing of New Jersey. Obama would probably call it “not unprecedented by not a regular event.”
I’d tell Putin in no uncertain terms that if you send bombers within 50 miles of one of our carriers it will be regarded as an act of aggression and those bombers will bs shot down.
Period.
But Obama won’t do that. He doesn’t have the stones. He’s too busy fighting the tough war against conservatives and patriotism here in the US. He’s a tough when he’s got the IRS and the DOJ to hammer domestic opposition. Outside the US borders he’s a pussy.
DrJohn has been a health care professional for more than 30 years. In addition to clinical practice he has done extensive research and has published widely with over 70 original articles and abstracts in the peer-reviewed literature. DrJohn is well known in his field and has lectured on every continent except for Antarctica. He has been married to the same wonderful lady for over 30 years and has three kids- two sons, both of whom are attorneys and one daughter on her way into the field of education.
DrJohn was brought up with the concept that one can do well if one is prepared to work hard but nothing in life is guaranteed.
Except for liberals being foolish.
@retire05. #47:
Why do you suppose the Bush administration redacted all parts of the October 2002 National Intelligence Estimate that called into serious question their assertion that Saddam Hussein’s regime posed an imminent threat to the United States?
The answer is simple: If the blanked out parts revealed in 2014 had been there to begin with, support for an invasion of Iraq would have quickly flown south. Dissenting intelligence community opinion was deliberately suppressed to sell an unnecessary war that ultimately turned out to be a geopolitical screw-up of epic proportions.
Have you got some more reasonable explanation than the totally obvious one? You do seem to have a talent for ignoring the obvious.
@Greg: Why do you suppose Clinton sent Sandy Berger in to fill his drawers with documents out of the archives?
@Greg: As troops are trickled in 50 here 100 there politically expedient sacrifices.It will cost more. The president who lost 3 wars, destroyed countless full time jobs and took choice away from all americans health care. Great legacy I hope they design his library with solar power only.
I guess that leaves the third swing at an empty spot in the air to somebody else.
@Bill: Because stealing government owned documents seems like a family trait
Have you seen Obama ride a bike, throw a baseball, or his skinny jeans. He calls the ayatollah supreme leader and bows to kings. Putin didn’t neuter him, Obama trolls us, the American people, by acting as unamerican as he can.
@mossomo:
Earth to Mossomo — he is NOT acting!