Do you know about this? On Nov. 22, Thanksgiving Day, 2007, two U.S.
jets were scrambled from the 90th Fighter Squadron at Elmendorf Air
Force Base in Alaska to intercept two Russian long-range "strategic"
bombers (strategic being a euphemism for nuclear-capable) in the
skies over the Aleutian Islands as the bombers approached Alaskan air space.
The U.S. F-22 jets monitored the Russian Bear H bombers at close
range for a few minutes before the bombers turned back. This
encounter was one of the consequences of Vladimir Putin's decision,
announced last August, to resume regular "strategic flights" of its
nuclear bombers. Most reports said that the bombers were not carrying
nukes, that the flights were ostensibly for "training" and
"readiness" purposes, although nuclear armed missions were not
explicitly ruled out. And probing the state of U.S. and NATO warning
and defense systems and reminding the world of Russia's superpower
status may have been on the agenda as well.
The Thanksgiving Day encounter was not an isolated incident.
<http://www.slate.com/id/2191104/pagenum/all/>Link
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Posted By johannes to
<http://www.monochrom.at/english/2008/05/are-chances-of-accidental-nuclear-war.htm>monochrom
at 5/13/2008 04:58:00 PM
