The New Threat From Russia

We would rather not believe it, and it certainly doesn’t fit in with President Obama’s contention that there has been a successful “reset” of our relations with Russia. The facts, however, cannot be denied.  Thanks to the Kremlin’s determination and the White House’s weakness, the Cold War is back.

     As ex-KGB officer Vladimir Putin solidifies an iron grip on his nation, he is resorting to a standard ploy of dictators throughout the past century.  Distract the populace, suffering from an oligarchic and corruption-filled government and a stumbling economy by turning to military adventures abroad.

     Even as the shrunken and exhausted American military faces the prospect of radical budget cuts in just five months, Putin is returning his nation to a Cold War footing.  As unpleasant as it is to contemplate, Washington must begin to face reality and acknowledge that a newly aggressive Russia has engaged in:

·       vigorous and greatly expanded armaments expenditures;

·        adventurous military patrols across the globe;

·   seeking naval bases abroad;

·   support of vehemently anti-western regimes in Syria, Iran, and Venezuela;

·   a belligerent attitude towards other nations;

·   threats of a “pre-emptive strike” against American missile defense installations in Poland;

·   energy “blackmail” against Europe;

·   Joint war game maneuvers with China;

·   Soviet-style repression of its own people; and

·   Soviet-style treatment of the former captive nations of Eastern Europe as well as former Soviet Republics. 

     As Americans celebrated the 4^th of July, Russian nuclear-capable bombers and submarines threatened our Western and Gulf coasts. Russian Bear-class nuclear capable bombers had to be chased away from our western shores. During this same period, an Akula-class nuclear sub patrolled the Gulf of Mexico, undetected.  The depleted U.S. Navy simply doesn’t have the assets to be as vigilant as it needs to be.

     Senator John Cornyn (R-Texas) was enraged when he learned of the incident. He complained to the White House:

 “This submarine patrol, taken together with the air incursions, seems to represent a more aggressive and destabilizing Russian military stance that could pose risks to our national security.  This is especially troubling given the drastic defense cuts sought by President Obama, which include reductions in funding for antisubmarine defense systems.”

     The Departments of Energy and Defense has noted that “Russia maintains a fully functional nuclear weapons design, development, test and manufacturing infrastructure capable of producing significant quantities of nuclear warheads per year.”  This contrast sharply with the U.S., which according to the New Deterrent Working Group “has effectively eliminated its nuclear weapons production capacity and allowed its infrastructure to atrophy.  We no longer produce successive generations of nuclear weapons and we have discontinued underground testing.”

   

     In 2011, while the American nuclear arsenal shrank, its Russian counterpart grew larger, according to the Heritage Foundation.  During that year, the U.S. reduced the number of warheads on deployed ICBMs and SLBMs, and nuclear warheads counted for deployed heavy bombers, by 0.6%.  In contrast, Russia’s similar arsenal increased by 1.9%.  In terms of total deployed ICBMs, SLBMs and heavy bombers, America reduced its numbers by a dramatic 6.8%, while Russia’s decreased by just 1.0%.  America reduced the number of launchers for ICBMs and SLBMs by 7.2%, while Moscow’s increased by 0.7%. 

    These are unpleasant facts—but facts they are.  If ignored, the immediate safety of our nation is in deep peril.