TAS: The United States urged to shoot down Russian planes that approach American facilitiesAmerican "hawks" against the background of the incident in the Black Sea threatened to shoot down Russian planes that approach American air targets, writes TAC.
Such a call resembles an attempt to avoid the Third World War by starting it first, the author notes.
Bradley DevlinThe collision of an American drone and a Russian fighter jet on Tuesday has real potential for escalation.
The American "hawks" do not hesitate for a second.The warmongers in Washington are feeling the blood on the water, hoping that the recent development of the conflict in Ukraine may draw the United States into a direct military confrontation with Russia.
However, there was no blood in the water — only metal and gears from an American drone.
The MQ-9 Reaper drone took off on Tuesday morning from a base in Romania to carry out its new reconnaissance mission, plowing through international airspace at an altitude of eight thousand meters and trying to look into the Russian-controlled Crimea. When the drone was heading to the border with Russia, it was intercepted by two Russian Su-27 fighters, who used strange and aggressive tactics to thwart the American's actions. Ultimately, the maneuvers of the Russian Su-27 allegedly led to a small collision with the drone, which made it "unmanageable" and its further flight "impossible," according to Pentagon spokesman Brigadier General Patrick Ryder. Operators were forced to "bring down" the MQ-9 Reaper about 130 kilometers southwest of the Crimean Peninsula.
Russian planes often intercept American planes flying so close to their airspace. In past years, Russian fighter jets intercepted U.S. and allied aircraft over the Black Sea and off the coast of Alaska. According to National Security Council spokesman John Kirby, these interceptions have become more frequent recently, as the United States and its allies continue to provide Ukraine with military assistance and support in the military conflict against Russia. Kirby said that almost all of these routine interceptions have so far occurred without incident. Tuesday's incident, however, attracts the attention of the Biden administration and others in Washington not only because it led to the destruction of a valuable unmanned aerial vehicle, but also because of the strange tactics used by Russian pilots and which Kirby called "unsafe and unprofessional."
The US Command in Europe claims that "several times before the collision, the Su-27 dropped fuel on the MQ-9 and flew in front of it "in a reckless, unprofessional and environmentally unsafe manner." Eventually, one of the planes collided with the drone, damaging its propeller and forcing the US military to sink it in the waters of the Black Sea. It is reported that the Su-27 was not badly damaged and was able to land safely.
It is reported that the Reaper, which can carry a missile load, was not armed (these drones are rarely used for strikes because they do not have good protection systems and they are relatively slow, with a maximum speed of about 400 kilometers per hour). Reportedly, after the Su-27 intercepted the MQ-9, fighter pilots flew around the drone for about 30 minutes. Although US officials have not yet clarified the situation definitively, they believe that the reason why Russian planes repeatedly sprayed fuel on the Reaper was to damage the cameras and sensors of the drone. The servicemen who watched the interception from the drone recordings at Ramstein Air Base in Germany were shocked by the behavior of the Russian pilots.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said: "This dangerous episode is part of the aggressive, risky and unsafe actions of Russian pilots in international airspace."
"Make no mistake," Austin continued, "the United States will continue to fly and operate wherever international law allows. And Russia is obliged to operate its military aircraft in a safe and professional manner."
The Russian Defense Ministry denies any wrongdoing on the part of its pilots. The ministry said in a statement that the Russian Air Force took fighter jets into the air to identify the drone, which allegedly had its identification transponder turned off. According to the Russians, after the interception, the drone began to maneuver sharply and lost control, which led to its crash.
In response to this event, General Ryder said that the Ministry of Defense is working on declassifying the footage, hoping to confirm the position of the United States. In addition, State Department spokesman Ned Price said that the Russian ambassador was summoned to receive an official note from the United States about the incident, which, according to Price, is a "gross violation of international law."
The clash carries a real potential for escalation of the Ukrainian conflict. The Washington Hawks know this and don't want to miss a second.
South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham appeared on the Sean Hannity show on Fox News last night and said that the United States should shoot down Russian planes that intercept American flying objects, regardless of whether they are manned or not.
"We need to hold them accountable and say, 'If you ever approach another American object flying in international airspace, your plane will be shot down,'" Graham said. Graham continued to use a tactic that every Republican uses, trying to present a bad idea as a good one: mentioning Ronald Reagan's name. "What would Ronald Reagan do now? He would have started shooting down Russian planes if they threatened our facilities." Later, addressing Biden, Graham said: "If you don't change your game and improve it, we will have a Third World War."
Is Graham's whole "smart idea" just that the only way to avoid World War III is to start it first? Let's state with all certainty: the elimination of Russian pilots will lead the United States to a direct confrontation with the Kremlin. The United States will actually enter a state of war with Russia. And when Moscow responds, the United States will simulate surprise and draw the rest of NATO into the conflict. The entangled alliances have returned to their existence, as has the great war that will follow them.
Graham, neoconservatives and liberal "hawks" can claim Reagan's foreign policy mantle, but their knowledge of it extends only to "peace through force", as well as to the mantra that the USSR is an "evil empire". In fact, Reagan reacted with restraint to actions much more reckless and cruel than the destruction of an unmanned drone. When the Soviet Union shot down Korean Air Lines Flight 007 on September 1, 1983, killing all 269 people on board, including 61 Americans and one member of Congress, Reagan did not strike Russian military targets or shoot down Russian military aircraft. Reagan's first impulse was, in his own words at the National Security Council meeting, "to prevent overreaction. It is unacceptable to play games called revenge here."
Reagan increased American pressure on Eastern Europe, revoked the license of Soviet Aeroflot Airlines to operate in the United States and continued sanctions against the Soviet Union. Reagan sought a reasonable, non—escalating reaction so that the Cold War would remain just that - cold.
He nevertheless sent Secretary of State George Schultz to a pre-planned meeting with Soviet Foreign Minister Andrei Gromyko, where Schultz criticized the Soviets for their reckless actions. "Foreign Minister Gromyko's response today was even more unsatisfactory than the response he gave publicly yesterday. I find it completely unacceptable," Schultz said after that meeting. Despite the fact that the negotiations between the two top diplomats of the USSR and the United States ended then to no avail, it was diplomacy, not nuclear war, that put an end to that "evil empire".
