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It should be made clear that this whole "buzzing" incident was essentially harmless. At almost any instant the USS Cook could have blown the planes from the sky—not just close in, but more than 100 miles out—without so much as a hiccup. All parties involved knew that. All parties also knew that Russia's actions were for media attention and provocation.”

Why the Russians Decided to Harass That U.S. Navy Destroyer This Week

It comes down to paranoia.



BY ROBERT BATEMAN
APR 14, 2016

Earlier this week, the men and women aboard the USS Cook, a guided-missile destroyer operating on a training mission with Poland in the Baltic Sea, got a bit of an airshow: Two Russian Sukhoi Su-24 attack aircraft buzzed their ship repeatedly, and then a Russian helicopter came sniffing around, too. CNN has good video of the incident.

It might seem like a simple case of a territorial pissing match. But let's not forget that the Russians have a long history of Maskirovka, or military deception, so it could be argued that one can never tell with them.

Indeed, during the Cold War, there was an entire sub-industry in the West's intelligence community known as Sovietology, devoted to deciphering what the Soviets meant in each of their statements and actions. Nowadays it is a resurgent field, albeit under another name: Kremlinology.

Kremlinologists must be bored as of late, because the Russians have been quite transparent in their actions. In this case, it seems they were doing the military equivalent of a 5-year-old screaming, "Look at ME, Look at ME!," mixed with a dose of "Oh shit, we are surrounded."

It should be made clear that this whole "buzzing" incident was essentially harmless. At almost any instant the USS Cook could have blown the planes from the sky—not just close in, but more than 100 miles out—without so much as a hiccup. All parties involved knew that. All parties also knew that Russia's actions were for media attention and provocation.

But it was also because of their paranoia. To understand that, look at where these aircraft probably came from: Kaliningrad, formerly known as Konigsberg until the Soviets took over after World War II.

Poland and Lithuania border it, and the city (and surrounding territory) is a "Russian exclave," the equivalent of if we tucked Long Island somewhere inside of China's borders. This is one of Russia's only ports that can operate year-round. It is not attached to Mother Russia at all. Check a map.

So, if you are both paranoid and want to show that your nation matters, what do you do? Duh, you buzz a U.S. ship working with your ancestral enemies in the region, the Poles. You show that rascally Poles, Lithuanians, and especially Americans cannot push you around. You show them who is STRONG, and when they see that, they will PAY. Show, indeed.

As always, I can be reached at R_Bateman_LTC@hotmail.com.

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