Russia hits back at Canada about bomber flights

[CanadianHero67]

Moscow hit back at Defence Minister Peter MacKay on Friday, calling the minister's comments about the flight of two Russian bombers a "farce," the Russian news agency Ria Novosti reported Friday.

http://news.sympatico.msn.ctv.ca/abc/home/contentposting.aspx?isfa=1&feedname=CTV-TOPSTORIES_V3&showbyline=True&date=true&newsitemid=CTVNews%2f20090227%2fRussia_planes_090227

[Dutch90]

In the words of James Bond: "Governments change, but the lies stay the same". I don't trust post-Soviet Russia one bit, especially with Putin still in power. I understand all the attention the Arctic is getting due to new oil wells becoming available as the polar ice caps melt, but what I don't understand is why it is necessary for Russia to send bombers to the Canadian border. Is it all just to remind everyone that they want the Arctic?

[Nev]

^ I agreel.  *Waits for DeezelBoy to come and say something overly tolerant and naive about then syituationnn.*

[Neltharion]

Prepare for kicking up the arse in 5....4....3....2....1...

[Nev]

Never talk politics/post while drunk.

[Neltharion]

Is it just me or does this some how stem back to the opening up of the shipping lanes up north, for the first time in a long time due to GCC?

Seeing as how Russia put a Russian flag directly under the North Pole, Canada is building two new Army bases at the shipping lanes and Denmark wants to claim the North pole as part of Greenland?

[Dutch90]

Is it just me or does this some how stem back to the opening up of the shipping lanes up north, for the first time in a long time due to GCC?

Seeing as how Russia put a Russian flag directly under the North Pole, Canada is building two new Army bases at the shipping lanes and Denmark wants to claim the North pole as part of Greenland?

Yup. And AFAIK this all has to do with the new availability of oil wells under the North Pole as the ice caps melt. It would be great if the West could get its oil from these sources instead of the Middle East. Even if Russia successfully laid claim on the Arctic, I'd rather be dependent on Russia for oil than Iran, Saudi Arabia and the rest of that lot.

I expect it'll become a big diplomatic dispute, but it would be funny of World War III erupted over ownership claims of the North Pole instead of Israel or Kashmir as everyone would expect.

[Neltharion]

I'd rather that that pass had not opened. Means that GCC is going to accelerate.

Which is a bad thing.

[deezelboy]

^ I agreel.  *Waits for DeezelBoy to come and say something overly tolerant and naive about then syituationnn.*

Nah, sorry.  Not this time!

There's been a lot of military & political heat now that the Arctic's been opened up.  Russia's strengthened its forces up there, and is conducting a fuckwad of training missions, from what I've heard.  Canada wants to claim the Northwest Passage as its own, but everybody else says it should be international waters (of course, if it is international waters, there's not much wrong with Russia, or anybody else, flying bombers over it - used to happen all the time in the Cold War).  And you've got Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Finland and Iceland all banding together under a Nordic solidarity pact in case they don't get the parts of the pole they want, or more to the point, in case somebody claims the parts that they don't want them to claim.

So it's ripe for a landgrab operation, just like the old great game.  Unless we get some kind of resolution that suits everybody in place - distinctly unlikely, I would say - who gets which parts of the oil reserves and shipping rights in the arctic is going to come down to a show of force.  And it's most defintely worth fighting over, if it comes down to blows - although I suspect (hope?) that's a decade or two down the line.

Ideally the best solution would be to say that the North Pole can't be claimed by any sovereign power, much like the Antarctic has been.  But I'm not entirely sure that's workable, in much teh same way that I suspect that when the Antactic opens nobody's going to pay any heed to international regulations.  Why should they?  It's going to be total chaos in twenty years or so.

Not quite sure I share Dutch90's optimism over Russian fuel supplies, given that they've been using them for political leverage in Europe over the last few years.  But then I hope that most of Europe will somehow become relatively self-sufficent through alternbative energy methods when it starts to really become a problem.  (Wow - boundless optimism there!)

[Dutch90]

Not quite sure I share Dutch90's optimism over Russian fuel supplies, given that they've been using them for political leverage in Europe over the last few years.  But then I hope that most of Europe will somehow become relatively self-sufficent through alternbative energy methods when it starts to really become a problem.  (Wow - boundless optimism there!)

I wouldn't call it optimism, I don't want to be dependent on Russia for fuel either. But between asshole Russia and the religious nutters in Iran, Saudi Arabia and other AOPEC nations, I'll take the asshole over the nutters.