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‘Sending a Message’: Russian Bear Bombers Caught Circling Guam Before Obama Delivered the State of the Union

Feb. 16, 2013 4:13pm Erica Ritz

Report: Russian Bear Bombers Were Circling Guam as President Obama Gave State of the Union

US President Barack Obama (R) speaks as Russian President Vladimir Putin looks on after their bilateral meeting in Los Cabos, Mexico on June 18, 2012 on the sidelines of the G20 summit. (Photo: AFP/Getty Images)

NBC News has confirmed with U.S. military officials that two Russian Bear bombers were circling the U.S. territory of Guam last week at roughly the same time President Obama delivered his State of the Union address. The planes were capable of carrying nuclear cruise missiles, the report adds, and while they stayed in international airspace, the United States scrambled F-15 jets from the Andersen Air Force Base to intercept them.

The exchange “stayed professional,” one source said, despite the unusual encounter.

“It wasn’t provocative but it certainly got our attention,” another source elaborated.

The Washington Free Beacon, which broke the story, notes that this isn’t the first time that Russian jets have been caught poking around U.S. territories. Over the summer, they were caught simulating attacks on on “enemy” air defenses and strategic facilities near Alaska.

The U.S. has stated its hope of “pressing the reset button” with Russia, and President Obama signed a strategic arms reduction treaty with Russian President Medvedev in February 2011.

The Washington Free Beacon has more on how experts are weighing in:

John Bolton, former U.N. ambassador and former State Department international security undersecretary, said the Russian bomber flights appear to be part of an increasingly threatening strategic posture in response to Obama administration anti-nuclear policies.

“Every day brings new evidence that Obama’s ideological obsession with dismantling our nuclear deterrent is dangerous,” Bolton said. “Our national security is in danger of slipping off the national agenda even as the threats grow.”

Defense officials said the bombers tracked over Guam were likely equipped with six Kh-55 or Kh-55SM cruise missiles that can hit targets up to 1,800 miles away with either a high-explosive warhead or a 200-kiloton nuclear warhead.

[...]

Defense officials disclosed the incident to the Free Beacon and said the Russian bomber flights appeared to be a strategic message from Moscow timed to the president’s state of the union speech.

“They were sending a message to Washington during the state of the union speech,” one official said. [Emphasis added]

Former State Department security official Mark Groombridge had a similar response, according to the Washington Free Beacon.

“One could argue the Russians were poking a bit of fun at the Obama Administration, seeing how they flew these long-range bombers close to Guam on the same day as the state of the union address,” he began. “But the broader implications are more profound…The Russians are clearly sending a signal that they consider the Pacific an area of vital national strategic interest and that they still have at least some power projection capabilities to counterbalance against any possible increase in U.S. military assets in the region.”

Read the entire Washington Free Beacon report here.

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Comments (197)

PhotoLizard
Posted on February 17, 2013 at 11:51am
I seem to remember a Russian sub prowling the Gulf of Mexico not too long back. Seems Russia is sending a message.

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- ChiefGeorge
  Posted on February 17, 2013 at 6:17pm
  Yes and a Chinese one (sub) that launched a decrepid missile meant as a shot across our bow close up back in 2010 off Socal. That story got quickly squelched and discredited but many officials (at Stratfor) believe it was just that. Why? Because we were in the midst of Quanitative Easing 2. The Chinese warned against it, but we went forward anyways. We are devaluing their stock in this country on purpose and we will pay eventually.
  
  Report this comment
skyguy51
Posted on February 17, 2013 at 10:44am
The Ruskis are just doing a recce run, for when Supreme Leader Obama deeds Guam over to the Putin as reparations for the screw job the Russians got when we bought Alaska from them.

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frogg
Posted on February 17, 2013 at 10:38am
Obama couldn’t do a better job of destroying this country if he was a sleeper agent of the USSR! Actually he is and should be impeached for TREASON!

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Charfoxt
Posted on February 17, 2013 at 9:29am
Did the jets get any cool “Top Gun – upside down Maverick” photos?

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another pucker
Posted on February 17, 2013 at 9:25am
Let’s not forget about the Russian sub that was just off our gulf coast not that long ago!

XOXOXO

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VetMike
Posted on February 17, 2013 at 8:51am
I am praying we get through the next four years and the takers and fakers don’t manage to rig the elections. Our country is on the brink of falling and Putin and China know it. A little push here and there and soon it will topple. They won’t nuke us as they want our resources. They’ll land a few million soldiers and use conventional weapons and only leave alive enough people to work the farms and mines.

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media-bias-steals-elections
Posted on February 17, 2013 at 8:30am
The Russians are insanely jealous of the fact that the United States is printing money, while at the same time holding the largest amount of gold reserves? Use a text based browser such as lynx (unless you want to see beautiful Russian women marriage ads) or use a proxy and read Pravda?

Why, Russians are getting quite wealthy selling fuels to Europe, so WAZ UP WID DAT?

The only way to a long term relationship with the Russians that make sense is for both parties to stop sending aid or trade with Islamic nations, because to do so, you violate the civil rights of your citizens by supporting the religion of Islam? These nations made their bed, let them lay in it?

You will also never truly build “United Nations” unless periodically, nations can walk away and do their own thing? The only new world order we should believe in, is not rewarding a religion to be a political system when it threatens your own systems to do so? The very concept of the “freedom of association”, the “right to assembly” provided as inalienable rights in the US Constitution should tell you that a United Nations is nothing more than wishful thinking, a possibility, not a guarantee?

How would Russia like it if Americans setup dummy companies in Eastern Europe, with licenses to produce patriot missile batteries, that would bypass treaty “reporting requirements”? Well, that’s exactly what is happening right off the eastern coast of Cuba in Brazil?

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okidawna
Posted on February 17, 2013 at 8:01am
We live on Guam and it’s been a rough couple of weeks. We had a mass murder last weekend (random guy drives up on sidewalk hitting 6 tourists, then gets out of his car and stabs 8 more, killing 3), then this Russia thing. Guam is usually a laid-back, sleepy little island where we only have to worry about keeping a balance of people on both sides of the island (I believe this was an edict from Hank Johnson)…weird stuff going on…

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- ChiefGeorge
  Posted on February 17, 2013 at 1:22pm
  I stayed on Guam for business back in 2004 and found the island to be a very nice place and the people as well. I went to a family party with a local collegue and they were very friendly to me. I am sorry to hear of this horrible act of evil there, but its happening everywhere and no place is a refuge from it in these end times that we live in.
  
  War is coming! Where exactly it will start (go full blown) is anyones guess! Maybe directly against the US and of course its territories. I believe they think they can win this War. Sweep the US aside, claim our assets for pay back. This is just what we want them to think! We are doing the exact opposite of what Reagan believed, Peace through Strength or superior fire power. We are inviting attack so we can respond massively and put both Russia and China back a couple of generations. But we have to show the world first who the good guys are, we have to allow them a first strike, we’ve always done it that way. We must have the moral high ground, its what people expect and will rally behind. You’ll see it if you survive the first strikes.
  
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sbenard
Posted on February 17, 2013 at 7:41am
The idea of a “reset” is a fantasy that will ultimately get Americans killed! Just look at the Russian press, which is perpetually dominated by anti-American news. Russia is just waiting for the right moment when Obama has show enough of his “flexibility” (remember when he told Medvedev that?) to leave Americans with our guard down, and we will see the Russian Bear show both its muscle and it’s teeth! Obama is guiding us into an ambush!

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davetrav
Posted on February 17, 2013 at 7:32am
Remember the live tape where Obama said, ” Tell Putin that I will give him what he wants after the election “—I ask, What did he promise him?—-At our expense.

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American1969
Posted on February 17, 2013 at 3:31am
Hmm…
Obama gets re-elected and suddenly we’ve got “friends” and “partners” who are taking jabs at us and flexing their muscles at us because they sense we’re weak. How Obama can get good numbers for foreign policy is beyond me! This amateur can’t even distinguish between an enemy and an ally!
Wonder if this will revive the Cold War!

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Stab_friendly
Posted on February 17, 2013 at 1:46am
Oh no!!!! Now we only have enough nukes to blow up the world 10,000 times over not 10,500 times!!!!

Yikes!!! What are we gonna do!!!

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Charbet
Posted on February 17, 2013 at 1:11am
With all due respect to John Bolton, we know we are being disarmed, but what do we do about it?

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- Charbet
  Posted on February 17, 2013 at 12:52pm
  My post above was a question/sarcasm/disgust, just in case it wasn’t clear to some.
  
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BenFrank1791
Posted on February 17, 2013 at 12:38am
Putin owns Berry.

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lowerclassrepublican
Posted on February 16, 2013 at 11:35pm
Russia really has won. Because most of us wouldn’t have a problem with them sending a nuke cruse missile to Washington. Isn’t that really sad?

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CommonSense41
Posted on February 16, 2013 at 11:23pm
I cannot understand why Americans obsessed with Russians. Media and a lot of ordinary people thing of Russia as a major US enemy. Hollyweard produced a lot of movies where the Russian are the ultimate enemies of the US. Have you seen a movie by Hollyweard where the main character is a Muslim who wants to destroy US? It used to be that US stood against communist regime of former USSR not against the Russians. I want to remind you that even in the coolest time of Cold War the communist regime of the USSR did not kill a single US citizen but Muslim did killed 3,000.00 innocent US civilian. Russians are not suicidal but Muslims are. I want to remind you that Russia was our ally in WWI and WWII but Muslims were our enemies. So, who is real enemy of US? Hey, stop being stupid and help BHO and his Muslim brothers to destroy our country.

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- ChiefGeorge
  Posted on February 17, 2013 at 1:27pm
  Because we are in a race for the very assets of what the middle east holds. He who controls that oil, controls the future and if your one who believes crude is in short supply or atleast the easy access mideast provides, then you’d be one who would want to make sure that that oil falls into your hands and not someone like Russia who would then dominate the world. I would prefer a US led world over a Russia or Chinese led one. Thats what its about, not who killed who even how many. Thats why on the surface it does not seem to make any sense. Scratch a little deeper.
  
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LavaBear
Posted on February 16, 2013 at 10:23pm
We have a friend who lives and works in Guam, as of today he had not heard of any Russian planes being around there and said they have been conducting war games over there at Andrews Airforce Base with other countries pilots, Japan, Australia, US, etc, so maybe Russia was scoping it out or who knows what we can believe is going on today and with whom, maybe they are part of the war sorties.

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lamarlamar
Posted on February 16, 2013 at 10:00pm
This Chekist will eat obamma’s lunch. The Russians play chess, long term, obamma bluffs at checkers! He was selling/giving arms to Syrian rebels in opposition to Russian interest in the area and got caught! obammer and the smartest woman in the world got out flanked by professionals, they don’t have the shoes for what they’re doing!

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superduper
Posted on February 16, 2013 at 9:32pm
Ok, now I know what that recess button is all about. It was all about…we bend over to accomodate Vladamir.

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blondenblueeyed
Posted on February 16, 2013 at 9:13pm
So why didn’t the military shoot the Russian snoops out of the sky? That’s what they would have done to US military planes.

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wrturner
Posted on February 16, 2013 at 8:41pm
This is a curious move by Putin. He knows he has a wimp in the White House that will give him practically anything he wants, I would think he would be smarter than to poke at a narcissist like our President who would put aside ideology only for ego. Mocking a buddy on the world stage could damage a loving relationship needlessly, so Vlad’s actions here are a seem a little reckless, He may be making a costly error: Leftists, though advertised as the beakons of acceptance and enlightenment, have never been shy about killing when it suits their needs/agendas/desires/fantasies/vindictiveness/ etc…. Comrade Putin would do well to remember that.

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- crusaderx9
  Posted on February 16, 2013 at 9:29pm
  They do this to show others in the region (and the world) that they do not fear the US and can affront a decaying superpower…
  
  China has also stepped up their gamesmanship in recent years in several high vis incidents. It is not just Iran and the North Koreans who act out.
  
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ilikai
Posted on February 16, 2013 at 8:38pm
Obamantion is a little ***** who will run and cry at first threat and the Russians know it and will increase their petty antics till we get someone with brass balls in the White House.

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katzkiner
Posted on February 16, 2013 at 8:07pm
Putin is a ruthless KGB BS artist, he suckered Bush into believing he had a soul, you know he can con Obama, Putin is the one who skins prisoners alive in the basement of KGB headquarters. General Patton , and Eisenhower knew his type well. Bush and Obama are not on the same level as Putin. Putin is your classic conqueror. Be very scared.

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- lamarlamar
  Posted on February 16, 2013 at 10:03pm
  He’s a Chekist through and through!!!
  
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so3
Posted on February 16, 2013 at 8:06pm
Wasn’t provocative??? The fact they were there was provocative…. no one wants to rekindle the cold war like Putin…he is old school KGB, a thug, and anyone who lacks the perspicacity (such as our president) to understand that is a complete fool.

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Gargent_Furball
Posted on February 16, 2013 at 7:59pm
The picture above is of two glorified Idiots with power they cannot control. They are delusional and uneducated to survive in real life. They cannot fix anything. They cannot feed them selves or live off the land.

Completely incompetent in life , but yet they have the ability to kill anyone they dislike.

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