Where is the Black Sea?
Russian and American aircraft clash over Black Sea
Russian fighter jets allegedly, I say allegedly because the word of the U.S. military is not proof in and of itself, attacked an American drone over the Black Sea, causing damage and forcing them to make an emergency landing. CNN reports:
A Russian fighter jet forced down a US Air Force drone over the Black Sea on Tuesday after damaging the propeller of the American MQ-9 Reaper drone, according to the US military.
The Reaper drone and two SU-27 Flanker jets were operating over international waters over the Black Sea when one of the Russian jets intentionally flew in front of and dumped fuel in front of the unmanned drone, according to the official. One of the jets then damaged the propeller of the Reaper, which is mounted on the rear of the drone, the official said. The damage to the propeller forced the US to bring down the Reaper in international waters in the Black Sea.
In the song America The Beautiful, the lyrics talk about how the United States stretches “From sea to shining sea,” referencing its borders from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean, and now the United States stretches even beyond those two coasts with states like Hawaii and Alaska and various territories scattered around. However, the United States does not stretch all the way to the Black Sea.
Russia’s border, on the other hand, does.
Imagine for a moment that the Russian government was regularly flying drones in, say, the Gulf of Mexico along the borders of states like Texas, Louisiana, and Alabama, what would the response from the U.S. government be? The United States would shoot them down with gusto, just as they did anything and everything in the sky after the Chinese spy-balloon traversed the continental United States.
Furthermore, given that the United States government is actively assisting the Ukrainian government in its war effort against the Russian government it should come as no surprise that the Russians would not take kindly to American aircraft near their borders. As CNN states, “The US has been operating Reaper drones over the Black Sea since before the beginning of the war, using the spy drones to monitor the area.” Why would the Russian government let an openly hostile foreign government spy on them? It makes no sense.
In World War I, the United States government demanded that Germany respect the right of Americans to travel through a declared war zone, Germany was using submarine warfare off the coast of Great Britain, while they were actively aiding the Allies against the Germans. This led to the sinking of the Lusitania and America’s official entrance into the war which, in reality, they were already a part of. It appears as if they’re trying the same trick with Russia and Ukraine a little over a century later. The U.S. wants to give the Ukrainian government money, intelligence, and weapons to help them attack Russia, and then when Russia inevitably responds wants to be able to claim that this was unprovoked aggression on the part of the Russians. If you’re going to be involved in an active conflict on behalf of one of the belligerents you don’t get to claim the moral high ground when you’re attacked by the other side.