(UnitedVoice.com) – The United States is facing unprecedented troubles because of the coronavirus, including lock-down orders, massive unemployment numbers, and an economy teetering on the brink of collapse. Countries that are hostile to American interests like Iran, Russia, and China are attempting to take advantage of our perceived weakness by increasingly acting in an aggressive manner.
Iran
The US Military, including the Navy, Army, and Coast Guard, is engaged in a training exercise in the international waters of the Persian Gulf. Ships of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy (IRGCN) have made aggressive and dangerous moves towards American vessels.
The repeated dangerous & provocative behavior by Iran’s navy against US ships on the Gulf is unacceptable. We have been too lenient in responding to these incidents – that must change. US must not be passive, but act to re-establish deterrence https://t.co/v6X8QfGZTV
— John Bolton (@AmbJohnBolton) April 16, 2020
IRGCN boats reportedly made high-speed maneuvers crossing both the bows and sterns of multiple American ships. In one case they came within 50 yards (150 feet) and in another, a mere 10 yards (30 feet). They also boarded and detained a Hong Kong-flagged tanker forcing it to sail from international to Iranian waters.
Russia
Russian aircraft performed two threatening actions, one of which was reckless and dangerous. In the first of the incidents, two Tupolev Tu-142 reconnaissance planes approached the Alaskan coastline. American F-22 Raptors and Canadian CF-18 Hornets scrambled to intercept and escort them away.
The second and more dangerous of the encounters happened in international airspace over the Mediterranean Sea. There, an American P-8A Poseidon aircraft was engaged by a Russian SU-35 Flanker-E fighter jet. The fighter performed an inverted flyby of the US aircraft at the insanely close range of 25 feet.
China
The Communist regime in the country, that by all appearances is ground zero of the COVID-19 pandemic that came from its bio lab in Wuhan, appears to be doing some saber-rattling of its own. They seem to be following the sentiment espoused by Congressional Progressive Liberals in the States: don’t let a crisis go to waste.
Beijing has long claimed almost all of the South China Sea is a part of their territorial waters, despite international treaties that say otherwise. In a recent incident, a Chinese Navy vessel intentionally rammed and sank a Vietnamese fishing boat.
Perhaps more disturbing, they may be breaking another international agreement — this one regarding nuclear weapons testing. The State Department said in a report that China might be testing low-yield atomic weapons in an underground facility. The report makes it clear there is no “proof,” but rather couching them as “concerns.”
Wall Street Journal article by @mgordonwsj that US State Department report raises “concerns” but does not conclude China has conducted low-yield nuke tests in violation of CTBT https://t.co/Gj5QwAV9mN
Honored to provide nuke arsenal data.
China and US should ratify #CTBT!
— Hans Kristensen (@nukestrat) April 15, 2020
While the United States and the entire planet are dealing with the devastating effects of the novel coronavirus, it’s clear that the countries opposed to freedom still need to be watched. With resources stretched thin and attention so focused on the virus, the world may get caught flat-footed if those nations decide now is a good time to initiate military action.
Fortunately, it’s unlikely that the leaders of the free world will get that distracted.
Copyright 2020, UnitedVoice.com
