The Toronto Star
February 27, 2009
Hours before US President Barack Obama visited Ottawa last week, Canadian fighter jets hastily scrambled to intercept a Russian bomber jet, which was discovered just outside of Canadian airspace. Canadian Defence Minister Peter Mackay believes that it is difficult to determine if Russia was up to no good or whether the incident was pure coincidence. He added that the entire world would have known that Canadian security efforts were completely centred around the nation's capital for the visit of Obama on February 19. This was obvious to everyone. All in all, Mackay believes this is a "strong coincidence" and is holding a news conference this morning, February 27, with the chief of the Canadian defence staff and the commander of Norad. He will be briefing them on the issue at hand, and likely ordering them to tighten up security. The CF-18 Canadian fighter jets took off from Cold Lake, Alta., immediately after Norad detected the Russian bomber coming into Canadian airspace. The Russian bomber abruptly turned back before entering Canada's airspace by fighter jets. These fighter jets used internationally recognized signals, which were understood by the Russians. Mackay further reported that Russian planes have been trespassing on Canadian land more and more frequently in the past several years. However, Mackay also stated that he spoke with authorities in Moscow and told them to give Canada advance warning in future when such "trips" are scheduled. In the past, specifically during the Cold War, Russian aircraft regularly probed North American airspace, and have frequently been escorted back into international airspace by Canadian and American fighters. These flights were suspended for years, mainly after the collapse of the Soviet Union, but have recently been resumed by Russia as the country reasserted its claim on the Arctic and boosted its military spending. Overall, this intercepted flight into Canadian airspace was believed to be a coincidence that should only reoccur if notificiation is received from the Russian authorities.
In my opinion, this incident is both unacceptable and a danger sign from a rapidly changing and increasingly militarized Russian state. Russia has certainly had its share of diplomatic incidents in the past year including the military stand-off in Georgia. Russia should certainly have had the foresight not to send such bomber "flights" into Canadian airspace at the same time as President Obama's first official state visit to Canada. Many see the newly elected President as a prime international target and fear assassination attempts. While Canadian security was increased for this event, the Russian bomber jets in Canadian airspace was a blatantly bold and undiplomatic move. While we view this instance as simply a coincidence and something that has happened purely by chance, it must be taken as a warning sign for what may be an increasingly difficult and controversial issue: international claim to the arctic. While we cannot be too territorial or protectionist in this area without international criticism, we must protect our own national security and integrity in the Arctic.
1 comment:
I agree with your argument in the fact that Russia is continually making suspicious moves. This is not unlike Germany in World War II. During World War II, Germany made several slight moves, finding loopholes in the Treaty of Versailles which eventually led to their expanding army, and eventually World War II. With Russia, running scott-free with a warning, despite many warnings of Canada's Defense, that they should be notified if any aircraft is in their airspace. Countries such as the U.S. and Canada should now take a defensive posture and watch closely.
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