# What should the US do about Soviet...er Russian...military aggression? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [April 19, 2016, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-the-us-do-about-soviet-er-russian-military-aggression/752653 "2016-04-19T16:01:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2016, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-the-us-do-about-soviet-er-russian-military-aggression/752653/41 "2016-04-20T18:20:15Z")
> [@YogSothoth](#): > > Because you’re obviously not equipped to maturely discuss the topic and want simplified answers This is niot The BBQ Pit. Knock it off. [/Moderating] ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2016, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-the-us-do-about-soviet-er-russian-military-aggression/752653/42 "2016-04-20T18:36:00Z")
> [@doorhinge](#): > > You may not need to ask how Obama would have reacted but Obama is the current President and a Great Debate about what the U.S. should do would mean how should Obama, the U.S. Congress, and the U.S. military respond. > > Obama still has lame duck’s chance to influence U.S. foreign policy. Do you have any views on what the U.S. should do, or are you simply saying that whatever Obama does, it is wrong? ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2016, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-the-us-do-about-soviet-er-russian-military-aggression/752653/43 "2016-04-20T19:54:08Z")
> [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](#): > > “Yep…those are balls.” > > I’m pointing out that what Putin wants and desperately needs domestically is for Russia to be taken seriously on the world stage so he can play on the cultural insecurity of the Russian people as their nation not being equal to the other major powers. His posturing–and it is just posturing–has everything to do with looking tough… > and feign anger and incite public outrage. Treating him seriously in any way is a win-win for him, and a losing proposition for us. Thank you for the explanation — very intelligent as usual and probably correct. Doubtless several Dopers deduced this meaning from your witty formulation — but I’m somewhat autistic and often need things spelled out. Still, I’m not sure we should be so sanguine about the geopolitical future. Certainly the threat of megadeath aggression from Vladimir Vladimirovich is much more worrisome than that from Kim Jong-un, no? (ETA: Worrisome to _us_. Koreans would obviously reverse these threat rankings.) ---
**Author:** ![thirdname](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d07c76/32.png) [@thirdname](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thirdname)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2016, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-the-us-do-about-soviet-er-russian-military-aggression/752653/44 "2016-04-20T20:27:34Z")
What are the legal implications if the US Navy announces that they will hold an on-deck badminton tournament on any ship that spots a Russian fighter in the vicinity? ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2016, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-the-us-do-about-soviet-er-russian-military-aggression/752653/45 "2016-04-20T20:39:13Z")
A lot of damp shuttlecocks, probably. ---
**Author:** ![handsomeharry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9c0ed/32.png) [@handsomeharry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handsomeharry)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2016, 9:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-the-us-do-about-soviet-er-russian-military-aggression/752653/46 "2016-04-21T09:36:44Z")
> [@doorhinge](#): > > Isn’t Obama still POTUS? > > Has Trump been elected President? > > What has been the response of the current President (aka Obama) to this Soviet…er Russian…military aggression? The flyby shit isn’t military agression-it’s a couple of dick Russian pilots buzzing the US ships. Same as our dick pilots do to their ships. Military agression is something that the US did by sending paratroopers into a state (Ukraine/The Ukraine) that was/is a belligerent in current conflict with Russia…that sort of thing. ---
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2016, 12:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-the-us-do-about-soviet-er-russian-military-aggression/752653/47 "2016-04-21T12:02:34Z")
> [@XT](#): > > Exactly what I got, actually. I expected a bunch of folks to shrug and think ‘well, 30 feet doesn’t sound bad…that’s about the distance I keep when I’m on the freeway…what’s the problem???’ (it’s actually more like over 100 feet when you are going 30 MPH). > > I agree. You might have mistook me saying that they are TALKING about a ROE change to imply that this was my suggestion. If you go back and re-read the OP, I think you’ll see I’m ASKING what folks THINK we should do. And, as noted, getting the responses I figured I would, which is nothing constructive and a lot of confused folks who don’t seem to understand the risks involved. > > That said, I’m going to go out on a limb and say that if this sort of thing continues, eventually someone WILL shoot down one of these planes. Just like what happened in Turkey. We can all sit here and wonder what the fuss is about, but I can tell you that someone flying that close to a US Navy warship is a real, serious threat and at some point someone is going to panic or be pissed off enough to do something…ESPECIALLY if they are serious about changing whatever the ROE is today to something more aggressive. > > Where is this cowardice strawman coming from? And all this sizing of dicks? > > At any rate, you’ve answered. You think we should do nothing and just wait until one of these Russian jets smacks into a US (or allied since they are actually fucking with others more than us) jet and someone loses an eye…won’t be all good fun then. Or, worse, flies one of these dubiously maintained and piloted jets into a warship full of sailors because a sparrow farted in Japan…then we should…do…something… > > I’m actually on the fence on this. There doesn’t seem to be much we CAN do (though that warship was an Aegis class, IIRC, so there are all sorts of RF things they COULD do that wouldn’t involve firing a single missile…especially at 30 freaking feet) except wait for the inevitable fuckup and death. There’s nothing that can be done that wouldn’t lead to extreme escalation. It’s not like the Russians were buzzing US warships off the coast of Florida; they were approaching what is, for all practical purposes, Russian territory. Shooting down a Russian plane so close to Russia would not be wise. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2016, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-the-us-do-about-soviet-er-russian-military-aggression/752653/48 "2016-04-21T12:24:18Z")
Putin’s approach is to be provocative and then to claim to be the aggrieved party once the target reacts to the provocation. Best response is to refuse to rise to the bait - lodge formal objections but don’t interfere with the planes. Yes, this leaves us open to a potential accident. The alternatives are worse, and could in the long term involve more death and destruction. ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2016, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-the-us-do-about-soviet-er-russian-military-aggression/752653/49 "2016-04-21T14:39:43Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > Putin’s approach is to be provocative and then to claim to be the aggrieved party once the target reacts to the provocation. Best response is to refuse to rise to the bait - lodge formal objections but don’t interfere with the planes. Or we could send Michael Madsen over to deal with him. “Putin, you keep talking like a bitch, I’m gonna slap you like a bitch.” Stranger ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2016, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-the-us-do-about-soviet-er-russian-military-aggression/752653/50 "2016-04-21T15:17:17Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > Putin’s approach is to be provocative and then to claim to be the aggrieved party once the target reacts to the provocation. This. Puts it into words perfectly. ---
**Author:** ![Declan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecae2f/32.png) [@Declan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Declan)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2016, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-the-us-do-about-soviet-er-russian-military-aggression/752653/51 "2016-04-25T02:01:35Z")
> [@XT](#): > > Should the US do anything about this, or just ignore it and hope that the Russia pilots don’t fuck up or have bad luck and cause a major incident? Monitor it, but don’t otherwise do anything. I don’t doubt that the Russians are pro’s and the planes were unarmed, so unless you want to pop chaff on approach, and see how the Russian jets handle fouled engines. Me, I’m all for flying an unarmed B-52 over moscow and having it drop leaflets saying have a nice day. Declan [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-the-us-do-about-soviet-er-russian-military-aggression/752653.md?page=2)