Russian Navy pounded near home while flexing muscle abroad - CNN

[TexasTowelie]

CNN’s Fred Pleitgen reports on the state of the Russian Navy after a string of successful Ukrainian attacks on its Black Sea fleet. Russia currently has ships docked in Cuba in a show of force by Vladimir Putin.

[Marcus IM]

1. Hahahahahaha. A show of force??? Laughable story line.

Sunburned Russians on R&R on Varadero beach is now a "show of force"??

DUCK AND COVER, AMERICA!!!11111!!!!

[thucythucy]

2. I suspect this is actually welcomed by US Naval Intelligence.

We get to monitor these ships close up. Gather more signal intelligence since it's inevitable that these ships will be in contact with Moscow.

One of the aids in breaking the Japanese codes during WWII was all the signaling their fleet made trying to track down the carriers that launched the Doolittle raid on Tokyo.

The more the Russians send, the more raw data we have to work with in gathering intel.

This is a just stunt to buck up Putin's sagging popularity at home.

[Marcus IM]

4. Russian naval ships port in Havana every year.

All the breathless headlines right now about this are interesting.

One would think that we might think about normalizing relations with Cuba rather than treating them like shit with extraterritorial sanctions that collectively punish and starve an entire nation, most of whom were born after the 1959 Revolution.

President Obama broke the ice. CONservative tRumplicans killed any rapprochement with our neighbor that seeks full peaceful normalization.

[thucythucy]

5. Our attempt to "isolate" Cuba

has been a decades long failure, absolutely. A disaster really, on so many levels.

I wonder if the needed changes will become easier once the older generation of Castro-era exiles dies out. It seems to me that the relationship we have or don't have with Cuba has more to do with placating that community in Miami and environs than any diplomatic principle or vital interest of the US.

But that's just my opinion, for what it's worth.

[Marcus IM]

6. Not just exiles.

There's a lot of money funding anti Cuba policy coming from US based tourism business sectors.

It's estimated that if the US govt lifted the American travel ban to Cuba, it would seriously impact the US and other transnational tourism businesses. Cuba would be a prime US tourist destination if the US government lifted the travel ban on Americans.

These interests use Cuban exiles as cover for their lobbying efforts.

It's more complicated than most are aware of.

Edit: I am Cuban-American.

[thucythucy]

7. I didn't know that, about the tourism industry involvement.

Thank you for the info!

Best wishes

[Marcus IM]

8. The last thing Disney and Universal wants is for America to lift the travel ban to Cuba.

If your choices were stinking hot oppressively humid gun-gallery of fukkking Orlando Floriduh, or the beautiful wide-open undeveloped beaches of Cuba - which would you choose??

[wolfie001]

3. Ironic that they've given up the Black Sea

[Martin68]

9. The Caribbean is a lot safer for the Russian Navy right now than the Black Sea.