Cold War 2?

You might have read an earlier post for Memorial Day where I mentioned that my dad was a B-47 bomber pilot with The Strategic Air Command during the Cold War. (He trained to bomb Moscow if we ever went to war with Russia. Talk about a stressful job!) Well, a news story I read on FoxNews' website on Friday was a little be concerning -- "Russian President Putin Orders Long-Range Bomber Patrol."

This AP story reports that Putin had ordered the military to resume regular long-range flights of strategic bombers, a practice that ended following the collapse of the Soviet Union. Putin believes that the half of these missions have affected Russia's security as other nations had continued such missions, an obvious reference to the U.S.

"I have made a decision to resume regular flights of Russian strategic aviation," Putin was quoted as saying by Russian agencies. "We proceed from the assumption that our partners will view the resumption of flights of Russia's strategic aviation with understanding," Putin added.

The AP story continues:

The war games, which took place near the Urals Mountain city of Chelyabinsk, came on the same day that Russia air force said its strategic bombers flew several missions ranging far over the Atlantic, Pacific and Arctic oceans.

Putin said that 20 Russian bombers were involved in the exercise.

"Starting today, such tours of duty would be regular," Putin said. "Our pilots have been grounded for too long, they are happy to start a new life."

Soviet bombers routinely flew such missions to areas from which nuclear-tipped cruise missiles could be launched at the United States, but stopped in the post-Soviet economic meltdown.

Booming oil prices over recent years have allowed Russia to sharply increase its military spending.

"Starting in 1992, the Russian Federation unilaterally suspended strategic aviation flights to remote areas," Putin said. "Regrettably, other nations haven't followed our example. That has created certain problems for Russia's security."

Given Russia's oil interests in the Middle East and a bit of antagonism between the U.S. and Russia over Iraqi and other Middle Eastern oil, this report makes me a little uneasy.