About the Author

Richard Cochrane is trained in chemistry and metallurgy but is far more interested and practiced as a political and fund raising consultant, writer and amateur historian. He grew up in a Navy family and with his two younger brothers carried on its 500+ year tradition of naval service to Great Britain and the USA then enjoyed a career with one of the largest advertising and public relations agencies working with numerous Fortune 500 companies and many of America's premier educational institutions. He maintains friendships and acquaintanceships around the world. He lives in Santa Barbara, California.

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Russian Bear Is Back Big Time

December 1st, 2008 • Richard Cochrane
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Russia is stealing North Pole energy assets, first with military presence.Russia Flexing Its Muscles to East, North and South Convinced Obama Is All Talk.

The Arctic Ocean is re-emerging as a strategic flash point between Russia and the U. S. area where vital U.S. interests are at stake. Russia claims much of it and intends to cow the new U. S. administration to exploit vast crude oil, methane hydrate, natural gas reserves and other mineral resources there.

Russia has claimed an area of 460,000 square miles there — the size of much of Western Europe. As repeatedly reported here before Russia is staging naval and air assets under on and above the Arctic to perfect its claims there while pursuing legal claims under international law but, it is not counting on such “lawyering” to accomplish anything worthwhile. .

Russian bombers pierced the U. S. 12-mile area a dozen and a half times last year. Earlier this fall one of Russia’s nuclear submarines cruised under the arctic ice to emerge near Alaska’s coast. At the same time its bombers cruised off its coast launched nuclear capable cruise missile into the Pacific. Russian military sources say it flew nearly 100 missions over the Arctic in the last year.

Last summer the Russian navy announced it had "resumed a warship presence in the arctic." the area of the Spitsbergen archipelago that belongs to Norway, a NATO member. Russia refuses to recognize Norway's right to a 200-nautical-mile exclusive economic zone around Spitsbergen. Russia deployed an anti-submarine warfare destroyer followed by a guided-missile cruiser armed with 16 long-range anti-ship cruise missiles designed to destroy aircraft carriers.

So far, Canada, Denmark and Norway have tucked tail awaiting the U. S. to take the lead to help project their arctic interest. Russia appears convinced the new U. S. administration does not have the chutzpah to do so. It appears to believe Americans will not support a confrontation over the North Pole, and by the time its importance becomes obvious enough to be important to what it sees as an entirely celebrity driven, political obsessed populace it will be too late.

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