STATEMENT FROM RUSSIA – WE'RE BACK AND WE'RE STRONG – AT 11:15 A.M. ET:  The show of force is a classic device to demonstrate a country's power and resolve.  No one does it better than Vladmir Putin.   From Britain's Sun:

A FLEET of Russian nuclear ships have been spotted steaming out of base – and it is heading for Britain.

Vladimir Putin‘s policy of gunboat diplomacy continued as a giant aircraft carrier and nuclear submarine were among eight vessels snapped sailing south past Norway yesterday.

The fearsome fleet is headed for Russia's Mediterranean base in Tartus, Syria.

But first, the ships are set to pass through the English Channel in the latest act of sabre-rattling from Moscow.

Royal Navy warships are being readied to intercept the fleet which could pass within miles of the British coast.

Russia's flagship aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov was amongst the ships to depart from the Arctic port of Severomorsk on Saturday.

The 55,000-tonne colossus is travelling with the Pyotr Veliky battlecruiser, the Vice-Admiral Kulakov destroyer and large anti-submarine ships.

The convoy was caught on camera by Norwegian spy planes on Monday.

COMMENT:  We can't seem to accept that we are in a new Cold War.  Russian forces are being built up, Russia is again producing front-line fighter aircraft, and Moscow has moved back into the Mideast, challenging American supremacy in the region.  The Obama administration has answered with a shrug.

We are short of military power, reversing the might of the Reagan years.  Other countries notice, and may well be tempted.  That's how wars begin.

October 18, 2016