It’s obviously not such a simple matter that US and UK teams have been invited by Russian officials to aid in the rescue of their trapped submarine. Oleg Schedrov writes for Reuters Canada:
The coastal waters off Russia’s far east have highly sensitive installations and there were suggestions the military was not keen to have foreign navies getting so close to its secrets.
“This area is stuffed with secrets,” Interfax news agency quoted retired Admiral Eduard Baltin, former Black Sea Fleet commander, as saying. “It is home for strategic nuclear submarines … and a route of secret communication table.”
“They could as well invited the whole of NATO,” he added.
And deputy chief naval staff Pepelyaev told RIA news agency that Russia could try to do without foreign help.
“There is no such need at the moment,” he said, referring to the prospect of sending down U.S. divers in special suits that allow them to go to great depths.
At home, the AS-28 incident has become a reminder of the Kursk disaster five years ago and which led to fierce criticism of President Vladimir Putin.
This is a reminder of what we have always known – Russia remains a pivot point between first and third world – in some ways fantastically advanced, in others terrifyingly primitive. Here they manifest shame at calling dad in an emergency. And yet they have done it. This is like the tsunami revisited. When disaster struck, who was there? The whole world knows and it makes them crazy. The good dad just smiles and moves on.
Regardless of the politics anybody who has gone to sea in submarine can only offer their prayers and hopes that the crew will be rescued.
Yes to jerry, wish for the best.
As to Russia, sometimes I think that they will be lucky to recover to pre-revolutionary cultural levels anytime soon. Khruschev noted that he had better housing in 1914 than the workers in Russia had in the 1970′s. What a disaster the last century was for the country.
“What a disaster the last century was for the country.”
What a disaster the acceptance by some of Hegelian historicism has been for the entire world for the past two centuries. Those darned unkown “negative externalities” just keep messing up the perfect reality supposed by relativism. Surely, utopia can be achieved through synthesis, if we just try a little harder.
It’s looking like Russia is going to give it another whirl. I doubt that Putin will be as effective as Stalin in removing impediments to the realization of the perfect state. My prayers go out for the safety of the men trapped – and for the Russian people who are going to get to almost live through additional experimentation.
Of course, when the space shuttle doesn’t work (which is most of the time these days), we rely on Russian rockets to get astronauts to and from the space station, so there is some reciprocity here. I think that they will note that.
Politics is not and never should be of the slightest concern in rendering assistance to distressed mariners. Period. The sea is bigger than any doctrine. I hope we get there in time to help.
On a lighter note: HOOAH! to Joe Schmoe for covering for me at last week’s demonstration. It was much appreciated. Many thanks!
This just shows Russian paranoia is alive and well. They could do so much if they’d just shed the last of the communist past and their addiction to authoritarianism, but it’s like tearing an alcoholic from his bottle.
For all that Americans are villified, we never hesitate to step in and help. Despite what the Left-wing head cases and the rabid Islamists say against us, nothing is more welcome to a desperate man than the sight of a friendly American face. We should never forget that.
Roger;
I agree that the fate of the poor Russian submariners is the primary concern for everyone. Let’s all pray for there safety.
If Russia could ever learn to swallow there pride and accept our help instead of looking at it as a insult to their country they would be able to do many of these things without our help in the future. We rushed in with the Hoover led aid to feed the starving Soviets when they realized that there perfect economic system was a failure and installed NEP to get themselves on their feet. But as soon as things were somewhat stabilized they went back to their disatrous habits.
National pride and not being a begger nation is good up to the point that your countrymen are dying or you are digging a deeper hole then anyone could get out of. Putin is making allusions to the “glory days” of the Stalin era and creating the illusion that a strongman style government is the solution. It didn’t work for Stalin or his countrymen, it will not produce lasting good results for Putin and the current citizens of Russia.
Stalin would have let the submariners die rather then ask for help and he would not have lost a minute of sleep over it. The fact that Putin is reaching out may be a good sign.
Kevin P,
Stalin would have let the submariners die rather then ask for help and he would not have lost a minute of sleep over it.
When I read of the accident I couldn’t help wondering how many similar things had gone unreported in the past.
Chuck, you can start with the mysterious nuclear disaster in central Russia and go from there. The Soviets (as opposed the the Russians) lost several subs in the 60′s and 70′s and pretended they never happened. The only one they admitted to was the one we tried to salvage near where the minisub is.
The Russians should have the submarine privileges taken away at this point.
ìWhen I read of the accident I couldn’t help wondering how many similar things had gone unreported in the past.î
More than anybody sane would care to suspect. Let us just remember that Russian generals were fond of saying: ì We have people a-plentyî when devising their battle plans.
The secret is that the Ruskies don’t have anything to be proud of. God knows what kind of dirty stuff is at the bottom of the ocean there. Other sunken subs. The secret is that the Soviets were never ahead of us in anything, nor were they our equal and right now they’re not even on the same planet as we are.
That’s what they don’t want the world to know. The idea they have some secrets we’d want to steal is ludicrous.
Katherine:
There is a book titled “Red Tide Rising” about the Soviet/Russian submarine service. It is good read if you don’t know a lot about their undersea warfare capabilities.