The Pentagon said Monday evening that it’s prepared to offer military support to Russia to protect the Sochi Olympic Games.
“The United States has offered its full support to the Russian government as it conducts security preparations for the Winter Olympic,” Pentagon press secretary Rear Adm. John F. Kirby said. “To that end, U.S. commanders in the region are conducting prudent planning and preparations should that support be required.”
“Air and naval assets, to include two Navy ships in the Black Sea, will be available if requested for all manner of contingencies in support of — and in consultation with — the Russian government,” Kirby added. “There is no such requirement at this time.”
Wanted posters have been posted at hotels around Sochi looking for Ruzanna “Salima” Ibragimova, the widow of a terrorist from the Caucasus, fearing that she may have already arrived in the region and is planning “a terrorist act within the 2014 Olympic region.”
The Volgograd bombers also left behind a video that was posted on a jihadist web forum Sunday, promising, “We’ve prepared a present for you and all tourists who’ll come over. If you will hold the Olympics, you’ll get a present from us for the Muslim blood that’s been spilled.”
“The world is what it is; we remember well the tragic events during the Olympic Games in Munich, when the Israeli sports delegation was killed almost in its entirety. And of course, since that time all countries in the world without exception take special, extraordinary security measures,” Russian President Vladimir Putin said in an interview Friday in Sochi.
“We do everything with understanding, with a clear understanding of the operational situation developing around Sochi and in the region as a whole; we have a perfect understanding of what it is, what is that threat, how to stop it, how to combat it. I hope that our law enforcement agencies will deal with it with honor and dignity, just as it was during other major sports and political events.”
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