TrueBlueAmerican

July 23 (Bloomberg) -- A U.S. Air Force general warned Russia not to cross a ``red line'' by stationing nuclear bombers in Cuba, heightening a dispute over U.S. missile-defense plans.

If Russia pursues the deployment, ``I think we should stand strong and indicate that that is something that crosses a threshold, crosses a red line, for the United States of America,'' General Norton Schwartz, nominated to be U.S. Air Force chief of staff, told a confirmation hearing yesterday in Washington, according to a government transcript.

Russia may send nuclear bombers to bases in Cuba in response to U.S. missile-defense sites in eastern Europe, Russian newspaper Izvestia reported on July 21, citing an unidentified ``highly placed source.'' Russia said on July 8 that it would react with military means to the U.S. system. Russian leaders have threatened to aim nuclear missiles at the planned bases in the Czech Republic and Poland, which they say would threaten Russia's security.

The deployment of Soviet missiles in Cuba brought the U.S. and the Soviet Union to the brink of nuclear conflict during the 1962 Cuban missile crisis. Under the deal that ended the crisis, the Soviet Union withdrew the missiles and pledged not to station offensive weapons on the island, about 145 kilometers (90 miles) south of Florida.

`Arms Buildup'

The U.S. yesterday also criticized plans by Russia to sell as much as $2 billion of weapons to Venezuela, whose leader Hugo Chavez aims to counter U.S. influence in Latin America.

``We've repeatedly communicated concerns to Russia about Chavez's arms buildup in the past and we're going to continue to do so,'' said Gonzalo Gallegos, a U.S. State Department spokesman, according to comments on the department's Web Site.

``We continue to question whether such acquisitions are in line with Venezuela's legitimate defense needs,'' he said. Gallegos added that the reports of a bomber deployment in Cuba had not been ``officially confirmed'' by the Russian government.

Chavez met Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin yesterday near Moscow. Russia has already sold billions of dollars of weapons to the oil-rich Latin American nation, its closest ally in the region, which has strong ties with communist Cuba.

Beijing Talks

Chavez wants to order as much as $2 billion worth of weapons, according to Russian media reports, including diesel- powered subs and up to 20 Tor-M1 air-defense systems. He is also seeking to buy Mi-28 combat helicopters and airplanes made by Ilyushin Co., state broadcaster Vesti-24 said.

``Our relations are becoming one of the key regional security factors,'' Medvedev told Chavez. ``We have one aim: to ensure that the world around us is more democratic, fairer and safer.''

Putin will meet U.S. President George W. Bush next month during the Olympic Games in Beijing. Bush, who steps down as president in January, made no progress toward resolving differences on the missile shield during his talks with Medvedev at the Group of Eight summit in Japan earlier this month.

Izvestia said both the supersonic Tu-160, a nuclear bomber known as ``White Swan,'' and the strategic bomber Tu-95, which the North Atlantic Treaty Organization calls the ``Bear,'' are capable of flying as far as Cuba. Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Alexander Drobyshevsky said he hadn't read the report and declined to comment.

The Czech Republic signed an agreement with the U.S. on July 8 to host a radar tracking station. Interceptor missiles may be based in Poland, which is still in negotiations with the U.S.

The U.S. says the system is needed to defend against the threat of missile attack from Iran. Russia insists the U.S. aims to blunt Russia's nuclear capability by building the bases near its borders.


----------
Not too happy about the prospect of nuclear bombers off the coast, although such a move would maintain the balance of detterence between the US and Russia and make nuclear war less likely. The best solution would be for the US to abandon the missile shield and for Russia to abandon plans to move military assets to Cuba.