February 27, 2009

Canada PM concerned by "aggressive" Russia

Per Reuters, "Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, speaking after it emerged that a Russian bomber had flown toward Canada before U.S. President Barack Obama visited last week, said on Friday he was deeply worried about Moscow's 'increasingly aggressive' actions."

A Russian bomber neared Canadian airspace less than 24 hours before Obama's visit, but it did turn back when it was asked to, according to the article.

Russian News and Information Agency Novosti published a story today noting that a government source in Russia was astonished by the accusation, adding that it was nothing more than a "routine flight."

Twitter users in Canada were buzzing about the story.

@carlospdiaz (Toronto, Ontario): The Russians are coming?: Canadian jets scrambled to intercept Russian bomber before Obama visit http://bit.ly/DzTsc


@LifeofJames (Alberta): So Russia sent a bomber into our airspace on Obama's visit. We intercepted it with F18's and sent it home. Shades of the Cold War much?


@shawndearn (Ottawa, Ontario): Jets scrambled to intercept Russian bomber in arctic. Memo to Russia: COLD WAR IS OVER. http://bit.ly/2R8Mu


The Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado tweeted confirmation of an incident of some kind just a few hours ago.

@noradnorthcom (Colorado Springs, Col.): Canada's MND, during Gen Renuart's Ottawa visit, confirmed intercept of 2 Russia bombers by NORAD CF-18 fighters before Obama Feb. 19 visit


American twitterers also took note of the story.

@mwmeadows (Dallas, Texas): What if Russia launched an attack on Canada?



@Topher_Campbell (Boston, Mass.): Russian bomber neared Canada before Obama visit - http://tinyurl.com/cf3fql. Interesting to see Russia test US and Canada.


@rob_k_84 (Minnesota): Whoa, Russia tried to bomb Canada?




No tweets about this developing story could be found in Russia as of this post, in English or Russian, except for a tweet from the media outlet mentioned earlier (@RIA_Novosti) which linked to the story on its Web site.

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