Russian assault forces head to Colorado to train with U.S. soldiers says magazine

U.S. Marines with the Battalion Landing Team, 1st Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment, 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit wait to be extracted by helicopter during a rehearsal of the final exercise in Africa Lion 2012 in Cap Draa, Morocco, on April 16, 2012. African Lion is an annually scheduled joint/combined U.S.-Moroccan exercise sponsored by U.S. Africa Command and designed to promote interoperability and mutual understanding of each nation's military tactics, techniques and procedures.(DoD photo by Cpl. Tyler Main, U.S. Marine Corps) There’s a surprise a minute in our 24/7 news cycle, and a story in The New American will certainly raise a few eyebrows.

Russian assault forces will head to Colorado in May to train with U.S. soldiers. The magazine said the training exercises had been publicized in a variety of Russian media for weeks. Ironically the Kremlin provided more transparency than the U.S. government—The New American said,  “[V]irtually all of the details about the exercise that emerged publicly early on came from Kremlin sources.”  

The exercises will include a raid on a fictional terrorist camp:

“’According to the exercise scenario, soldiers of the two countries will hold a tactical airborne operation, including reconnaissance of an imaginary terrorists' camp and a raid,’ Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Col. Aleksandr Kucherenko was quoted as saying in official news reports, also noting that it was the first time such an exercise would be held. ‘The Russian Airborne Assault Force will contribute a special task group that will exercise with U.S. special service weapons.’”

The New American got confirmation from the U.S. Dept. of Defense:

“’The Russian soldiers are here as invited guests of the U.S. government; this is part of a formal bilateral exchange program between the U.S. and Russia that seeks to develop transparency and promote defense reform,’ Cmdr. Wendy L. Snyder, U.S. Defense Press Officer for policy, told The New American in an e-mail. ‘This is the first time that American and Russian special operations troops have participated in a bilateral exercise.’”

Most media in the U.S. don’t report such stories. For instance, Wikileaks’ release of cables  in 2010 implicated Russian ties to terrorist groups.

Few media reported the Russian spy ring busted by the FBI although the FBI placed massive files, including photographs, on the agency website. The 'Ghost Stories' spies almost succeeded in their objective of getting an agent close to a cabinet official in the Obama administration. Ultimately there proved to be an association between a donor to Sec. of State Hillary Clinton and one spy.

Obama raised eyebrows in March when he told the Russian president he’d have “more flexibility” on the missile defense issue after his reelection.

Conservatives have become accustomed to raised eyebrows during the administration’s term. My own are in the proximity of my hairline at present.

Pravda, a newspaper in Russia, has endorsed Obama’s reelection.

(Commentary by Kay B. Day/April 27, 2012)