Here is an excerpt from today's State Department briefing. See if this bugs you as much as it does me...
QUESTION: We have a report that Russian strategic bombers have resumed a cold war practice of flying long-haul mission --
MR. MCCORMACK: What kind?
QUESTION: That Russian strategic bombers have resumed a cold war practice of flying to areas patrolled by NATO and by U.S. forces and there's an incident in which a Russian bomber flew over a U.S. military base in Guam and then apparently made some kind of exchange --
MR. MCCORMACK: This is the --
QUESTION: Pardon me?
MR. MCCORMACK: The bear bomber? Is that it?
QUESTION: I don't know if it's the bear bomber, but --
MR. MCCORMACK: I was just curious whether they're flying those things.
QUESTION: Yeah. What I'm wondering is, is this -- does this -- you know, does this trouble you guys at all? Are you even aware of it? I've flagged it to people this morning. Is it just sort of, you know, friendly --
MR. MCCORMACK: Well, as I said, you know, they're still flying those things? Look, if -- you know, I'll leave it to the military to ascribe any particular significance or non-significance to this event. Beyond that, I don't think I have anything really to say.
QUESTION: Sean, you seem to be awfully dismissive of the Russian aviation -- of Russian aviation capabilities. Why --
MR. MCCORMACK: No, no. He's just saying cold war bombers are continuing to fly --
QUESTION: A cold war practice.
MR. MCCORMACK: Oh, a cold war practice. Like I said, I'll leave it to my colleagues at the Department of Defense to see if they believe that this is a significant act.
It's not that McCormack didn't know about the report. I can imagine all kinds of things going on in the world that the spokeman for the United States Department of State might not get briefed on... It is the fact that through all of this, McCormack thinks the question is about what type of aircraft the Russians are using. Either the question wasn't that clear, or McCormack wasn't paying attention. Either way, that ain't good.
