Who remembers the good old days, where diplomats engaged in that thing called diplomacy. Remember – when it was talk first, shoot second? Those days seem to be long gone by the looks of it, evidenced by this latest spate of bravado from US Ambassador to Russia, Jon Huntsman, extolling the virtues of ‘gunboat diplomacy.’
Apparently, the US Ambassador was overcome with excitement as he boarded one of two U.S. Navy aircraft carriers which have arrived in the Mediterranean this week. Overcome with war enthusiasm, he proceeded to tell giddy reporters at CNN:
“When you have 200,000 tons of diplomacy that is cruising in the Mediterranean – this is what I call diplomacy, this is forward operating diplomacy – nothing else needs to be said.”
Admiral James Foggo with Jon Huntsman on bridge of the USS Abraham Lincoln (Image Source: CNN)
Not surprisingly, the Pentagon’s unofficial news and PR outreach network, CNN, boasted about how it was given “exclusive access to the carrier operations.”
RT International reports…
The US ambassador to Russia, Jon Huntsman, says there is little need for his craft as “200,000 tons of diplomacy” are prowling the waters of the Mediterranean, unabashedly endorsing military show-offs as a political tool.
“Each of the carriers operating in the Mediterranean at this time represent 100,000 tons of international diplomacy,” Huntsman said in a statement to the US Navy’s 6th Fleet.
Huntsman was speaking aboard the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln, part of the dual carrier strike group that also consists of the USS John C. Stennis, the Nimitz-class nuclear-powered supercarrier. The warships kicked off their joint training operations on Wednesday. It is the first time since summer 2016 that two carrier strike groups have operated in the Mediterranean at the same time.
Speaking to CNN, Huntsman sang the praises of the US’ maritime muscle, calling US saber-rattling virtually at Russia’s doorstep “forward operating diplomacy.”
While Moscow has long criticized the US military build-up near its borders as a hostile move further straining the rocky relationship between the two countries, Huntsman argued that such military maneuvers are somehow a necessary prerequisite for easing tensions with Moscow.
“You have all the confidence you need to sit down and try to find solutions to the problems that have divided us now for many, many years,” he said.
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