U.S. shifts Arctic foreign policy

[DogPoundPup]

Source: The Vancouver Sun

In the latest sign of the rising international political stakes in the Arctic, the top U.S. Coast Guard official has revealed a planned shift in American foreign policy from scientific research to "sovereignty" and "security presence" in Alaskan waters bordering Canadian and Russian territory.

And to underscore growing U.S. concerns over its aging polar icebreaking fleet and suspect capacity for Arctic surveillance, Homeland Security director Michael Chertoff slipped quietly into Alaska on Friday to assess the coast guard's northern operations.

A Homeland Security officia; told Canwest News Service that Chertoff's unannounced two-day visit does not include any public events.

Read more: http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/story.html?id=1d6374e1-0a0c-483e-915a-e7151f7774a9

[jwirr]

1. Wonderful, now our troops get to go ride on ice floes along with the

polar bears.

[Ian David]

6. I'm sure they'll all be equipped in desert camo gear. n/t

[Doctor_J]

12. What ice floes?

Another year or so they'll be able to sail there.

[The Croquist]

14. As of July there were 9 million sq km if ice in the Arctic

That is up from 8.1 million one year earlier. Don't hold your breath waiting for it to all melt.

[jwirr]

15. Unfortunately you are correct and the poor damn polar bears will

be extinct or well on their way to it.

[iamthebandfanman]

2. i cant believe all these assholes

from all these different countries...

how the fuck does it make any sense at all to drill for oil... in a place that you couldnt drill before because there used to be ice... BECAUSE YOU WONT STOP DRILLING FOR AND USING OIL....

yeah, thatll help ole mother earth.

[daleo]

4. It's like a junkie discovering a vein he didn't know about

So he can keep shooting up for a little while longer.

[Arctic Dave]

3. Aha. The Coasties have been doing fly bys off the coast of

Prudhoe Bay the last couple of weeks with their C-130. Now I know who was in the Dolphin helicopter the other day.

[dipsydoodle]

5. This map might provide some idea

Go here : http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/7543837.stm and then hit : Maritime jurisdiction and boundaries in the Arctic region <1.01MB> for PDF.

[Plucketeer]

7. We could have new icebreakers, but...

..we've got uninhabitable prisons in Iraq instead. Sounds like a heck of a good trade-off to me! :crazy:

[lib2DaBone]

8. The Republican Wet Dream.....

un-ending war and strife over the whole planet.. perfect.

[lovuian]

9. Well considering Russia is flying Tu 95's across our borders

it might be time to be concerned

[Arctic Dave]

10. I think you are overstating what they are doing.

As soon as they are airborn we are tracking them. If they get too close, we "chase" them off with our jets from Eilson AFB. This is about as routine as sunrise.

[harpboy_ak]

11. Ahh, now the unmarked plane at the Juneau airport makes sense

My French taxi passengers were wondering who owned the unmarked blue & gray 727-800 parked in front of the National Guard hangar at the Juneau airport Friday night. I joked "securite tres secret" in French, thinking it was probably a Bureau of Prisons plane picking up Federal prisoners.

Now I'll bet that it was Chertoff's plane --- the 17th District Coast Guard HQ is here, with a highly secure search & rescue control center in the Juneau Federal Building, just 3 blocks from my house.

We've had a bunch of Coast Guard HC-130s flying in and out lately, too.

[Doctor_J]

13. Maybe KBR can build some ice fishing shanties for $10,000,000 each

Another untapped vein of gold