Off the Cuff / My Other Journal

War over the Arctic?

According to an AP news article by Mike Eckel: “Russia: Tests Show Arctic Ridge Is Ours,” Russia has sent scientists to the arctic, to claim that the mountain range--which will be made to appear by the melting ice--belongs to it. Since the soil samples the Russian scientists gathered show that the Arctic’s land mass is part of Russia’s continental shelf.

"'Results of an analysis of the Earth's crust show that the structure of the underwater Lomonosov mountain chain is similar to the world's other continental shelves, and the ridge is therefore part of Russia's land mass,' the ministry said.”

Last month, after Russia set its flag undersea, --according to what Mike Eckel writes, “Canada vowed to increase its icebreaker fleet and build two new military facilities in the Arctic, while Denmark sent a team of scientists to seek evidence that the ridge was attached to its territory of Greenland.
A U.S. Coast Guard icebreaker also set off late last month for a research expedition, though the expedition's chief scientist said the trip had been planned well before the Russian move.”

To me, this whole thing sounds so ridiculous. Every piece of land on earth is connected or was a piece of a big mass that broke off.

Does this mean those weighty countries with muscle could claim the entire earth?

I wonder why Russia can never give up its dream of world domination. Surely, the Russian people who are so respectable, hard-working, and strong could have nothing to do with this preposterous idea.

Come to think of it, maybe it has something to do with the impressions his KGB days left on Putin.