BREAKING NEWS: Finland and Russia Declare War
USANN Correspondent Gary Schneider
September 29th, 2004
Washington
In a move that could ultimately throw all of
Europe into open conflict, Finland and Russia
declared war in separate and simultaneous
television broadcasts at 9:15p.m. EST.
Hostilities Boil Over
Over the past 2 months, both Finland and Russia
have exchanged blistering verbal attacks on one
another over contested fishing rights in the Baltic
Sea.
On Friday, two Finnish frigates fired warning
shots on a Russian fishing boat operating within
Finnish waters. After repeated warnings, the
fishing boat was fired upon and ultimately sunk,
killing 12 Russian fishermen.
The sinking prompted a Russian retaliatory strike
on a Finnish frigate on Saturday which was
damaged, killing 3 sailors.
White House Response
The White House issued an immediate statement
calling for “calm and level heads in this time of
crisis. We are friends of both countries and do not
wish to see this situation escalate.”
Secretary of State Powell has reportedly left
Washington for a hastily arranged flight to
Brussels to meet with delegates from both Finland
and Russia in hopes of defusing the situation.
Europe Reacts
The declaration has caused immediate and deep
concern throughout western Europe as memories
of the Cold War linger.
“This is insanity,” said one German government
official. “They’ve both lost their minds and it
could come at the expense of Europe as a whole.”
The Euro dropped considerably against the US
dollar in response to the news and financial
insiders indicate that the drop will most likely
continue unless the situation stabilizes.
A NATO Complication
Finland’s enrollment into NATO has complicated the
issue greatly and weighs heavily on minds in
Washington.
“If Russia makes a move on Finland,” said a White
House official, “we have no choice but to defend a
NATO ally. Although we don’t agree with what
Finland is doing, to avoid our obligation is to break
the entire foundation of NATO as a whole. And that
would be disastrous.”
In addition, the United States maintains a permanent
base on Finnish soil. The Vaasa Air Force Base,
located on the western edge of Finland, contains only
“limited maintenance personnel” for now, but could
become a flashpoint if the situation worsens.
“We’re in a real mess here,” said one State
Department official. “If we move troops to Vaasa, we
send a threatening signal to Russia and put our troops
in a potentially dangerous situation. If we don’t put
troops in, we’re giving the impression that we don’t
stand by Finland and a NATO ally.”
China, Russia and US Resources
Since the Chinese sub attack off the coast of Florida,
US naval forces have been moving in the Pacific to
place a further stranglehold on the Chinese Navy.
“We’ve got 5 fleets operating in the Pacific,” said one
Navy official. “And we’ve only got 2 fleets in the
Atlantic. Plus we’ve had to pull everything out of the
Med and Persian Gulf over this issue with China, so a
potential conflict with Russia is certainly not
something we want on our radar right now.”
Although an additional US fleet is currently ‘in
production’, it could be ‘months’ before the fleet is
fully operational which is intended to operate in the
Persian Gulf region.
Stay tuned to USANN for more on this developing
story.
