There seems to be this misconception among republican lawmakers and voters that Vladimir Putin is a rational, civil man that the United States government should recognize as an ally. As such, they do not see Russia as an immediate threat; sadly, this could not be further from the truth. Vladimir Putin is a thug who is responsible for the death and political prosecution of hundreds – if not, thousands – of his own people. At the very least, the United States should be extremely cautious when dealing with Russia. Given the chance, Putin and his regime won’t hesitate to throw our country under the bus, or even launch some type of military assault.

Indeed, tensions between the United States and Russia are steadily on the rise. When President Trump attacked a Syrian airfield earlier this year after Bashar al-Assad used sarin gas to kill his own people, Vladimir Putin, along with the leader of Iran, issued a joint warning against the U.S. “What America waged in an aggression on Syria is a crossing of red lines,” they said in a statement. “From now on we will respond with force to any aggressor or any breach of red lines from whoever it is and America knows our ability to respond well.”

In addition to several other threats concerning the idea of nuclear war between the United States and Russia, Vladimir Putin most recently warned America against taking aggressive action against North Korea. “The North Korea nuclear problem is very serious,” Putin said in a recent meeting with South Korean President Moon Jae-In. “But here, one must not lose his cool, but rather act in a pragmatic and delicate manner.”

According to News.com, those who live on the Norwegian island of Vardo have witnessed an increase in Russian military action ever since they upgraded their radar system, Globus III. The newly discovered military action is taking place just 30 kilometers away from Russia’s Kola Peninsula, where Russia is seeking to strengthen its presence in the Arctic region via a fleet of nuclear submarines.

Bard Wormdal is a Norwegian author who published a book called The Satellite War, which talks about the strategic alliance between the United States and Norway. In a recent interview with News.com, Wormdal spoke about the rising tension between America and Russia: “There have been quite a lot of occasions that Russian nuclear attack submarines have been close to the coast of U.S. and they come from this area and they want to know how they are moving.”

Is Russia building up a massive military base in the Arctic? If so, are they building it just in case war breaks out between the United States and Russia, or are they building it with the specific intent to one day launch an offensive attack? Either way, the United States must be prepared to defend itself and strike back against its enemies if it becomes necessary.

With tensions rising between these two powerful countries, Americans should at least find solace in the fact that they have President Trump as the commander-in-chief instead of former democratic candidate Hillary Clinton. If Clinton had become the 45^th president of the United States, then America would continue going down the same path that Barack Obama set us on in the years prior – more submission, more apologies, and more appeasement. With President Trump, America is finally beginning to show her teeth again and rebuild the military so that one day, if Russia does engage our country in war, we will be able to properly defend ourselves.

The late Ronald Reagan believed heavily in the concept of peace through strength, and its quite obvious that so too does Donald Trump.

Sources include:

News.com

USAtoday.com

Independent.co.uk

NDTV.com