Maybe I’m a little sensitive in some way that most people aren’t.
When the U.S. orders a local government of a foreign country to seize a Russian oligarich’s yacht or jet it doesn’t seem right to me.
When our country was founded, we created a navy to protect American ships in the Mediterranean that were being captured by pirates. Now we are the pirates.
In the case of the capture of jet planes the legal excuse is our existing military export laws. The plane was built a decade ago and re-sold several times.
I have no idea, nor do I care, about the legal basis for this crude behavior. It seems to violate every core idea of the international maritime laws and laws of air space.
It seems reckless. Russia has already denied entry to a list of U.S. government officials in retaliation. Russia and her allies could do much more harm.
I find it hard to imagine that any American who owns a ship, a yacht, an airplane or a piece of property that could be confiscated by a foreign country will go to sleep in comfort tonight.
Am I the only person who thinks that this sort of behavior on an international scale is contrary to core American ideals? The potential revenge consequences of this policy are incredibly stupid.