Russia expels two U.S. military attaches from Moscow

Russia expels two U.S. military attaches from Moscow

www.reuters.com

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Russia has ordered the expulsion of two U.S. military attaches from the U.S. Embassy in Moscow, said the State Department on Thursday.

"They have been asked to leave. We object to the action but will comply with the Russian government's request," said a State Department official, who said he could not be identified according to department rules.

The official declined to say why the military attaches had been asked to leave the country and he did not know whether the two had already left Moscow.

"They have not been declared persona non grata but they have been asked to leave," said the official. "For the time being we are not going into details on this," he added.

(visit the link for the full news article)

so, what has brought all of this on? russia seems not to happy with usa at the moment, may be an understatement.

www.reuters.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

Another indication we're back to the good ol' bad ol' days of the cold war. This used to happen on a regular basis. usually for too-obvious spying, or tit-for-tat expulsions between countries.

Interesting it is military spies (the impolite word for attache). Be good to know what service and posts they held.

In the "tit for tat" world of international diplomacy (?), the expulsion of the two US military attaches from Russia seem to be linked to an earlier expulsion of two Russians.

Two Russians were ordered to leave the United States, specifically Washington DC, at the end of April. Again, no specifics were provided concerning these two apparently related actions.

Russia has ordered expulsion of two American military attachés from the US Embassy in Moscow, a US State Department official says.

"They have been asked to leave. We object to the action but will comply with the request" said spokesman Gonzalo Gallegos.

The expulsion, the reason for which remains to be seen, has followed US's ejecting two Russian diplomats from Washington; one last November and the second on April 22. Source

[edit on 5/8/2008 by benevolent tyrant]