text: This nonsense of "playing chicken" is what's unsafe to begin with, and the recent teat-for-tat* activity has the potential to threaten world peace.
  
  The particular incident shown here occurred on 6/19.  Only two days later in an obvious retaliation, we "buzzed" a transport plane carrying Russian defense minister Sergei K. Shoigu (again, over the Baltic Sea).  Our fighter was itself intercepted and chased off by a Russian fighter and there were no US complaints that its actions were anything but professional.
  
  We're claiming, disingenuously, that we had no knowledge Shoigu was aboard.  Don't make me laugh.
  
  The Baltic is not a NATO lake and a transport plane can easily be differentiated from a bomber.  These gratuitous interceptions and harassments on both sides must stop.  They can only exacerbate international tensions that are already high, and they could easily serve as triggers for far more dangerous escalations.
  
  *Your software forced me to use this alternate spelling ;-)