U.S. General Warns Russia on Nuclear Bombers in Cuba

A U.S. Air Force general warned Russia not to cross a ``red line'' by stationing nuclear bombers in Cuba, heightening a dispute over U.S. missile-defense plans. If Russia pursues the deployment, ``I think we should stand strong and indicate that that is something that crosses a threshold, crosses a red line, for the United States of America,'' General Norton Schwartz, nominated to be U.S. Air Force chief of staff, told a confirmation hearing yesterday in Washington, according to a government transcript. Russia may send nuclear bombers to bases in Cuba in response to U.S. missile-defense sites in eastern Europe, Russian newspaper Izvestia reported on July 21, citing an unidentified ``highly placed source.'' Russia said on July 8 that it would react with military means to the U.S. system. Russian leaders have threatened to aim nuclear missiles at the planned bases in the Czech Republic and Poland, which they say would threaten Russia's security. The deployment of Soviet missiles in Cuba brought the U.S. and the Soviet Union to the brink of nuclear conflict during the 1962 Cuban missile crisis. Under the deal that ended the crisis, the Soviet Union withdrew the missiles and pledged not to station offensive weapons on the island, about 145 kilometers (90 miles) south of Florida.