Russian missiles in Cuba? Or is Moscow deploying a hoax?

The Tribune's Alex Rodriguez casts a wary eye on mysterious reports of a renewed military presence in Cuba By Alex Rodriguez | Tribune correspondent MOSCOW — If true, the news would have been nerve-rattling indeed. Earlier this week, a Russian state-controlled newspaper, Izvestia, reported that Russia was thinking about deploying long-range bombers in Cuba. The paper followed up with a report Thursday claiming that Russia already had dispatched strategic bomber crews to the island to conduct reconnaissance work. Other Russian news media scurried to get analyses from retired Russian generals who weighed the pros and cons of such a deployment—possibly as part of Russia's angry reaction to U.S. plans to establish a missile defense system just west of Russia, in Poland and the Czech Republic. Even Fidel Castro had something to... [read full story]