Ex-CIA head: Russians don’t want war with US

Former CIA Director Michael Hayden says Russia does not want outright war with the U.S. because it would be at a disadvantage.

“No one really wants to go to war with the Russians, but let me double down on another concept,” he said Wednesday on CNN’s “OutFront.”

“The Russians really don’t want to go to war with us,” Hayden told host Erin Burnett. “They are by far the weaker power.”

{mosads}Hayden said the decision to send Russian bombers close to Alaska’s coastline earlier this week was “a little pathetic” but added it was a “great opportunity for training” air forces in Alaska.

The U.S. military dispatched aircraft to intercept Russian bombers twice during a 24-hour window on Monday and Tuesday.

The incidents marked the first time in over two years that Russian military aircraft have approached the U.S. mainland.

The Trump administration is increasingly at odds with Russian President Vladimir Putin’s government over Syria’s raging civil war.

President Trump ordered a missile strike against a Syrian airbase earlier this month in response to a fatal chemical attack launched by forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar Assad. 

Russia’s government, which has long supported Assad against Syria’s rebels, condemned Trump’s decision.