Presidents - Barack Obama - World - Russia

(Daily Mail) -- 'My assessment today,' said Dunford, the Marine Corps commandant, who is expected to swiftly win Senate confirmation to become the top U.S. military officer, 'is that Russia presents the greatest threat to our national security.'

'If you want to talk about a nation that could pose an existential threat to the United States, I'd have to point to Russia. And if you look at their behavior, it's nothing short of alarming,' he said.

(CNN) -- The same day that Russian President Vladimir Putin sent congratulations to the White House to mark July 4, the U.S. military was tracking Russian bombers off the coast of Alaska and California.

The U.S. military performed two intercepts of Russians aircraft, though they never entered U.S. airspace, according to a U.S. military official.

The official told CNN that while the U.S. intercepts were routine from a military point of view, the Pentagon views it as Putin "sending a message" to the U.S. on Independence Day, especially because of the congratulatory message to President Barack Obama.

F-15s tracked two other TU-95s that had been detected near the coast of San Francisco. The incident in California was a rarity, because Russian forces don't generally travel that far South. However, this was reminiscent of a similar flight Russia performed off the West coast on July 4 three years prior.