Ahead of a looming winter battle in Ukraine, President Volodymyr Zelensky on Tuesday defiantly claimed that his troops would not only push Russian forces back along the current fronts, but would also “definitely liberate Crimea” as well. Elsewhere on the same day, the firebrand leader of Chechnya, now Col. Gen. Ramzan Kadyrov, vowed Russian troops would conquer all of Ukraine, and that his troops would not take prisoners in battle, but “we will burn them” all.
(The author of the piece, Daniel L. Davis, a 19FortyFive Contributing Editor, sounds off on Fox News, speaking live to Tucker Carlson)
This battle, however, has major ramifications for American national security, as the risk of nuclear weapons’ use grows in tandem with the escalation of the conventional conflict.
Most Western attention has been riveted to spectacular Ukrainian gains made since late August in the Kharkiv region in the north and the Kherson region in the south. But those rapid advances have now been reduced to relatively static lines on the Kharkiv front in the north, the Donbas front in the east, and the Kherson front in the south. Russia sent emergency reinforcement troops to stabilize the lines in each location while Ukrainian troops engage in an operational pause while it seeks to rebuild its striking power.
But the Russian and Ukrainian moves are largely centered on either holding or expanding the current fight. It’s the fight that is likely coming next, however, that is of most importance, both to the direct combatants and the United States, especially as it relates to the potential of nuclear escalation.
Far too many pundits in the United States and the West dismiss the risk of nuclear use in the Russia-Ukraine war, with some experts calling the risk “very, very low.” Following Putin’s veiled threat to use nuclear weapons last month, CNN asked President Biden whether he believed Putin would use nuclear weapons in Ukraine. “Well,” Biden replied, “I don’t think he will.” Yet given the likely major expansion of the conventional conflict this winter – and the West’s response to the escalation – the risks of nuclear weapons’ usage are very real.
After Putin ordered the mobilization of at least 300,000 additional troops, Russia has been aggressively preparing for a major new incursion into Ukraine, likely to be launched in the November/December timeframe. Putin has been building up forces and war supplies in the six Russian regions bordering Ukraine, and as I discussed in a recent analysis in these pages, there is a risk that Putin’s offensive will seek to drive to the western Ukraine border to cut off all supplies coming from the West – without which Kyiv could not long sustain its war against Moscow.
Meanwhile, in an effort to show the West is not cowed by any nuclear threats coming from the Kremlin, NATO last week launched a nuclear deterrence exercise. The drills, NATO claimed, were not “linked to any current world events,” but designed to “ensure that the Alliance’s nuclear deterrent remains safe, secure and effective.” Russia, on Wednesday, engaged in a nuclear launch exercise of their own.
The purpose of Moscow’s drills, Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said, was to simulate a “massive nuclear strike” by Russia in response to a nuclear attack on its soil by an unnamed enemy. The Russian drills included the launch of multiple nuclear-capable ballistic missiles and cruise missiles. These exercises come amidst dueling claims made by Russia and Ukraine that the other is covertly preparing a false-flag use of a nuclear “dirty bomb” in Ukraine, in an attempt to blame it on the other side.
By any measure, the risk of a nuclear confrontation – whether by fatal miscalculation, mistake, or accident – is higher than at any point since October 1962 during the Cuban Missile Crisis. There is nothing related to the conventional war between Moscow and Kyiv that threatens American national security. It should be clear beyond question, then, that we should not engage in provocative nuclear threats and exercises or trying to sound tougher than the other side.
Since 1945, the world has not had to navigate a situation in which a nuclear-armed foe was engaged in a full-scale war in which it could conceivably lose. The West is aggressively trying to help Zelensky militarily defeat Russia and drive them from Ukrainian territory. Putin is now planning a major winter offensive to try and defeat Zelensky’s army.
Russian T-80 tank. Image Credit: Creative Commons.
Javelin anti-tank missile being fired along with a mortar. Image credit: UK government.
With so much loose talk about nuclear weapons by all sides, the potential that some irrational actor might actually detonate a “dirty bomb”, and the risk that the West might one day succeed in helping Ukraine defeat Putin – putting him in the volatile position of having to choose between passively accepting his conventional defeat or succumbing to the siren song of belief that ordering a tactical nuclear strike might give him victory – we continue casually marching towards nuclear catastrophe.
The cost to our country and to mankind of a nuclear war would be horrific. It’s possible we would not survive it. Let this reality sink in for a moment: at the moment we are thoughtlessly risking our very existence as a nation over a war in far eastern Europe that presently poses no threat to our well-being or national security. There is far more at stake here than merely the interests of the President of Ukraine. Washington should immediately reorient its priorities to feature the security of our people. Today.
Now a 1945 Contributing Editor, Daniel L. Davis is a Senior Fellow for Defense Priorities and a former Lt. Col. in the U.S. Army who deployed into combat zones four times. He is the author of “The Eleventh Hour in 2020 America.” Follow him @DanielLDavis.
Arash P
October 26, 2022 at 4:51 pm
No one talks about nordstream pipeline anymore! I wonder why?!
Of course Ukraine will use a dirty bomb. Why not?
When everything done by everyone is automatically blamed on Russia why not go for it?
The evil west, meaning the US (the rest are vassal states) need to dump Ukraine before this gets out of hand.
Michael Droy
October 26, 2022 at 5:36 pm
and of course this is only a question that Ukraine might do it.
That the Lt Col even mentions the chatter that Russia might do it is the kind of dumb logic which underlines how even smart people have to obey the Propaganda rule that everything bad that Ukraine does or might can only be mentioned in the context that Russia does it, especially when it is clear that Russia doesn’t.
Such a shame that Lt Col Davis has become bogged down in Mirror propaganda.
Halit
October 30, 2022 at 2:39 am
Spot on,but appearantly Putin understand that and now,if Ukraine use it and expect that Russians won’t do anything,then Biden the cognitive decline President will go down and bringing us together with him.
I am surprised that Putin still didn’t pushed the button.
Useful idiots still expecting Russians will accept humiliation and won’t use nuclear,I think all Americans gone cognitive decline es well.
Gary Jacobs
October 26, 2022 at 5:04 pm
What a shock, another Daniel Davis piece attempting to undercut support for Ukraine. In other breaking news, the sky is blue.
Somehow missing from his comment on the offensive in the north east is the fact that the rain/mud season came roughly 3 weeks early this year. But for Davis it was just a subtle chance for him to try and slip in some overconfidence in Russian conscripts being a capable fighting force so he can wish himself into finally being correct about something…anything… in this war. Still no.
Ukrainian troops are getting closer to Svatove anyway, and once they get to the high ground to the west of the city that over looks it, the Russians will be in big trouble in that city. Ukraine taking it will likely lead to a cascade effect with more losses in that area. It’s only a matter of time.
Further south, but still in the east of Ukraine… the Russians are building straight trench defensive lines with concrete dragon’s teeth that make the Maginot Line look positively modern. And they lost more ground in 2 days in Bakhmut than the Wagner Mercs were able to take in 2 months.
A fresh batch of 10000+ NATO trained troops just arrived in Ukraine, they just got two NASAMs and a bunch of other air defense systems, and the Israelis just bomber a drone production facility run by Iran in Syria. Losses appear to be mounting in Kherson Oblast for Russia as well.
Now is not the time for anyone to give into Russian nuclear blackmail or stupid propaganda about dirty bombs.
I have said it many times, Biden has done a decent job of keeping the conflict confined to Ukraine and not escalating. The Russians are like spoiled children about to have the toy they stole taken away from them and given back to the rightful owner.
There are at least a dozen reasons why Ukraine defeating Russia is good for NATO, and NATO allied countries, throughout Europe and the Mideast. And that is in turn good for our alliance structure and eventually the global economy will be better off without Russian gas as well as more confident in a US led security order.
Arash P
October 27, 2022 at 1:21 am
That’s a lot of big talk coming from a country that despite being constantly at war hasn’t actually won any war since WWII!
And even then all the heavy lifting was done by the Russians!
6 out of 7 Germans soldiers killed died fighting Russians. US mostly bombed women, children and elderly in cities!
Roger Bacon
October 27, 2022 at 3:04 pm
We win wars. We just don’t win the peace afterward. Solution: don’t stick around and try to win the peace. Invade, kill their leaders, devistate their infrastructure and then leave. It doesn’t take 20 years to do that.
Gary Jacobs
October 27, 2022 at 3:52 pm
Arash,
LoL. That’s a lot of big talk for a Pro-Mullah Troll whose country is in the midst of a massive 40day straight protest for killing women for the crime of showing their hair.
As well, you seem to cherry pick your number on wars the US has won. The first Gulf War was a clear win.
The 2nd Iraq war is yet to be determined considering Saddam was defeated, then the Al Qaeda and Ba’ath led insurgency was defeated. Then Islamic State was defeated, and now there is basically a Shi’ite civil war going on there with regular protests by Shi’ites against malign Iranian influence. As I said, whether the US fully won is yet to be determined. If the protesters in Iran can take back their freedom, and the support for their proxies around the region collapses, then the 2003 Iraq war may not be an outright victory…but the region will be a lot better off than before Saddam.
As for Russia in WWII, the idea that they did the sole heavy lifting is absurd. No One should diminish their contribution…but the US was also massively supporting the Russians with equipment. In fact the Russians would have lost to the Nazis without that support.
As well, the US landings at Normandy in Europe and the Op Torch landings in N. Africa were also very important for the war effort…and very difficult operations.
Bottom line: What you call big talk is actually an extensively researched handle on events. Yours, not so much.
Have a liberating day.
Tamerlane
October 29, 2022 at 8:46 pm
That’s utter nonsense. The Russians did the heavy lifting in Europe in WWII contra your lies. The United States military actually hasn’t won a war since WWII, and Iraq was a massive strategic disaster, and one which was entirely unnecessary and not in our strategic interests. We attacked a non-belligerent. Literally nothing you have written here is either objectively or substantively accurate. Once again, here we are in Gary’s adolescent, emotional amateur hour. No thanks man, keep your anti-American garbage to yourself.
The United States has no obligation and no mandate to go abroad the world in search of monsters to destroy. You fundamentally fail to understand the basic purpose of American government, but I suppose that’s typical for a Biden backer.
Have a liberty appreciating day!
Halit
October 30, 2022 at 2:51 am
Invasion of Iraq was surprisingly welcome present to Iran since there is a large Shi’a population in Iraq and if this is not massive strategic disaster I don’t know what is.
They don’t even understand Shia & Sunni differences.
Don
October 29, 2022 at 12:42 pm
Russia will sweep through Ukraine this winter. The gloves are coming off.
NATO will lose, should have been disbanded after Soviet Union ended.
US have not won a war since WWII.
US provoked this confrontation NATO has always been the aggressor for the US Empire now pushing the New World Order.
Halit
October 30, 2022 at 2:58 am
Inconvenient truth not allowed to be told.
That’s why “useful Idiots” propagandazed,and they don’t even know that they propagandazed.
Keeping public ignorant didn’t go well. They voted for Trump and they keep fallowing him,and he knows so keep playing this game.
Jeff Davis
October 29, 2022 at 10:31 am
Yet another divorced from reality victim of Western propaganda.
The “NATO-trained” Ukrainian army entered t he Russian artillerey kill zone and was destroyed. The replacement forces are Ukrainian taxi drivers and reflagged Polish and Romanian troops, cannon fodder headed yet again into the kill zone. Meanwhile, the Neocon/US/UK sanctions war against Russia has failed catastrophically with the US and EU cratering economically. The European people — in contrast to their vassal governments — are in open revolt, and the disintegration of NATO and the EU looms.
Winter will close the deal. Ukraine will be conquered. Unconditional surrender ***OF UKRAINE*** will be the endpoint.
Reality! What a concept.
The only question: Will the Neocon tyranny that brought the world to this pass end with a “whimper” or with a nuclear “bang”?
Interesting times.
toko Kamusaka
October 26, 2022 at 6:00 pm
It is obvious that the Russians have pictures of Daniel Davis in a compromising situation. How else to explain the Pro-Russian propaganda that he spews out every week.
Ben Leucking
October 26, 2022 at 6:17 pm
Note to 1945:
I no longer read articles posted by Daniel Davis.
I’m not sure who’s useful idiot he is, but you are doing yourselves no favors by keeping him as a “contributor.”
Tamerlane
October 29, 2022 at 8:48 pm
Luecking yet again cheers for American global decline. Your hyper interventionist view is about to be rejected at the polls in a couple weeks! Don’t have an aneurism when you discover your goal of using American blood and treasure to remake the world in your image is dead, and rightfully so.
Kelvin Clarke
October 26, 2022 at 8:10 pm
The moment anyone like Davis or Bandau claim as established fact that Ukraine is of no strategic value to the USA and her Allies, I know that I am reading a Russian compromiser, if not sympathiser.
Securing Ukraine against ongoing Russian aggression into the future is every bit as important as it was to secure West Germany in 1946 onwards. The Eastern Europeans have the will to defend themselves against the monstrous danger of Great Russian Chauvinistic expansion: like the Western Europeans before them, they just need the means.
Ukrainian victory, followed by economic and political recovery, would secure free Europe’s eastern frontier. Eastern Europeans across the whole former Warsaw Pact would see themselves as the most committed Allies that the West could possibly want.
The alternative is for an endless series of sapping conflicts between the vicious Russian Imperialists and their hapless neighbours. And a perceived failure of Western resolve.
Ukraine is critical to our strategic interest.
Jim
October 26, 2022 at 8:21 pm
The point of the article:
Let’s not get (somehow) into a nuclear situation.
Seems pretty straight forward to me.
Why is that a controversial idea?
Stephen
October 27, 2022 at 12:01 pm
You assume that the US can control whether Russia goes nuclear.
It can influence but not control.
The basic situation is Putin currently has no interest in negotiating other than to stall while he tries to rebuild his military in to something more effective and uses allies outside Russia to try and pick away at the coalition of supporters for Ukraine.
If the US and NATO back off supporting the Ukraine it would mean that his nuclear threats had worked and he would be encouraged to use them again to capture more territory.
It might even encourage him to use a nuclear weapon on Ukraine if the Ukrainian forces manage to continue to resist even if NATO cuts support.
You would easily walk the world in to a nuclear war if NATO listened to people like you and Davis.
Steven
October 26, 2022 at 9:24 pm
Whenever I see a Davis piece I just go straight to the comments.
Jeff Davis
October 29, 2022 at 10:58 am
And what do you find there? You find a clear accounting of the proportion of people persuaded by the dominance of Western propaganda. Propaganda that turns reality on its head.
The SMO destroyed the NATO-trained Ukrainian army, but failed to persuade the Neocon-vassalized West to stand down. Instead, they doubled down. Now Russia is amassing a half-million man army to finish the job. And finish it they will.
When the reality of US/EU economic collapse and military defeat sweeps away the propaganda veil there’s gonna be some serious cognitive dissonance.
The good news: a new world is being born. The Neocon tyranny is coming to an end.
403Forbidden
October 27, 2022 at 1:17 am
Biden, tbe bold president of America, the mike tyson of white house and big spending big guy is directly responsible for wanton death and destruction in europe.
With the coming winter, people will be cursing biden and america on account of loss of hope amid serious shortages of heating gas, fuel, food and resulting suffering.
The armies at the frontlines will try to smash and kill everybody in a wanton bloodbath inevitably leading to use of sabotage operations against nuclear sites and nuclear missiles.
Biden must be held fully accountable for his folly and amateurish handling of europe.
Pete G.
October 29, 2022 at 3:46 am
All I hear is Republican smear talking points from you. Nevermind Trump’s big spending, Mike Tyson if racism, directly responsible the failed COVID respond and millions of deaths, who wants to give Ukraine to Putin as a gift.
Please, cork it!! Your comment sounds like the wailing of someone looking for attention to his idiocy like every MAGA rat!
Tamerlane
October 29, 2022 at 10:39 pm
Utter BS. How much are the communist Chinese and Ukrainians paying you? As much as they’ve paid Biden?
John
October 27, 2022 at 4:56 am
We could close our vulnerability to nuke strikes by working with Israel to improve our missile defense.
We need much larger nuclear forces for improved deterrence.
How come that there is no analysis how Russia could become the strongest nuclear power?
Going back to Obama 2010 would help
Enfield
October 27, 2022 at 5:24 am
The Red Giant still follows battle tactics from the Great Patriotic War and considering how the various front sections look today, it is not impossible that we will see a massive assault along the entire front when the first snowflakes hit the ground.
Nuclear charges in the current situation is extremely unlikely.
The Red Giant has soon started full war material production not seen since the Second World War. Instead, large encirclements followed by massive artillery fire, tanks and running soldiers with fluttering outer garments. That is patriotism and probably something the Red Giant and its people still value as “by the book” in their warfare.
Either way the devastation will be colossal.
The west should consider peace before it’s too late.
Historian
October 27, 2022 at 2:53 pm
Enfield: “The Red Giant still follows battle tactics from the Great Patriotic War…”
You mean, “follow the whims of the dictator in Moscow?” Yup. Pity, they don’t have the WWII American lend-lease supplies to make their human wave assaults even vaguely successful. The current international sanctions are making Russian military and civilian production nearly impossible, as Russian manufacturers discover how many critical components are no longer manufactured domestically….from bearings to electronics. And secondary sanctions start to kick in making places like India & China decide that trading with Russia is too expensive if it costs them American and European markets.
As for “considering peace…” I’m sure that NATO is willing to accept peace on Ukraine’s terms: 1) Withdrawal of Russian and proxy forces back outside the 2014 borders of Ukraine, and 2) Russian reparations for Ukrainian civilian casualties and the destruction of civilian infrastructure. ….the question is, “Is Russia?” and “Can Russia be trusted?”
Tamerlane
October 27, 2022 at 9:50 am
Rock solid piece again by LTC Davis (ret). In contrast to the empty propaganda of the pro-Ukrainian interventionists on this site, LTC Davis repeatedly and prudently explains again and again that Biden’s emperor simply has no clothes on.
Ben: stay in Ukraine, or wherever your anti-American backside is, and learn English grammar and usage so you can comprehend someone like
LTC Davis.
Toko, same thing with you and your hard left militant warmongering.
Gary, you’re completely wrong, on everything, as usual. Biden your boy is not only going to be repudiated by the American people in 3 weeks, but has escalated at every possible turn for the past 9 months, with nothing to show for it for the American people save a depletion of our treasure, arms, and safety.
If there are a dozen good reasons, you, foreign agitator, have not articulated them. The American people aren’t interested into wars of choice against nuclear superpowers, and they’re going to repudiate the hell out of you Democrats and neoconservatives in a few weeks. Enjoy.
Gary Jacobs
October 27, 2022 at 4:32 pm
Tamerlane,
As usual you are projecting your own failures onto others.
As for NATO, I have already explained to you in great detail the benefits of supporting Ukraine… you just cant seem to accept reality… or read a map… considering that’s all you would have to do to notice the proximity of several NATO countries to Russia in the Black Sea region. Or understand how much NatGas can be brought from the Caspian+Central Asia region to the EU through Turkey. Israel has also discovered massive amounts of NatGas, and a weaker Russia and Iran benefits the extraction and export of Israeli gas as well, but we can get back to Israel later.
More importantly, Russia’s weakness creates an opening that more liberal players like the US and EU can step into in Eurasia… the US has already become the peacemaker between Armenia and Azeris as Russia was unable to send troops to stop the war as Armenia formally requested. Turkey is even trying to have better relations with Armenia to diminish Russia’s influence, gain economic benefit, and play a peacemaking role between their Azeri allies and Armenia.
Ukraine taking back Crimea would also have the benefit of removing a large amount of Russian missiles capable of reaching NATO countries across the Black Sea.
There will be even more openings in the future, especially as the post-Soviet generation of elites slowly passes from the stage. Even as the United States and its allies focus on helping Ukraine defeat the Russian invasion, they should also be thinking about how to further encourage the smaller Eurasian states’ no-longer-gradual escape from Russia’s shadow. Continuing investment, civil society partnerships, and the cultivation of regional cooperation mechanisms can all play a vital role in ensuring that Central Asia emerges more democratic and secure from Russia’s defeat.
As mentioned There also happens to be a lot of NatGas in the Central Asia and Caspian region with pipelines to bypass Russia to get to the EU…through Turkey. Multiple benefits for NATO in that grand strategy to diminish Russia.
I have no illusions about the true Islamist nature of this Turkish government… I am certainly more in favor of the Kurds…but Turkey is in NATO, and they are in an important geographical place in the region…and eventually they will have a new leader. Considering the way NATO voting works as consensus… Turkey must be dealt with…and it’s better to be ‘realist’ [rather than neocon] about the nature of Turkey and find ways to bring them back into the fold rather than pretend that they arent there…or treat them as a full blown enemy as you seem to want to in one of your other ill informed screeds.
Relieving some of the Russian pressure on Turkey would help to get them to further back away from their drift into Russia’s sphere of influence. Russia has troops in several countries surrounding Turkey [Syria, Crimea, Armenia, etc]. Turkey is even trying to make amends with Israel. Yet another in a series of meetings occurred between Israelis and Turks in the last few days.
During the period leading up to rapprochement between Israel and Turkey following the visit of Israeli President Herzog to Ankara, Turkey asked dozens of Hamas terrorists to leave Turkish territory, and they prevented others from entering.
That’s responsible statecraft affecting policy in a positive way with the potential for Israel and Turkey to create a better future. For themselves…and possibly even the Palestinians by diminishing the clout of Hamas in the region.
This is really just scratching the surface on how the more Russia can be diminished in the region, the more NATO and NATO allied countries stand to benefit.
My views on the subject are in part influenced by my own extensive research and life experiences over decades, with a bit of extra attention to the speeches and writing of Jeffrey Mankoff – a Distinguished Research Fellow at National Defense University’s Institute for National Strategic Studies, and a Non-Resident Senior Associate at the Center for Strategic and International Studies [CSIS]. He has also been an advisor to the State Department. His research focuses on Russian foreign policy, Eurasian geopolitics, and the role of history and memory in international relations.
His most recent book is Empires of Eurasia: How Imperial Legacies Shape International Security [Yale, 2022]
As for Biden, I have repeatedly stated that he has escalated, but it has been a measured escalation. You pretending that I have said otherwise is false on its face, but that’s par for your course.
Biden famously offered Zelensky safe passage out of the country when Russia first invaded, and Zelensky responded ‘I dont need a ride, I need ammo’. It wouldnt take long for Ukraine to show they were quite capable fighters against Russia. They just needed support with better weapons.
A perfect example of escalation is that Biden said no HIMARS at first, and eventually gave HIMARS. What he has not done is give them F16s, ATACMs, M1 Abrams, or several other systems the Ukrainians have requested. Im not shy about saying Ukraine should have ATACMs because 190 mile range barely scratches into Russia’s 11 time zones, but Biden refuses to cross that line of escalation. I disagree with Biden’s decision, but I am objective enough to understand it. But then again you have been told all of that in different ways several times, you just ignore it so you can pretend that you dont have to objectively conclude that Biden has done a decent job of balancing the need for Ukraine to win, and not give them too many weapons that can extend their fire too far into Russia.
Also explained to you repeatedly, I agree with Biden on almost nothing else but Ukraine. I can count perhaps two other things now. That’s it.
Bottom line: you continue to fail to see the bigger picture. It’s time to widen your aperture. That will allow you to do a better job of exploring better sources of information, and you might get a better handle on what is actually going on in the world.
I could go on for days dissecting your posts point by point… but for now I digress.
Jeff Davis
October 29, 2022 at 11:44 am
Up until now Russia’s full military strength it has been held in reserve. Putin’s approach has been deliberately gradual and incremental, attempting to achieve security for Russia while minimizing Ukrainian destruction, and Russian and Ukrainian loss of life. Sadly, the Neocon tyranny is obsessive about destroying and looting Russia, and refuses to accept the reality of inevitable defeat and stand down. So Russia, with overwhelming military capability in the region, now accepts that the only solution is the comprehensive defeat of NATO on the territory of Ukraine and the conquest of all of Ukraine. To that end they are amassing a half-million man army to finish the job.
Ukraine will cease to exist before the Spring thaw.
All your faux-scholarly analytical blabber out of Neocon think tanks may lead you and the rest of the propaganda-gulled to believe in an alternate reality, but it will have zero effect on Russian tanks, artillery, precision-guide missiles and air power.
Of course it goes without saying that nothing can penetrate your alternate reality. That said, the sun will rise and set, and we will see what reality has in store when the daffodils bloom.
Gary Jacobs
October 28, 2022 at 10:58 am
Tamerlane
You claim “they’re going to repudiate the hell out of you Democrats and neoconservatives in a few weeks.”
Of course I am an independent, not a Dem. But you cant seem to accept that objective people can agree with Dems on one thing [Ukraine], and Republicans on others [some energy policy, taxes, etc]. I can show you how some of that works so a die hard partisan like yourself can understand how objective critical thinking actual works in a democracy.
57 House Republicans and 11 senators voted against the Ukraine aid package earlier this year. There are 435 seats in the House of Reps. Basic math will tell you that wing of the Republican party remains a minority, and will remain a minority after this election. Contrary to your faux notion of Biden being ‘my guy’, nothing could be further from the truth, and I welcome a bit of divided government to keep Presidents from either party in check.
In fact, we might even get smarter energy policy [among others] out of the deal making that comes from negotiating further aid to Ukraine should the Republicans gain enough seats. I would LOVE that. I’d love to see Keystone XL restarted, and a simplified process for Oil and Gas leases on Federal land. Those are Republican platform issues that I have been in favor of and have stated so repeatedly on this forum. I would also be in favor of support for EV fast charging stations, hydrogen infrastructure, and other clean energy programs. But the fact remains that those are not ready for baseload primetime. It’s time for an all of the above strategy…and that is more like to come from dealmaking in a divided government.
Some more info from the US about politics, midterms, etc… after Mccarthy’s ‘blank check’ comment:
You will find that there is a strong bipartisan group supporting Ukraine. Just a few days ago SASC chairman Jack Reed [D] and James Inhofe [R] the highest ranking R on the cmte introduced an amendment to the NDAA “that would allow the Department of Defense to procure high-priority weapon systems to support the Ukrainian military”.
Also of note is that the new ‘Lend Lease Act’ to support Ukraine hasnt been used yet, but it is effective until Sept. 2023 if memory serves. That gives Biden a fall back tool if the Republicans do take congress and become an overly obstructive of support for Ukraine.
I still dont think there will be a full stop before Lend Lease as you will also find strong support for Ukraine from Lindsey Graham, Mitch Mcconnell and other “moderate” Republicans. They should be able to broker deals to keep support for Ukraine flowing. As mentioned, We might even get smarter energy policy out of that.
Bottom line: you projecting me into a partisan democrat couldnt be more further from the truth…and simply exposes you as what you bash others for supposedly being. Where have I seen that tactic before…oh ya, from Putin himself.
Have a liberating day.
Jeff Davis
October 29, 2022 at 12:11 pm
It’s not about you being Democrat or Republican, it’s about you being a supporter of Neocon psychopathology — CSIS, Wolfowitz Doctrine — of world domination. For the moment — and dangerously — the Neocons are now in complete control of the US, running the show behind the life-long political-mediocrity-now-cognitively-incompetent-Presidential seat-warmer. The mid-terms may moderate that. And while the war party is bipartisan, the GOP will not want to own the coming Ukrainian Neocon defeat.
You do blabber at length about irrelevancies … all that “weapons for Ukraine” kabuki. Ukraine will cease to exist long before any of those weapons become available. (But not before all the MIC contracts are signed and checks cashed.)
[Parenthetically, I’m a full-blooded Askenazi, just not a Neocon criminal. You?]
Simon Beerstecher
October 27, 2022 at 10:09 am
Does not DD understand the threat to our world order?The fundamental rule that one does not invade other countries without consequence.If America stands down evil prevails, and as it did in 1941 it needs to count itself amongst the nations that stand against fascism and the bullying tactics of a despotic regime.I can only thong that DD is on a nice retainer from Moscow.
Neil Ross Hutchings
October 27, 2022 at 10:17 am
What we have here is Operation Cyclone 2, but at a much accelerated rate when compared to the original in Afghanistan. I do not recall nuclear deterrents being so openly discussed during that conflict.
Many Tucker Carlson followers I have talked to are convinced the CIA/NSA has discovered a way to make the Russian nuclear arsenal ineffective.
As long as it takes…complete this statement, as you deem appropriate, with your own delusional goal.
What is the definition of insanity?
Tamerlane
October 27, 2022 at 10:20 am
“The global economy will be better off without Russian gas”
How exactly is this neat trick going to happen? Are you really about to trot out the “Broken Window Fallacy” right now Gary? Haha, wow. I wouldn’t expect that ignorance from an 8th grader.
Oh yeah Kelvin? What “IS” the “strategic” value of the Donbas to the United States’ taxpayer?
“Securing Ukraine against ongoing Russian aggression into the future is every bit as important as it was to secure West Germany in 1946 onwards.” Why?
Russian is not totalitarian, nor anything close to the existential threat to us the USSR was. It is NATO which has been expansionary for 30 years, not Russia… so why is it not precisely the opposite in reality, as the Russians claim? Meaning, why is it not that the Russians are securing Ukraine as a neutral buffer between them and a militant expansionist NATO alliance? Also, why is Europe not able to fund and arm their own neighborhood here? Why is the American taxpayer on the hook here?
“Ukrainian victory, followed by economic and political recovery, would secure free Europe’s eastern frontier.” Precisely the opposite. A Ukrainian victory (and resultant joining of NATO) would completely destabilize the NATO/Russo border and would escalate the war into WWIII—as Russia would then be fatally compromised in terms of basic defensibility—something which is an existential threat to their existence.
Please graduate high school, and stop cheering for war.
William Barrett
October 27, 2022 at 11:57 am
I respectfully disagree with the assessment that the US has no national security interest in Ukraine.
Before I explain, let me clarify. I DO belive the Biden administration and many western governments WANTED this war, because they thought Ukraine would fold, and the “ukraine problem” would be removed at the same time they were handed a convenient “bad guy” to blame for many of the economic issues facing the world.
I also believe the Ukranian govt is very corrupt – but no more so than that of other nations in that region, and considerably less so than Russia.
But many on the political right in the West have fallen prey to a logical fallacy, that because Ukraine is supported by liberals, it must be the bad guy, and have bought into Putin’s lies.
Putin is Evil. Period. Full Stop.
So then, what is the compelling national security interest of the US in Ukraine?
Quite simply this: ANY outcome that allows Russia to profit from it’s invasion(s) of Ukraine (to include Crimea) conveys the message that ANY nuclear armed state can blackmail and threaten their way into forcible conquest of another nations territory.
Allowing a Russian success, even a partial one, is a clear message of encouragement to China vis-a-vis Taiwan. To Iran, to North Korea, and to every other despotic government on earth.
Should the US be the world police, solving every problem? No, and we made massive mistakes in Iraq and Afghanistan.
But as THE global superpower, when presented with the opportunity to PREVENT or contest raw naked aggression by a country like Russia, we must accept that if we are NOT willing to act, and incur some risk by fighting Russia in a proxy war, then we are all but guaranteeing we will fight Russia, or China, directly as they are encouraged to view such actions as ultimately beneficial.
China and Russia both see global power as a zero-sum game. And they have zero respect for human rights and the norms of civilized behavior.
If they are not deterred by actual costly failures, they will purse courses of action they deem beneficial to their goals, too our detriment.
Rob Gendro
October 27, 2022 at 12:48 pm
You are blind if you think Russian expansionism poses no risk to American national security.
Russia will not first strike with nuclear weapons as it would be the end of Russia as a sovereign nation. They cannot compete with western powers, they never have been able to.
Russians Connor fight war, they have lost almost every major conflict since the 1800s except when America armed them to fight back in WW II
Goran
October 27, 2022 at 1:12 pm
Daniel Davis: “the risk that the West might one day succeed in helping Ukraine defeat Putin – putting him in the volatile position of having to choose between passively accepting his conventional defeat or succumbing to the siren song of belief that ordering a tactical nuclear strike might give him victory – we continue casually marching towards nuclear catastrophe”
The idea that a country has to be allowed to win its war of aggression because it has nukes does not make this world a safer place, on the contrary. If this reasoning is accepted, everyone and their mother will try to get their hands on nuclear weapons. And why stop at that, any WMD works as well as the same formula applies, let the bad guys win or else.
That aside, I’d like to focus on how Davis frames it: “the risk that the West might one day succeed in helping Ukraine defeat Putin”. Soooo, Ukraine repelling this invasion is a bad thing? There is a risk of cancer, risk of tornado, I would never, ever expect it in the context of a sovereign country defending itself. What’s next, the risk of people having a roof over their heads and the risk of joyous family reunions?
mawendt
October 27, 2022 at 2:09 pm
LTC Davis, thank you for your service.
However, your opinion shows you are way past your shelf life.
Just… go. You’re embarrassing the US Army Officer Corps.
Jim
October 27, 2022 at 6:18 pm
Putin made an extremely aggressive speech, today.
This speech was a throw down to the United States.
Supporters of the Biden policy… do you know what your preferred policy has gotten us into?
A peace conference is the best option… distasteful I’m sure… unacceptable… with people telling me to go to hell… I’ll take the heat.
But to continue this policy full speed ahead is to drive The World to the precipice of World War III.
Nobody wins a full on thermonuclear war…
It’s MAD… Mutual Assured Destruction.
I’m sorry, but Ukraine isn’t worth it, not by a long shot.
Everybody is going to have to give something in terms of a compromise… I’ll forego getting rid of the neo-nazi in Ukraine… others will have to give up their desire for Regime Change in Russia.
Don’t be nihilistic… because ignoring this danger, is exactly that… be better than that.
Now is the time for a compromise… what, I’m not sure… that’s what negotiations are for… to get to something both sides can live with… sure, it won’t be maximalist… it likely will be hard to accept.
But how close to the cliff do you want get?
Please, tell me, you don’t want to be Thelma & Louise.
Tamerlane
October 27, 2022 at 6:57 pm
Simon:
Do you read what you write before you post it and ask yourself if it’s meant ironically?
For example: “The fundamental rule that one does not invade other countries without consequence.If America stands down evil prevails, and as it did in 1941 it needs to count itself amongst the nations that stand against fascism and the bullying tactics of a despotic regime.”
Well, the United States routinely invades other countries without consequence, for false reasons, without consequence. I have personally fought in some of these wars, which include, most recently—attacking and carving off a piece of Serbia/Kosovo in the attack on a non-belligerent sovereign nation; attacking, overthrowing, and installing a new pro-American client state by force under false pretenses in Iraq; attempting the same in Syria through our provision of arms and proxy support to a salafi insurgency; invading and overthrowing the sovereign government of Libya by force of arms in 2011; our intervention in the sovereign nation of Yemen (dysfunctional yes…)—damn, the list keeps going.
Were you being ironic here to make a point that the U.S. is completely bullshitting on this argument because we ignore it all the damn time, or are you just that ignorant and lacking is national self-scrutiny?
Best,
Simon Beerstecher
October 28, 2022 at 9:00 am
You are wrong.Protecting Kosovans from Serbian nationalism and their slaughter and attempted genocide as proved in the Hague.Further only when Saddam invaded Kuwaite did the Allies invade Iraq,America has and always will stand up to despots.We live in a liberal democracy with many freedoms that some think worth protecting.You obviously do not agree with our system of governance.It takes only a few men to stand by for evil to prevail.We will not stand by.Syria.. the same an autocratic dictator willing to slaughter his own people,willing to chemically attck and kill without discrimination his own people.They rose up in a color revolution to ask for proper democratic elections.They have a right under the auspices of the UN to protection.Sadly you always seem to side with the most terrible humans,I would worry about your mental state of mind.Libya Gaddafi,say no more.Once again a color revolution of the people asking for more control over their own lives.You guys will never understand this,the value of self determination will always rise to the surface.We are seeing that in Iran as this is being written.
Tamerlane
October 28, 2022 at 8:53 pm
Are you attempting to argue that the American aggression against Serbia which resulting in it being disassembled via American overseen “referenda”, invasion and regime change in Iraq, the moronic intervention into Syria on behalf of radical Salafi Sunni terrorists, and the aggressive war against a non-belligerent state which had been our ally against Al Qaeda—Libya, were justified? Who are you, and where have you been the past 25 years?!! These are clearly all aggressive wars of choice against non-belligerents who did not attack or pose a threat to the United States. They demonstrate beyond any reasonable doubt that NATO is an expansionary aggressive alliance.
Jack Hughes
October 27, 2022 at 7:52 pm
I’m not sure who these people bigging up Russia’s capabilities are. Their best units are broken or dear they’ve lost 25% of their best helicopters and they’re now using men and equipment that barely functions and is older than most of the people here commenting.
Yup the Ukrainians are using NATO cast offs but they’re doing really well and are being equipped for the winter by Canada and Estonia
.
Come Christmas I expect many Russian soldiers will be surrendering en masse for the three squares a day they’ll get as POWs
Goran
October 28, 2022 at 12:39 am
Jim, if you are worried about Putin using nukes, why don’t you try and reason with him? Ukraine doesn’t have those weapons and the US will not launch them, so if Putin is the threat when it comes to nuclear escalation, talk to his political base, they all have a social media presence.
I mean, I don’t get it, Russia is to carry out a nuclear escalation but the ones at fault would be the US and Ukraine? Like a guy that beats his wife senseless then yells at her: “Look what you made me do to you!!!”. Is that what is being packaged as a sound foreign policy and can you see why it might be difficult to sell that to a wider audience?
Dj
October 28, 2022 at 1:52 am
The US and allies are no fools they cannot trust Putin he said he would not invade Ukraine bare faced liar. Now he says he will not use nukes in Ukraine then why has he been rambling on about nuking the world more or less for months,to not trust this liar ..murdering..thug ogre Spewtin he only speaks lies and you know when he is telling lies because his lips move the same for Lavbogg..Madvedev.. Pestkov..total lying over grown Russian scum sewer rats to a repulsive man.Never trust cock eyed men and boss eyed men and men with eyes close together be ready to strike Russia with an over whelming saturation of nukes.
Yrral
October 28, 2022 at 3:22 am
Jacob,why do not nominate Johnathan Pollack,the Medal of Freedom,while you still here
nevermind reality
October 28, 2022 at 3:22 am
Daniel Davis and his russian propaganda…
Enfield
October 28, 2022 at 8:28 am
First of all being neutral in this conflict can be difficult but gives the spectator wider and different roles to be objective.
There is no doubt that the Red Giant will soon start its war time production on a huge scale. Probably it won’t be as high-tech as before, but still lots of material with devastating effects.
It is very strange to see how the Red Giant follows the footsteps of the Great Patriotic War. When the Red Giant loses ground, it is not why it happens but how it happens that stands out.
The Red Giant even have companies wearing World War II clothing and equipment actively serving in the campaign. All this just to be shown to various film crews following and filming the events at the front.
Nobody can win against a Superpower, it’s impossible. You can’t beat the USA or the Red Giant in the east.
Those who try will themselves be destroyed.
Jim
October 28, 2022 at 11:05 am
Goran,
I’m worried Ukraine (with U. S. approval) will use a “dirty bomb” as a provocation to get the U. S. directly involved in the war.
Zelensky from the start has been trying to get the U S. and/or Nato directly into the war.
It’s no accident Zelensky has been repeatedly bringing up the nuke subject, in one way or another, calling for preemptive “kicks” against Russia, his military shelling a nuclear power plant, and now being caught conspiring to set off a false flag “dirty bomb” incident.
(The Russians somehow tapped into Ukraine government officials discussing a “dirty bomb” with British MI6… that’s why Wallace had to fly to Washington… a phone call wouldn’t do… phone communication had been compromised.)
Goran, you conveniently forget to mention the random, indiscriminate shelling (terror bombing) into the Donbus for eight years by Ukraine that killed over 10,000 eastern Ukrainians.
And the step-up of this shelling in the week before the invasion (that was the direct action which forced Putin’s hand).
Goran, I suppose I should leave Ukraine to its fate.
With no peace conference (and we manage to avoid nuclear war) Ukraine will likely suffer defeat and be turned into some kind of a rump state… .
What I care about is avoiding nuclear war (or a general European war — Nato vs. Russia).
That seems far from your concerns.
Goran, scolding ol’ Jim, “You peaceniks, don’t you dare kick us out of the ‘sandbox’.”
How come so many Biden policy supporters are so reckless & heedless of death & destruction… especially Ukrainians, themselves?
My guess, they don’t care who they drag down with them… so typical of neo-nazi.
Jai
October 28, 2022 at 5:07 pm
As dumb as this article sounds, it is going to sound even dumber when Kherson is regained by Ukraine.
Vlad
October 28, 2022 at 5:23 pm
All Russian Scum Cowardice Terrorist savage barbarians who committed atrocities in Ukraine when found guilty a no brainer after Putin..Lavrov.. Mendeved..Peskov..have been hanged drawn and quartered they all will get the same treatment then collectively all bulldozed into a massive incenerater to finish them off and rid the stench of Scum
Dan Hartley
October 28, 2022 at 5:32 pm
For 10 or 20 billion dollars and no American lives, we
1. send the message that invading another sovereign country doesn’t pay, and
2. neuter the Russian army. That seems like a win to me.
Other benefits: Europe becomes un-addicted to Russian oil and gas, NATO is strengthened, western Europe bolsters their own defense, the superiority of NATO weapons is demonstrated, which increases deterrence and will dry up Russian arms sales, the Russian alliance will be of no benefit to China, and more.
Of course, Biden’s weakness is what allowed the war to start in the first place.
H.R. Holm
October 29, 2022 at 11:41 am
Oh, yeah, Mr. Hartley, the U.S. government is at least a trillion in debt, but hey, don’t worry, we can just casually print ’10 or 20′ billion dollars or so to cover spending in a conflict we have no cultural, historical, or direct geopolitical stake in. No problem, eh?! And never mind the inflation it contributes to, by golly, you *spend* that 6+ bucks for but three chunks of lamb stew meat like I did last night, and *be happy about it*. (Just like when the World Economic Forum—-another big war-rooter—-tells you how happy you must and will be in 2030, when you no longer own anything.) Along with all that other print-money utterly wasteful ‘build back better’ (ha!) spending the Pathetic Joe regime does to, say, ‘combat’ climate change (“we’ll show you, climate change, put up your dukes!!”), or subsidize big tech with even more billions we really do not have, supposedly to build chip factories that will….”provide jobs!!!!” ? (Not the government’s role.) Hey, no problem, either!!! Now back to your favorite drop-a-casual-20 billion-on conflict, ‘no American lives’ you say—-yeah—-*yet*. But a hundred thousand plus, at least, have been deployed and made ready to go at the spear’s point to be sacrificed…are you comfortable with that? And send what message? Have the Russians gotten it and pulled out? No! Neuter the Russian Army? Are you sure? After all, only a portion of the Russian Army has been committed, and it still holds a good part of the territory they have marched thru. (“We’re still heeee-eeere, comradeskis!”) And how about Russian nuclear forces, have they been ‘neutered’? I don’t thhiiiiiiiinnk so!!!!! (And won’t be, either.) And what’s wrong with Russia providing Europe with natural gas? I’d suggest you remember the old adage, “when goods don’t cross borders, armies do”. Seems to me that Europe is begging for the gas right now. Wonder how much more they will beg when its residents start to freeze en masse this coming winter. But hey, *they’re* ones who started to go down the false primrose path of ‘green’ energy, and now are paying the price—–and who’s feeling mighty *blue* now as a result? And since when are all NATO weapons superior? Like the F-35? Yeah, whenever the U.S. military can keep more than a portion combat-ready, even! When they’re not being grounded for one more found fault or another. And maybe you’d like to surmise how well the U.S. Navy—-at its lowest ship levels in decades—-is all ‘rough, tough, n’ ready’ to take on the Chinese navy (now the world’s largest) over Taiwan? And Russian arms sales ‘dry up’? Like they did for the AK-47 and successors over the last 60 years? *That* dry-up? Really….don’t let your fantasy assertions get ahead of your realities.
H.R. Holm
October 29, 2022 at 2:54 am
The bravado of all the ‘let’s kick Russian butt’ war-rooters here is both unbelievable and unfathonable. In particular, Mr. Jacobs, and I wonder if the Ukranian army has a uniform that would both fit him and that he would be comfortable marching off to his war in.
Whether or not, it would sure suit him from an attitude standpoint, nonetheless. And for those of you who so breezily brush off Russian capabilities, they have a history of military or military-*related* first or near-first accomplishments on their side. Who eventually kicked the Japanese out of Manchuria,and eventually beat the U.S. in bringing China into their orbit? Russia (or Russia/Soviet Union, if you would). Who equipped the force that came within a whisker of sweeping over the entire Korean peninsula in 1950? Russia/SU. Who introduced the very capable and first swept-wing jet fighter into the Korean conflict? Russia/SU. Who successfully launched the first satellite into space, and with complete surprise to boot? Russia/SU. Who successfully then launched the first animal and then the first man, then woman into space? Russia/SU. Whose space program conducted the first successful spacewalk? Russia/SU’s. Who fielded the world’s most rugged, effective, and globally-adopted modern battle rifle (so good that even U.S. soldiers in Vietnam were known to favor it far over their own then-paltry-by-comparison M-16) ? Russia/SU. Who practiced *global* naval strike exercises (‘Okean’) —without one aircraft carrier– dating back to the 1970s? Russia/SU. Who provided Egypt with the deft and deadly shorter-altitude anti-aircraft missile (SA-6) that routed a good chunk of the Israeli Air Force in the 1973 Yom-Kippur war (so effective that Israel had to take out the sites from/on the ground) ? Russia/SU. (Dittto for the Sagger antitank missile that also gave the Israelis headaches.) Who parallel-developed a military GPS positioning system (‘Svod’) at the same time that the west developed theirs? Russia/SU. Who developed an attack submarine force that was every bit the equal of the U.S. Navy’s by the late 1980s? Russia/SU. Who developed and deployed the first road and/or rail-mobile ICBMs and IRBM? Russia/SU. Who jumped ahead of the U.S. in preparing to be able to put into place a national ABM system in the 1980s? Russia/SU. Who has continued to develop and deploy ICBMs since the 1990s, vs. the U.S.’s atrophying Minutemen and now-aging Tridents? Russia. Who has pulled ahead in developing and deploying hypersonic missiles? Russia. Not to sound like or certainly not be a Russia-cheerleader, I’m just pointing out some irrefutable historical facts. Don’t so cavalierly dismiss Russian military capabilities when they have had so much experience in the past with surprising and/or demonstrating to the world some pretty capable achievements.
And the truth is, we do not know the full picture of the total situation as it has unfolded there, only bits and pieces, as the U.S. no longer has the Edward R. Murrows, the Ernie Pyles, the John Steinbecks or Ernest Hemingways to cover this war. (Nor any female journalists on the level of, say Dorothy Kilgallen or Barbara Walters—not that they were war correspondents, but could well have been.) Fact is, Russia still occupies a considerable amount of territory it has moved through, and Ukraine is nowhere near
taking it back. (Then there’s Crimea.) Yet NATO and the U.S. recklessly act as though they are soon going to be in a position to just waltz in and send the ‘Red Army’ reeling back to Moscow like the Germans first did in 1941. Not going to happen, Mr. Jacobs and the rest of you. Because the Russians won’t let it happen, and they’re ready to go balls to the wall to make sure it doesn’t. And I, for one, don’t want anyone to be reduced to a nuclear-flash-made shadow on a sidewalk as a result of our government’s over-belligerence in pursuing this senseless Euro-dustup ‘to the last Ukranian’ in order to prove that old fossil Pathetic Joe still has a shriveled, wrinkeled pair.
Donald Link
October 29, 2022 at 1:10 pm
Historically, adverse conditions (terrain, weather) have favored the defending Army. This would not bode well for Putin. It would also limit a counter offensive by Ukraine and generally lessening the possibility for a wider war, at least until after the Spring rains. It would seem now an appropriate time to make a serious exploration of negotiation possibilities with an unspoken, but apparent support of actions independent of Putin to end the conflict. There are more factions in Russia that have a vital interest in resolving the conflict than continuing it. The earlier mention of the Wagner group is easily managed. They have already demonstrated they can be bought. I doubt they care much who is the paymaster.
Dan Farrand
October 29, 2022 at 2:57 pm
Not only does the US have no national security interest in Ukraine, but continuation of the war posses an actual and severe threat to US interests.
The economies of the entire G7 are threatened as we lose the economic sanction war we launched with so little understanding.
As the US precipitates a global economic recession (best case) by trying to export our inflation, our allies (vassals?) will increasingly come to understand that their own interests may lie elsewhere.
Of course no one in the west bothers to read Putin speech from last night, but many peoples outside the captive west are reading it and finding that the vision Putin articulates there is very attractive. Where the west preaches and bullies and demands homogeneity, Putin offers coexistence and cultural respect.
The US is not listening, perhaps is not capable of listening to the stirrings in the world.
And, by the way, in that same speech, Putin repeated again, as clearly as language allows, that Russia has no intention or need to use nuclear weapons in Ukraine.
Bender
October 29, 2022 at 11:33 pm
What a fearmongerer crybaby this author is…
June
October 30, 2022 at 4:29 am
The author is making the same mistake as Putin did. Putin thought Ukraine would surrender in a week but they did not. There is no guarantee the use of tactical nuclear weapons would make Ukraine surrender. As long as Ukraine does not give up, tactical nuclear weapons will not change the outcome of the war and the use of tactical nuclear weapons will draw NATO into the conflict. Putin tried hard to avoid the conflict with NATO throughout this war. Even if Putin loses this war, he can still blame NATO for the loss and keep his power.
Rick
October 30, 2022 at 6:18 am
More click bait from an idiot. Davis do you live at the russian troll farm?
JMF
October 30, 2022 at 9:26 am
One quibble — and one only: If Russia were faced with an existential threat to its continued national existence, I seriously doubt that its leadership would limit itself to a *tactical* nuclear strike, and certainly not in Ukraine alone!
If the US and NATO back the Russian Federation into an existential corner, Russia will pull out ALL the stops. That *is* their codified nuclear posture.
Rick
October 31, 2022 at 7:00 am
It must be somewhat of an embarrassment having to leave the military unable to advance to full Col. I notice his bio excludes educational achievements. Did he attend a junior college and graduate at the bottom of his class? Go back to russia.