{"id":1398031,"date":"2022-03-24T09:31:16","date_gmt":"2022-03-24T13:31:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1398031"},"modified":"2022-03-24T09:31:23","modified_gmt":"2022-03-24T13:31:23","slug":"ukraine-battles-fuel-elite-chatter-about-nuclear-war","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/ukraine-battles-fuel-elite-chatter-about-nuclear-war\/","title":{"rendered":"Ukraine Battles Fuel Elite Chatter About Nuclear War"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">16<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fukraine-battles-fuel-elite-chatter-about-nuclear-war%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1398031&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p class=\"subheading\">Advocates and national security wonks are chattering about the possibility of nuclear war starting in Ukraine.<\/p>\n<div class=\"\">\n<p class=\"font-copy font--article-body gray-darkest ma-0 pb-md\">\u201cNATO, and especially the U.S., must now prepare for harrowing decisions after a Russian [nuclear] first strike,\u201d said a March 23 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/business\/when-why-and-how-putin-might-use-nukes\/2022\/03\/23\/dad4fb2c-aa7b-11ec-8a8e-9c6e9fc7a0de_story.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">article<\/a> in Bloomberg, adding:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p class=\"font-copy font--article-body gray-darkest ma-0 pb-md\">Once these weapons \u2014\u00a0the deadliest in all of human history no matter their yield \u2014\u00a0start\u00a0going off, the risk of misunderstandings, errors, and accidents soars. A \u201climited\u201d strike by one side will still feel cataclysmic to the other. And the missiles fly\u00a0so fast, the other side would have only minutes to respond. The temptation to \u201cuse it or lose it\u201d would rise.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<p>\u201cIn the fog of war, it isn\u2019t hard to imagine an accident or miscommunication that triggers a World War III-like scenario,\u201d said <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2022\/03\/08\/opinion\/ezra-klein-podcast-fiona-hill.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">a March 8<\/a>\u00a0<em>New York Times<\/em> article.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"D-ROS-B1\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B1\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"gmxrevmore\" class=\"H\"><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cThe longer this war continues, the more dangerous it will become,\u201d David Ignatius <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/opinions\/2022\/03\/17\/cornered-putin-dangerous-ukraine-david-ignatius\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">wrote<\/a> in the March 17 <em>Washington Post<\/em>.\u00a0 He continued:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>Russia will bleed out, in the corpses of its invaders and the ruin of its economy. The world will cheer. But as this process continues, a desperate Putin may become more likely to escalate this crisis toward a world war. A combination of military pressure and diplomacy that presses Putin toward a settlement is in everyone\u2019s interest. Compromises will be anguishing but necessary.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>On March 22, a\u00a0<em>New York Times<\/em> op-ed warned:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>Concern about these smaller [nuclear] weapons has skyrocketed now that, in the context of the war in Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned of his nuclear power, put his atomic forces on alert and instructed his Army to carry out dangerous attacks against nuclear plants.\u00a0The fear is that if Putin feels cornered in the conflict, he could decide to detonate one of his less powerful nuclear weapons (which would break the taboo set 76 years ago after the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki).<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>\u201cAs Russia Digs In, What\u2019s the Risk of Nuclear War? \u2018It\u2019s Not Zero,&#8217;\u201d said the headline of another <em>New York Times<\/em> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2022\/03\/16\/world\/europe\/ukraine-russia-nuclear-war.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">article<\/a>.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B2\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<p>Amid the drama, emotion, and risks, President Joe Biden\u2019s team has both escalated and de-escalated the conflict over Ukraine\u2019s Russian-populated provinces.<\/p>\n<p>It refused to enforce the post-Cold War U.S. commitment to keep Ukraine out of NATO. Once Russia attacked, it provided Javelin missiles to destroy the Russian tanks. When Russia has switched to greater use of artillery fire, the U.S. is providing long-range missiles that can destroy Russian artillery. It is also imposing an economic blockade on Russi and is describing Russian officials are\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Commentary\/status\/1506065728440619013?s=20&#038;t=eW3qYwrhs1Wq5UeGvXabjA\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">war criminals.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>But Biden\u2019s team is also blocking the transfer of Polish MiG-29 aircraft to Ukraine, rejecting demands to enforce a no-fly zone, and downplaying European demands for more action.<\/p>\n<p>The conflict is over the political status of Ukraine.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">U.S. lawmakers issued warnings against escalating Ukraine war tensions after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky urged President Joe Biden to do so in a congressional speech on Wednesday.<\/p>\n<p> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/HwuG2wL77p\">https:\/\/t.co\/HwuG2wL77p<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Breitbart News (@BreitbartNews) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/BreitbartNews\/status\/1504130600831262725?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">March 16, 2022<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B3\" class=\"a8d adSo\"><\/figure>\n<p>Progressive advocates in the West demand the country be free to join NATO and buy foreign weapons. Russian officials insist that Ukraine is a historic province of the Russian homeland, that an independent Ukraine should be kept out of alliances, and that Russian-populated districts in Ukraine should be returned to Russia. The Russian invasion began after Western governments repeatedly hinted that Ukraine could join NATO and need not accept Russia\u2019s political terms.<\/p>\n<p>It is unclear if Biden\u2019s team is pushing Ukraine to compromise with Russia, for example, to forego alliances and to allow independence by the Russian-majority eastern provinces.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"D-ROS-B2\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<p>Yet opponents of Putin are urging the U.S. government to escalate the U.S. pushback against Putin.\u00a0For example, one long-standing opponent of Trump and Putin, Anne Applebaum <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theatlantic.com\/ideas\/archive\/2022\/03\/how-democracy-can-win-ukraine\/627125\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">wrote<\/a> in <em>The Atlantic<\/em> magazine:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p class=\"ArticleParagraph_root__wy3UI\">Putin and his propagandists are dropping hints about chemical and nuclear weapons for the same reason. They want outsiders, and especially Americans, to fear the consequences of helping Ukraine. The use of\u00a0hypersonic weaponry; the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.thedailybeast.com\/wild-kremlin-tv-hosts-threaten-the-us-with-nuclear-strikes-unless-sanctions-end-and-reparations-are-paid\">threats of\u00a0<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thedailybeast.com\/wild-kremlin-tv-hosts-threaten-the-us-with-nuclear-strikes-unless-sanctions-end-and-reparations-are-paid\">nuclear wa<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thedailybeast.com\/wild-kremlin-tv-hosts-threaten-the-us-with-nuclear-strikes-unless-sanctions-end-and-reparations-are-paid\">r<\/a>\u00a0made on Russian television; even the habit, established a few years back, of practicing\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/css.ethz.ch\/en\/services\/digital-library\/articles\/article.html\/109702\">the use of nuclear weapons<\/a>\u00a0during military exercises, sometimes to simulate a hit on Warsaw, sometimes to simulate a bomb exploding in the air\u2014all of that has a purpose \u2026<\/p>\n<p class=\"ArticleParagraph_root__wy3UI\">There is only one rule: We cannot be afraid. Russia wants us to be afraid\u2014so afraid that we are crippled by fear, that we cannot make decisions, that we withdraw altogether, leaving the way open for a Russian conquest of Ukraine, and eventually of Poland or even further into Europe. Putin remembers very well an era when Soviet troops controlled the eastern half of Germany. But the threat to those countries will not decrease if Russia carries out massacres in Ukraine. It will grow.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ArticleParagraph_root__wy3UI\">Instead of fear, we should focus on a Ukrainian victory. Once we understand that this is the goal, then we can think about how to achieve it, whether through temporary boycotts of Russian gas, oil, and coal; military exercises elsewhere in the world that will distract Russian troops; humanitarian airlifts on the scale of 1948 Berlin; or more and better weapons.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Applebaum\u2019s bellicose article prompted <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/kausmickey\/status\/1506437594573328386?s=20&#038;t=IWmgqMc8-EjIBCHZrz-ESg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">criticism<\/a>, but there are other bellicose calls for action, despite the threat of nuclear war.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Like it or not, Putin has already forced World War Three upon us. The sooner we come to grips with it, the better our chances. This problem, like so many of our problems, won&#8217;t disappear by pretending it isn&#8217;t happening.<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Wesley Clark (@WesClarkjr) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/WesClarkjr\/status\/1506255014863331335?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">March 22, 2022<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B4\" class=\"a8d adSo\"><\/figure>\n<p>Former President Donald Trump suggested on March 21 the U.S. federal government tout its force of nuclear-missile submarines to counter any Russian threats to use nuclear weapons if their invasion of Ukraine is being blocked.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI listened to him constantly using the N-word,\u201d Trump <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=X-c1Me0Kezg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">told Fox News<\/a>, likely referring to Russian dictator Vladimir Putin. He continued:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>That\u2019s the N-word. And he\u2019s constantly using it, the nuclear word \u2026 We say \u201cOh, he\u2019s a nuclear power.\u201d But we\u2019re a greater nuclear power. We have the greatest submarines, the world\u2019s most powerful machines ever built, and got built under me. Most powerful machines ever built and nobody knows where they are. And you should say, \u201cLook, you mention that word one more time, we\u2019re gonna send them over, we\u2019ll be coasting back and forth, up and down your coast.\u2019<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>\u201cWe have brand new stuff that\u2019s immensely powerful and hope to God you\u2019ll never have to use because it would be that would be the tragedy of all tragedies. But if we didn\u2019t have it, we couldn\u2019t talk,\u201d Trump said.<\/p>\n<p>Trump\u2019s nuclear threat came as he urged more military aid:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>He\u2019s killing thousands and thousands of people \u2026 What he\u2019s doing is a human tragedy. There\u2019s not been anything like this, in a sense, maybe ever, but certainly since World War Two. When you look at it, but there\u2019s never been anything like this \u2026 You can\u2019t let this tragedy continue. You can\u2019t let these thousands of people die. It\u2019s going to be hundreds of thousands and maybe millions of people by the time it ends.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Trump also urged more military aid to Ukraine, even though Ukraine\u2019s use of U.S. weapons may be spurring Russian officials mention of nuclear weapons:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>We have drones that are just as effective as just about anything in the air, anything you can do with the air. And you can do drones plus they give back tremendous amounts of information and the information leads missiles right to whatever the hell target they are from Ukraine, so therefore you\u2019re being neutral. It\u2019s so ridiculous.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Ob March 22, a Russian official hinted at the use of nuclear weapons if Ukraine\u2019s government does not give up its Russian-majority eastern districts, CNN <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2022\/03\/22\/europe\/amanpour-peskov-interview-ukraine-intl\/index.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">reported<\/a>:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>In an interview with CNN\u2019s Christiane Amanpour on Tuesday, [spokesman] Dmitry Peskov repeatedly refused to rule out that Russia would consider using nuclear weapons against what Moscow saw as an \u201cexistential threat.\u201d When asked under what conditions [Vladimir] Putin would use Russia\u2019s nuclear capability, Peskov replied, \u201cif it is an existential threat for our country, then it can be.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The United States condemned Peskov\u2019s \u201cdangerous\u201d comments. \u201cIt\u2019s not the way a responsible nuclear power should act,\u201d Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby told reporters on Tuesday.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>But there is also a growing number of people speaking out against escalatory actions that cause a catastrophic nuclear war over the political status of Ukraine\u2019s little-known Eastern provinces.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_20355032\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/media.breitbart.com\/media\/2022\/03\/GettyImages-1238944175.jpg\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\"><em>A demonstrator holds a placard while taking part in a rally in Trafalgar square in central London, on March 5, 2022, to show support for Ukraine and to protest against Russia\u2019s invasion of the country. (BEN STANSALL\/AFP via Getty Images)<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>\u201cThe Russian military is a paper tiger: poor supply, poor equipment, and poor training compared to its Western opponents,\u201d said <a href=\"https:\/\/oceandrops.substack.com\/p\/russo-ukrainian-conflict-notes-on?r=o7w0c&#038;s=w&#038;utm_campaign=post&#038;utm_medium=web\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">an article<\/a> onsubstack.com. \u201cThe application of nuclear threat provides Russia with leverage in a liberal world order it can not keep up with \u2026 Russia\u2019s nuclear arsenal is its trump card,\u201d it said, adding:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>Current reporting on the crisis in Ukraine frames the aggression as stemming from pure irrationality, despite over a decade of international political developments that have foreshadowed Russian strategy against Western expansion. Ukraine is a strategic buffer between Russia and the West. The existence of a pro-West Ukraine poses a significant security threat to Russia.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>\u201cWestern caricatures explicitly liken Putin to Adolf Hitler. And you\u00a0don\u2019t negotiate with Nazis. The consequences are dire. Anyone alive during the Cold War or with any knowledge of the nuclear stakes should be wary of ratcheting up conflicts,\u201d said <a href=\"https:\/\/compactmag.com\/article\/pretending-putin-is-hitler-endangers-us-all\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">a May 22 article<\/a> in CompactNag.com.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhile conflicts indeed involve great acts of sacrifice and heroism, and certainly a great deal of evil, such stories simplify a complex reality and militate against caution. We can become too easily convinced that dangerous wars are just and necessary and even large death tolls are a worthwhile sacrifice,\u201d the essay said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Advocates and national security wonks are chattering about the possibility of nuclear war starting in Ukraine. \u201cNATO, and especially the U.S., must now prepare for harrowing decisions after a<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":39,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1398031","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1398031","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/39"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1398031"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1398031\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1398031"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1398031"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1398031"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}