Author: admin

Here is the critical point about the nuclear option that The New York Times writes, “When Vladimir V. Putin declared Sunday that he was putting his nuclear forces into ‘special combat readiness’ — a heightened alert status reminiscent of some of the most dangerous moments of the Cold War — President Biden and his aides had a choice. … But to many in the administration, who spoke on Sunday on the condition of anonymity, it was a stark reminder of how quickly the Ukraine crisis could spin into a direct superpower confrontation — and how it may yet do so, as Mr. Putin tests how far he can go and threatens to use the ultimate weapon to get there [emphasis added].”

Putin increasing the nuclear force readiness is probably all bravado and meant to rattle the Allies; however, it is worrying that he keeps referencing his nuclear capabilities. I fear that such escalating actions and speech could spiral out of control faster than reason can counteract. I am not one of those who ascribe to Putin being non compos mentis. I do think he is readjusting to more significant pushback from Allied and non-Allied nations, especially relating to sanctions that could very well cripple the Russian economy sooner rather than later. I do think he has dictator syndrome.

What gives me more substantial consternation is the constitutional referendum in Belarus and Belarus joining the war. According to FP, “A constitutional referendum in Belarus this weekend is set to allow Russia to house nuclear weapons on Belarusian soil, fueling concerns across Europe that Minsk is moving further into Moscow’s shadow as war continues in neighboring Ukraine. … Most importantly, it will have the power to remove the president. Given the assembly’s political allegiance, and new rules allowing Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko to be both president and chair of the assembly, the strongman will now be able to control all the mechanisms of power for years [read: president for life].” This is one step closer to Putin rebuilding the U.S.S.R. Indeed, Belarus is literally voting on — and about to pass — the nuclear option.

Moreover, the Kyiv Independent reports, “As Russia fails to inflict quick defeat upon Ukraine after four days of fierce hostilities, Vladimir Putin is about to pull his Belarusian ally, dictator Aleksandr Lukashenko into his war of occupation.” And from the Daily Mail, “The Ukrainian state security service has officially reported that a rocket attack on Zhytomyr Airport – located some 93 miles west of Kiev (sic) – was launched from the territory of Belarus. Belarusian special forces were seen loading onto airplanes in preparation for an air assault on Kyiv in what could be a widening of the war, military sources stated. Ukrainian intelligence has reportedly learned from within Belarus that ‘special ops’ troops have been spotted loading up planes for a major attack. A widening of the conflict to potentially include Russian ally Belarus could signal Vladimir Putin’s growing fury and frustration as the Russian campaign.” This is exactly how world wars start. Entangling alliances draw one state after another into the conflict until, at some point, two distinct rival coalitions form that are fighting beyond the Ukrainian theater of war. If Belarus joins the war, then I hope the West inflicts all the same sanctions on them as they inflicted on Russia.

Directly from the mouth of Sergiy Kyslytsya, Ukrainian Ambassador to the United Nations, “If [Putin] wants to kill himself, he doesn’t need to use nuclear arsenal. He has to do what the guy in Berlin did in a bunker in May 1945.” Of course, the suggestion is for Putin to pull a Hitler, who actually killed himself in April 1945, but the point is well taken. The world is waiting, Putty Boy!

There is one more Russia corollary with Nazi Germany that is worth a bit of opining. Like Hitler, Putin has reached peak dictator syndrome — making poor decisions unilaterally and his generals supinely oblige. Many German generals expressed varying degrees of a desire to depose Hitler throughout his reign, but there was never a majority or consensus to get rid of a leader who was destroying their armies and the country before their eyes. Astonishingly, they persisted and ultimately helped Hitler usher the ruin of a nation. I wonder what is going on with Putin’s generals. At what point do they commit to destroying Russia and, dare I say, the planet? It is almost incomprehensible that humanity revisits itself — so to speak — despite lessons from history. Namely, we have allowed once again a single person to hold hostage the rest of civilization, and there are, no doubt, enough people close to Putin who could change the course of history but will fail to do so.

A Politico headline sums up my feelings exactly, “The West finally throws a punch in its face-off with Russia.” The article goes on to say, “A rash of weekend moves on sanctions, airspace, military aid and more showed that the United States and its allies aren’t afraid to escalate when it comes to helping Ukraine. The gloves are off, at least for now. After months of making careful, measured moves that failed to persuade Russia to halt plans to invade Ukraine, the United States and its European allies have tossed aside caution in favor of a more ruthless strategy [emphasis added].”

I will be the first to admit that I underestimated the resolve of NATO (and the West). I was wrong, and I’m not afraid to admit it. Unfortunately, NATO has decades of evincing weakness and discord in the face of aggression from international bad actors, so I believed this moment would be no different. I suppose that I underestimated the menace of Russia on NATO and the EU doorstep. Funny how the threat of a mid-day hanging focuses the mind for these institutions because, at this point, no one seems to believe Putin would not stop at Ukraine, especially Sweden and Finland. More than any other non-NATO nation, Finland has a long history of being invaded by Russia.

Of course, there is a bit of irony hidden in Europe’s newfound resolve in no small part thanks to traitor trump. While Biden has masterfully cooperated with and led the collision of European countries, NATO must be coming to the stark realization that Putin is more aggressive than they anticipated. Moreover, there is no guarantee the U.S. will be a NATO member after 2024. In short, traitor trump has forced Europe to take matters into their own hands, which may be unintentionally good, but the true strength of Europe is one allied with the U.S. and nothing less.