Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg escalates the threat of nuclear war.
More Reflection on
Putin’s Stark Warning to the West
Larry Johnson / A Son of the New American Revolution
(June 18, 2024) — If there was ever any question that the United States is headed off the edge of a towering cliff, which means plummeting to a grisly death, John Kirby removed all doubts today with this boneheaded, reckless comment:
US President Joe Biden believes NATO is in Ukraine’s future, but there’s “a lot of things that have to be done” before it can join, Kirby said. When a journalist asked him to elaborate on the “vague conditions” and “unclear pathway” Kiev had been given, the official claimed that Washington’s position was “absolutely clear.”
“First they’ve got to win this war,” Kirby said.
“They gotta win the war first. So, number one: We’re doing everything we can to make sure they can do that. Then when the war’s over no matter what it looks like they’re still going to have a long border with Russia and a legitimate security threat,” he said. Washington will assist in building up Ukraine’s military industrial base, although “corruption is still a major concern,” Kirby added.
Put yourself in the shoes of Vladimir Putin or his General Staff. Do you dismiss Kirby’s statement as the ravings of a lunatic or do you accept it at face value — i.e., the United States is committed to fund and supply a war against Russia to ensure her defeat? If I was sitting with the Stavka in Moscow, I would be inclined to believe that Kirby is expressing the true intent and authentic policy of President Biden. They you add in the flights of B-52s and other nuclear-bomb capable aircraft flying up to the borders of Russia and NATO Secretary General Stoltenberg’s remarks today:
NATO is considering deploying more of its nuclear weapons in the face of threats from Russia, China and North Korea, the defense alliance’s leader said.
It is important that NATO “communicate the direct message that we, of course, are a nuclear alliance” by taking more of its warheads out of storage, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said in an interview with The Telegraph published on Sunday.
“I won’t go into operational details about how many nuclear warheads should be operational and which should be stored, but we need to consult on these issues,” he said. “That’s exactly what we’re doing,” he added.
And that is the problem. Delusional statements by senior Biden officials and the head of NATO are ratcheting up tensions between Russia and the West, making the situation more combustible.
If you work in a gunpowder factory, you learn early on that you’re not allowed to smoke while on the job. Reason? If you light one up your employment will end with a big boom and a blinding flash of light.
Kirby, Sullivan, Blinken, and Stoltenberg are covered in black powder and contemplating lighting up a joint. At this point, it does not matter whether these Western clowns are just talking smack, with no intent on following through. Russian military and intelligence officials have no choice but to accept that the United States and NATO are hell-bent on going to war with Russia and they are preparing accordingly. This gets more dangerous with each passing week.
The Judge and I discussed this today.
Webinar:
The Danger and Cost of Land-based ICBMs
With Norman Solomon and Emma Claire Foley
(June 18, 2024) — The risks of nuclear war and the costs of the Federal government’s “War Machine” both continue to escalate. This webinar, taking place during the week of June 10-17 honoring Daniel Ellsberg, will examine Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles, the most costly, vulnerable and dangerous leg of the nuclear triad of land-, sea-, and air-based missiles.
Norman Solomon is a journalist, media critic, author and activist. He is a co-founder and national director of Roots Action, an online advocacy organization that now has upwards of 1.3 million online supporters.
Emma Claire Foley is a nuclear weapons policy expert, writer and filmmaker who has spent her career working for nuclear disarmament campaigns. Her commentaries have been featured in Newsweek, NBC, The Guardian and other international news outlets. She is also active in healthcare organizing through the Democratic Socialists of America.
NATO Threat to Move Nuclear Weapons from
‘Storage’ to ‘Stand-by’ Marks an ‘Escalation of Tension’
Reuters
MOSCOW (June 17, 2924) — The Kremlin said on Monday a remark by NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg that the military alliance was holding talks on deploying more nuclear weapons was an “escalation of tension.”
Stoltenberg told Britain’s Telegraph newspaper that NATO members were consulting about deploying more nuclear weapons, taking them out of storage and placing them on standby in the face of a growing threat from Russia and China.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Stoltenberg’s comments appeared to contradict a communique issued at a weekend conference in Switzerland that said any threat or use of nuclear weapons in the Ukraine context was inadmissible.
The talks, held at the behest of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, were billed as a “peace summit” although Moscow was not invited.
“This is nothing but another escalation of tension,” Peskov said of the NATO secretary general’s remarks.
Stoltenberg later said Russia was trying to create confusion and that his comments referred to the modernization of NATO’s nuclear deterrent, including the replacement of F-16 jets with F-35s and the modernization of weapons deployed in Europe, which he said has been known for a long time.
“Russia is trying a way to always also create a situation where they can blame NATO, and the reality is that NATO is transparent,” Stoltenberg told reporters on a visit to Washington.
NATO had earlier sought to clarify Stoltenberg’s remarks, saying there were no significant changes to its nuclear posture.
“NATO is committed to ensuring a safe, secure and effective nuclear deterrent,” NATO spokesperson Farah Dakhlallah said.
“For that purpose, we have an ongoing modernization program to replace legacy weapons and aircraft,” she said. “Beyond that, there are no significant changes to our nuclear deterrent.”
Russia, which sent troops into Ukraine in 2022, says the United States and its European allies are pushing the world to the brink of nuclear confrontation by giving Ukraine billions of dollars worth of weapons, some of which are being used against Russian territory. President Vladimir Putin has said Russia is technically ready for nuclear war, and that Moscow could use nuclear weapons to defend itself in extreme circumstances.
Russia and the US are by far the world’s biggest nuclear powers, holding about 88 percent of the world’s nuclear weapons, according to the Federation of American Scientists.
The US has about 100 non-strategic B61 nuclear weapons deployed in five European countries — Italy, Germany, Turkiye, Belgium and the Netherlands, according to the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. The US has another 100 such weapons within its borders.
Russia has about 1,558 non-strategic nuclear warheads, though arms control experts say it is very difficult to say just how many there are due to secrecy.
Posted in accordance with Title 17, Section 107, US Code, for noncommercial, educational purposes.
