Washington explains reality to Moscow
Notes on the News
Either they read the Cosmopolitan Globalist yesterday or they’re paying more attention than I realized. Biden is still missing in action, but Senators Blumenthal and Graham clearly realized someone needed to say this—and so they said it.
Watch it through:
These are the right words, and it’s about time.
If Biden is capable of making the same statement, in the same tone, he should. If he isn’t, I’d say, it’s time for Article 25—but considering what that would lead to, let’s just let Graham and Blumenthal handle this.
I read the article yesterday, and it´s the same media/hype cycle the Russians have spewed since this invaded in the first place. Putin says something indicating (but never committing) that he would use nukes in some hypothetical. The Western press picks this up, everyone runs around yelling about this and nothing comes of it. The first time was back in April of 22 when he was yakking about putting his nuclear forces on high alert. And then... he didn´t. The forces did not go on alert. It happened again in July/August sometime, again in September/October and so on; this would be the sixth or seventh cycle of the Russians saying that things are going great in Ukraine (or terribly), and they would win instantly if NATO would stop supplying Ukraine with weapons, and also they´re going to win anyway because they´re willing to get all their guys killed, and the West will give up anytime now because some dudes wear dresses or whatever BS is to hand.
None of that has happened.
There are plenty of people agitating for US/Europe to knife Ukraine in the back and cut off their supplies so Putin can have his victory and his friends can go back to *talking* about how tough Putin is (because they like him! they really really like him!), but the supplies keep rolling in for UKR and the RF keeps not getting anywhere on the battlefield. (It´s quite a thing to argue to be in the West and argue that Putin is so awesome and intimidating that we should surrender now while also arguing that we should feel really really bad for the poor poor oppressed Russians and so we should just spot them this one victory so they´ll feel better about themselves.)
At any rate, anytime there´s a Ukrainian success (such as damaging a Russian bridge) they go back to yelling they´re going to vaporize a NATO country and that keeps not working not intimidating the West into quitting. Deterrence itself is working: nothing has been nuked.
¨These are the right words, and it’s about time.¨
Biden already said their would be a massive conventional retaliation last year. Graham and Blumenthal are pushing for extending the Article V nuclear shield to Ukraine. Karaganov´s article appeared to be pushing for a strike on Poland, which is already covered by Article V, and that would be a very serious escalation. Zero signs Putin´s going to do that.
The Ukrainians are on the offensive and the Russians are spewing agit-prop for the purposes of drowning out what´s going on in Ukraine. Once again taking a flyer on bluffing the West out of supplying weapons. Meantime Prigozhin is busy semi-staging a coup (or a pretend-coup) and Putin is moving against him and I´m like - this is great! I would be delighted for the Russians to start punching each in the face - or shooting each other in face.
elm
keen to not get in the way while they´re busy destroying themselves
Be nice if it were serious.
A NATO response requires unanimity. Who, besides Poland and the Baltics would agree promptly (or at all)? Macron will not. Sunak will not. Scholz will not. Meloni will not.
Promptly: before Putin is entering Poland and after having overrun the Baltics. Even then Scholz will continue to waffle. Biden has backed down from Putin every time Putin utters the magic incantation: "nuclear weapons."
And rest assured, if Putin goes nuclear in Ukraine, he'll try to go all the way, conventionally if possible, with further nuclear threats if necessary.
Eric Hines