Hiroshima Anniversary? Let's Celebrate with Another Nuclear War!Anyone Can Join In, Including Israel.
This being the eightieth anniversary of Hiroshima, the nuclear powers have clearly opted to celebrate the occasion by preparing for a repeat exercise, one that will far surpass the original in scale and destruction. On August 4, the Russian foreign ministry announced that Moscow is dropping its unilateral observance of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty that limits stationing short and medium-range nuclear missiles close to the border with unfriendly countries. The announcement was something of a formality, given Putin’s declaration last week that he will station multi-warhead Oreshnik missiles in Belarus. "Russia no longer has any restrictions on this matter, Russia no longer considers itself limited by anything," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said today. For his part Donald Trump has revealed on Truth Social that he had ordered U.S. nuclear missile submarines closer to Russia, a move he said was prompted by a bellicose tweet from former President and current deputy national security adviser Dmitry Medvedev that was in turn sparked by Trump’s threat to impose further sanctions on Russia absent a ceasefire. “..Each new ultimatum is a threat and a step towards war,” tweeted Medvedev. “Not between Russia and Ukraine, but with his own country. Don't go down the Sleepy Joe road!” (Maybe the invocation of the loathed and despised Biden was what drove Trump to up the nuclear ante.) If the sub move was visible only on Truth Social, the despatch of a consignment of B-61-12 nuclear bombs, optimized for tactical use, from the U.S. to the USAF base at Lakenheath, Suffolk was quite public, being assiduously tracked and photographed, apparently without molestation, by the anti-nuclear British group Nukewatch. Nuclear deployments and threats of deployment have been a looming presence as Cold War II has edged ever-closer to World War III. In May, 2020, for example, the U.S, Ambassador in Warsaw, Georgette Mossbacher, mooted moving U.S. nuclear bombs from Germany to Poland. This was taken very seriously in Moscow, and elicited a furious denunciation from Russian foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakarova. I am told that the bruited stationing of nukes close to the Russian border was an important factor in the lead-up to Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. Meanwhile, nuclear threats have not been confined to the European theater. I am informed that Trump’s decision to abandon negotiations with Iran and instead dispatch his bunker busters to strike the Fordow nuclear enrichment site was prompted by intelligence that Netanyahu was prepared to strike Fordow himself, not with conventional bombs, but with Israel’s own version of the B-61-12. Given that the strike, despite confident reports to the contrary, did not destroy the facility, which may be up and running again in the not-too-distant future, this is a nuclear threat that will run and run, one of many. Before you go: Please do click that ♡ button.Invite your friends and earn rewardsIf you enjoy Spoils of War, share it with your friends and earn rewards when they subscribe. |