Source: The American Conservative
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Matthew Kroenig, a professor of government at Georgetown University and director of the Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security at the Atlantic Council, has argued that the best option for the administration, if faced with a limited Russian nuclear strike in Ukraine, might be to step up backing for Ukraine and conduct a limited conventional strike on the Russian forces or bases that launched the attack.
“If it’s Russian forces in Ukraine that launched the nuclear attack, the United States could strike directly against those forces,” Kroenig said. “It would be calibrated to send a message that this is not a major war coming, this is a limited strike. If you are Putin, what do you do in response? I don’t think you immediately say let’s launch all the nukes at the United States.”
But even a limited conventional strike by the U.S. military against Russia would be viewed as reckless by many in Washington, who would argue against risking a full-scale war with a nuclear-armed Russia.
Gosh, you think?! My God. Is there nobody eager to step in and try to get Ukraine and Russia to the peace table?
It’s good that Russia got its nose bloodied hard, but can we please put a stop to this before it gets out of hand? At the UN yesterday, Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov said that unnamed Western countries that are militarily backing Ukraine — that would include the United States — are seen by Russia as part of this war. I, for one, would rather not risk nuclear war over Donbas. Look, I’m not saying Ukraine should surrender to Russia, whose invasion was immoral and contemptible. Putin’s scarcely-veiled nuclear threat is disgusting, and reveals his thuggish character, just as the mass graves of Izyum disgrace the Russian nation. But I am saying that it is insane that there is serious talk now of nuclear exchanges, and nations aren’t rushing to try to de-escalate tensions and end this war. This is not normal. Nobody wins if nuclear weapons are used. The world changes forever, even if they are used in a limited way by Russia. If that happens, Russia will be a pariah … but a hell of a lot of incinerated people won’t be around to appreciate the world’s contempt for Moscow.
