Has The Ukraine War Morphed Into Something Much More Sinister? Something Nuclear?

Within the past month, both the United States and the Russian Republic have revised their basic Nuclear Strategy, the basis upon which each country would use Nuclear Weapons. Something big is up.

President Joe Biden apparently changed the US Nuclear Posture in March, with the New York Times releasing the story on August 20. The Times reports that the Document's name is the "Nuclear Employment Guidance," but little else is revealed as this is one of the most secretive top-secret documents. Not even a digital copy of the Document is permitted.

Thus, much of the information is disclosed through Defense Department or State Department Briefings. We can gather that this new Guidance provides for including both China and North Korea as potential US Targets.

The most interesting aspect of this new Nuclear Strategy is that it's being published now. Under the regular review cycle, this update would come in 2026, four years after the 2022 Nuclear Employment Guidance. However, the Biden Administration must have felt they needed to update two years ahead of schedule. Something changed.

Likely, that "change" came from the ongoing conflict in Ukraine. Just last week, two senior Ukrainian officials flew to Washington to request more armaments and the ability to strike Russian Territory directly. As CNN explains:

The head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, Andriy Yermak, and Defense Minister Rustem Umerov will meet with US officials "to try to concretely convince the White House to lift restrictions on long-range weapons strikes on Russian territory," the lawmaker said.

"They will provide a list of priority targets, without which it will be difficult to change the course of the war in Ukraine's favor."

https://www.cnn.com/2024/08/28/politics/ukrainian-officials-biden-administration-russia-targets/index.html

Of course, this is nothing new, as President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has been requesting this same strategy as a way to even the "playing field." Claiming that Ukraine ought to have the ability to strike Russian staging areas. He is forgetting that Russia does not hit Ukraine/NATO staging areas in Hungary or Poland.

But be that as it may, the Kursk incursion is a sure demonstration that Ukraine's leadership is anxious to extend the battlefield into "Mother Russia." This task could only be accomplished with extensive US support, support that might necessitate tactical nuclear weapons. In fighting on its home turf, Russia would have logistical, manpower, and air superiority. Consequently, NATO and Ukraine may need to resort to short-range, close-proximity nuclear weapons.

Such action would require completely revising the Nuclear Employment Strategy discussed above. The 2022 Department of Defense National Defense Strategy (the Document released to Congress and the American People) outlines the four strategic objectives:

Defending the homeland, paced to the growing multi-domain threat posed by the PRC;

Deterring strategic attacks against the United States, Allies, and partners;

Deterring aggression while being prepared to prevail in conflict when necessary - prioritizing the PRC challenge in the Indo-Pacific region, then the Russia challenge in Europe, and;

Building a resilient Joint Force and defense ecosystem.

https://www.defense.gov/National-Defense-Strategy/

However, Ukraine's desire to attack Russia directly would be outside any existing protocols in either the National Defense Strategy or the Nuclear Employment Guidance and would call for immediate revision of both documents.

Is that what's going on here? We don't know. It's all top-secret and not available for public debate.

However, the Russians seem to be thinking along those lines. The week after the New York Times reported that the Biden Administration had revised the American Nuclear Doctrine, Russia responded that it would do the same.

Speaking before a press briefing in Yemen, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that Americans can no longer feel safe behind our vast oceans. If attacked, Russia could indeed reach the American Heartland.

"This is what this American mindset comes down to. They have a mindset of a master sitting somewhere out there overseas, believing to be totally safe and secure.

Lavrov continues:

"We have long been hearing speculation about authorizing Ukraine to use not only the Storm Shadow missiles but also U.S.-made long-range missiles," the minister noted. "Now, all we can do is confirm once again that playing with fire is a dangerous thing for the men and women in charge of nuclear weapons across the Western world, but they are playing with matches as if they never grew up."

https://www.rt.com/russia/603156-lavrov-nuclear-doctrine-children/

That the world's two premier nuclear powers would both change their Doctrine of War within days of each other, speaks volumes. Carefully couched in the legal language of the soldier and the diplomat, the world creeps closer to an atomic abyss.

https://valueside.podbean.com/e/is-the-ukraine-conflict-on-the-brink-of-going-nuclear/