I would have to assume the DOD is mindful that the bulk of our elected leadership will be at one place at one time (with a few purposeful exceptions) during the SOTU speech.
Well, then I hope whomever carries around that magic "launch-box" shoots the bastard in the head when he tries it.
And an outing of all Russia's enablers in other countries who have done Putin's bidding for the last 20+ years.
Belarus threatening to get nukes, btw, is ironic because part of the nonsensical argument in favor of attacking Ukraine was the worry Ukraine might get nukes/house nukes. Just saying.
Hitler has concentration camps and ordered his armies to be slaughtered rather than surrender. We can safely call this a tie or put one on front of the other and it doesn’t matter.
Massive resupply, intel, surveillance and targeting data assets. A B52 or B1 strike wouldn’t surprise me in the least. Interdiction missions wouldn’t surprise me either.
The bottom part is my worry. People trying to avoid escalation, which is fine, should probably resign themselves to the fact Putin WANTS an escalation and would probably feel justified in nuking people no matter what. So at what point does the world say, that's it, and go full-scale? I don't want that. And I like what I'm seeing about planes monitoring radiation, satellite networks, etc. I hope locally (ie US) the military is mobilizing assets to ready positions so if it does come to it, the US is ready. Because short of killing him I don't think he's going to stop, unfortunately. And I Pray to God I'm wrong.
If they launch everything, much less a counter strike by Western Democracies,Human Civilization as we know it, ends.
Here we are, still stuck in the legacy of WW1 - 30 Million dead WW1 60 million dead WW2 Whats the next butchers bill??3 Billion??? This is scary times.
Ukraine is not and has not applied to become a member of NATO. In no way has it represented a threat to Russia except as perhaps as an independent democratic model rather than as an authoritarian state subservient to Russia. You are correct to the extent that given Putin's goal of restoring the influence of the Russia to what it was under the former Soviet Union including restoring its influence over the Eastern European countries that were part of the former Warsaw Pact are now part of NATO, Putin decided that it was time to send a message that enough is enough. Ukraine is also somewhat different than the other countries in that although it has a separate identity, except for relatively short periods of time, it has been part of Russia for hundreds of years. Before there was a Soviet Union, Ukraine was incorporated into the Russian empire under the Czars. In some respects Vladimir Putin views himself as much as a Russian leader in the tradition of the Czars as he does as a Soviet type leader like Stalin or Brezhnev.
Yes however Russian Communists BUTCHERED the Ukrainian property holding classes, intellectuals, liberals, homosexuals, or anyone not wholly obedient and subservient to the Communist Revolution.
