WhatsappAccording to reports coming out of Ukraine, Ukrainian armed forces fired US supplied ATACMS missiles deep into Russian between the hours of 715 am and 830 am this morning. The attack destroyed an arms depot located in Karachev in the Bryansk region, over 110 km from Ukraine. If confirmed, the missile launch would be the first time Ukraine used such powerful and long range missiles.
When Biden authorized Ukraine’s usage of American supplied ATACMs, the incoming Trump administration and many others on the right questioned the US government’s intentions with just over two months to go before Trump is inaugurated. Putin has always threatened a direct war with NATO if Ukraine was allowed to fire US made long range weapons into Russia.
Biden’s authorization came this past Sunday, which led to Putin immediately lowering the threshold needed for a nuclear counterstrike as well as warning the West that NATO risked a nuclear war if long range weapons like the US supplied ATACMS and the British made Storm Shadow were used.
The use of the ATACMS missile this morning brings the world far closer to an all encompassing global war, possibly with full nuclear exchanges than ever before.
Given the stakes many are wondering why Biden’s team authorized such a drastic change in US policy; especially knowing that Putin may not have a choice except to respond by hitting NATO countries.
Locking Trump In
It is not secret that Trump’s picks for Defense and National Intelligence have shaken the Military Industrial Complex to its core. There is a real fear in the DOD and military itself that Trump and his cabinet want to cut a deal with Putin - at all costs. While, Trump is keenly aware that Putin should not be allowed to roll over Ukraine, he is under no illusion that Kiev has no chance to win back the Donbas.
Trump’s logic make sense in terms of singular deal making, but Putin and the oligarchic class that runs Russia have time and if they have to cut a deal that nets them the Donbas while taking four years to rebuild their military – they will. This type of deal would hand Trump a win in the short term, but give Putin and Russia strategic leverage for the future. After all if you feed the beast, they may just learn they can take more and more.
This is why the defense establishment sees now as their last opportunity to lock Trump into a full scale war with Russia. After Jan. 20th, Trump and his cabinet will be looking for a way to cut a deal with Putin that fulfills Trump’s campaign pledge of essentially bringing world peace - even if the peace Trump brings only lasts for the four years he is in office.
Will Putin Strike NATO?
Given Putin’s threats to the West and Zelensky directive to attack deep into Russia, there are many especially in Eastern Europe and Scandinavia that are bracing for a return strike by Russia. Now that Russia has confirmed the use of at least six of these missiles, a return strike may happen any moment.
With two months to go until Trump takes office, the world may be in a very different place than even Trump thought, rendering many of his plans as obsolete. Then again, the once and future president has been warning America and the world that Biden’s team the Deep State were going to push the world to WW3 if he lost. Now it seems to be happening even though he won.
