Brinkmanship and dangers of an unintentional nuclear war

War mongering and brinkmanship are escalating in the European theatre, where the US and NATO are fighting a proxy war with Russia in Ukraine.  On March 14, a US MQ-9 Reaper drone was brought down over the Black Sea by Russian fighter jets, after the drone allegedly violated Russian airspace and carried out its flight with transponders turned off.  

The US and sections of the Western media made a huge hue and cry claiming the Russian fighters engaged in reckless maneuvers which brought down the drone. 

Subsequently, on March 20, as if to test the resolve of Russia, the Independent, a British national newspaper, reported that on March 21 a Russian jet intercepted two US nuclear bombers over the Baltic Sea as they were approaching Russia’s borders. The Russian Defence Ministry the Independent said, released footage on Tuesday, which it claimed was captured from a Russian Su-35 on Monday.

It said its fighter jet met B-52 strategic bombers flying towards the Russian border on Monday, but that it returned to base after they moved away.

On March 26 Russian President Putin announced he would be stationing tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus –a staunch supporter of Russia- sending a warning to the US and its NATO allies that Russia would not stomach continuing provocations unanswered. Putin said his stationing of nuclear weapons was similar to that of the US, which has stationed its nuclear weapons in Europe. 

Reuters quoted Putin as saying “there is nothing unusual here; the US has been doing this for decades. They have long deployed their tactical weapons on the territories of their allied countries…”

What is worrying however is that this is the first time since the mid-1990s, Russia will base such destructive weapons outside the country.

The US reacted cautiously, saying there were no signs Russia intended to use its nuclear weapons. NATO countries however reacted differently, castigating President Putin over the threat to station nuclear weapons in Belarus.

NATO Spokesperson Oano Longescu declared, “Russia’s nuclear rhetoric is dangerous and irresponsible. “NATO is vigilant and closely monitoring the situation. We have not seen any changes in Russia’s posture that would lead us to change our own…”

What folly? The only person who has the power to unleash NATO’s firepower is the American President. Member states do not even have the power to leave the organisation (NATO) until a year after they formally indicate they intend to leave the grouping.

NATO member-states do not even have the power to extradite persons living in the US, who may have attempted to overthrow the said member States Government. NATO member Turkey learned this in the aftermath of an attempted coup to overthrow President Erdogan in 2016.

The alleged coup leader continues to live in the US with no restrictions on his movements. While Turkey has repeatedly called for the extradition of the alleged coup leader, the US has blocked his extradition. 

Similarly, when a US embassy employee’s wife, who did not enjoy diplomatic immunity in Britain, killed a British youngster in a road accident in the UK and fled to the US, the UK Government was unable to bring her back to face trial.  Meanwhile, Russian Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muratov has referred to Russian TV channels propagating a view that nuclear war is not a bad thing.

Senior Russian officials are warning NATO should not push Russia too far. On Thursday, the BBC announced -Nikolai Patrushev- a close aide of the Russian President warned, that Russia had a “modern unique weapon capable of destroying any enemy, including the United States.

These gung-ho attitudes and threats from both sides are not only normalising war but appear to be preparing the people of Europe for a nuclear war -making it seem inevitable. 

It is time the two principal antagonists –the US/NATO combine and Russia- take a step back. It is time to rethink. Invasions and wars are wrong. Threats to a nation’s security often lead to war or warlike situations, as was the case with the aforementioned Cuban Missile Crisis. Fortunately, cooler heads prevailed at that time.

Today, if Mexico, the immediate neighbour of the US, were to invite Russia to bring in its missiles and troops to be based in that country for fear of US interference, what would the US reaction be?

This is a hypothetical question, but a valid one. What Ukraine is to Russia, is what Mexico is to the US.