{"id":226793,"date":"2021-02-06T07:01:48","date_gmt":"2021-02-06T07:01:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/?p=226793"},"modified":"2021-02-08T07:45:33","modified_gmt":"2021-02-08T07:45:33","slug":"us-admiral-warns-of-real-possibility-of-nuclear-war-with-russia-china","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/?p=226793","title":{"rendered":"US admiral warns of \u2018real possibility\u2019 of nuclear war with Russia, China"},"content":{"rendered":"

Adm. Richard warns that nuclear conflict is now a “real possibility”.<\/p>\n

Yaron Steinbuch \u2013 New York Post Feb 3, 2021<\/strong><\/h1>\n

The admiral who heads the US Strategic Command \u2014 which is responsible for nuclear deterrence \u2014 is calling on the nation\u2019s military and civilian leaders to seek new ways to face threats by Russia and China, including the \u201creal possibility\u201d of nuclear conflict<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Adm. Charles Richard warned that Moscow and Beijing have \u201cbegun to aggressively challenge international norms\u201d in \u201cways not seen since the height of the Cold War.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is a real possibility that a regional crisis with Russia or China could escalate quickly to a conflict involving nuclear weapons, if they perceived a conventional loss would threaten the regime or state,\u201d\u00a0he wrote\u00a0in the February issue of Proceedings, the US Naval Institute\u2019s monthly magazine<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cConsequently, the U.S. military must shift its principal assumption from \u2018nuclear employment is not possible\u2019 to \u2018nuclear employment is a very real possibility,\u2019 and act to meet and deter that reality.\u201d<\/p>\n

He added: \u201cWe cannot approach nuclear deterrence the same way. \u00a0It must be tailored and evolved for the dynamic environment we face.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAt the U.S. Strategic Command, we assess the probability of nuclear use is low, but not \u2018impossible,\u2019 particularly in a crisis and as our nuclear-armed adversaries continue to build capability and exert themselves globally,\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n

In his blunt assessment of the geopolitical landscape, Richard also said the US \u201cmust wrestle with the relationships among competition, deterrence, and assurance. Despite views to the contrary, successful competition does not result in an \u2018end state.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe must rethink how we assess strategic risks and how those assessments inform our planning and execution. Following our conclusion that crisis or conflict with a nuclear-armed adversary could lead to nuclear employment, U.S. Strategic Command embarked on a revised \u2018Risk of Strategic Deterrence Failure\u2019 assessment process to better inform our own thinking,\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Russian frigate test-fires a Tsirkon hypersonic missile. Click to enlarge<\/p><\/div>\n

Richard said the Defense Department \u201cmust reframe how it prioritizes the procurement of future capabilities. Our record in this regard is not stellar,\u201d adding that \u201cwe must ensure that all of our capabilities map to an overarching strategy.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Navy officer added that the US \u201cmust acknowledge the foundational nature of our nation\u2019s strategic nuclear forces, as they create the \u2018maneuver space\u2019 for us to project conventional military power strategically.\u201d<\/p>\n

He expressed his alarm at a spike in \u201ccyberattacks and threats in space\u201d by Russia and China, as well as their investment in advanced weapons, including nukes.<\/p>\n

\u201cNot surprisingly, they are even taking advantage of the global pandemic to advance their national agendas. These behaviors are destabilizing, and if left unchecked, increase the risk of great power crisis or conflict,\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe must actively compete to hold their aggression in check; ceding to their initiatives risks reinforcing their perceptions that the United States is unwilling or unable to respond, which could further embolden them,\u201d Richard continued.<\/p>\n

\u201cAdditionally, our allies may interpret inaction as an unwillingness or inability to lead. Remaining passive may deny us opportunities to position in ways that underpin one of our greatest strengths: strategic power projection,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

He said he bristles when he hears the Defense Department being accused of \u201cbeing stuck in the Cold War.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe department is well past the Cold War; in fact, a large part of our challenge lies in the fact that we no longer view our environment through the lens of potential enemy nuclear employment,\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe United States has sustained global counter-terrorism efforts for two decades \u2014 and has grown accustomed to ignoring the nuclear dimension. Our recent experiences against non-nuclear-armed adversaries have allowed us to believe nuclear use is impossible and not worthy of attention,\u201d Richard continued.<\/p>\n

\u201cFurther, assessing risk is more than just assessing likelihood; it also involves accounting for outcomes. We cannot dismiss or ignore events that currently appear unlikely but, should they occur, would have catastrophic consequences,\u201d Richard added.<\/p>\n

He warned that the nuclear capabilities of the US adversaries are \u201csobering.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMore than a decade ago, Russia began aggressively modernizing its nuclear forces, including its non-treaty-accountable medium- and short-range systems,\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is modernizing bombers, intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs), submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs), nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines, warning systems, command-and-control (C2) capabilities, and the doctrine to underpin their employment \u2014 in short, its entire strategic force structure,\u201d Richard continued.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis modernization is about 70 percent complete and on track to be fully realized in a few years. In addition, Russia is building new and novel systems, such as hypersonic glide vehicles, nuclear-armed and nuclear-powered torpedoes and cruise missiles, and other capabilities,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Richard noted that \u201cuntil we come to a broad understanding of what the threat is and what to do about it, we risk suffering embarrassment \u2014 or perhaps worse \u2014 at the hands of our adversaries.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

With a senile old man in the White House the warmongers are in charge. Are they preparing us mentally for war with Russia and China?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":39262,"featured_media":226794,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[78,61,91],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-226793","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-china","category-Commentary","category-russia"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/226793","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/39262"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=226793"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/226793\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":226798,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/226793\/revisions\/226798"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/226794"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=226793"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=226793"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=226793"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}