The world should take Russia’s escalating nuclear threats very seriously, senior intelligence officials told lawmakers Tuesday, while noting that they have not yet seen clear indications that Russian leader Vladimir Putin would respond to military setbacks in Ukraine with nukes.

Let’s set the record straight, Vladimir Putin is absolutely in the driver’s seat, he knows it, Ukraine knows it and the whole world knows it. Not only that, Putin has painted himself into a corner from which there is no retreat, only forward motion, and he is well aware of the cost of doing so. Nuclear. Adolf Hitler was the “funny little man with the moustache” that no one took seriously, right up to the moment when Hitler set the world on fire. Have we learned anything since then? We’re about to find out.

“The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun. Is there any thing whereof it may be said, See, this is new? it hath been already of old time, which was before us.” Ecclesiastes 1:9,10 (KJB)

How real is the threat of Russia using nuclear weapons? On a scale of 1 to 10, I would say that as of this writing it’s about an 8.5. And rising. Until you understand Hitler you will never understand Putin, and you will never understand either one outside of Bible prophecy. Hitler was operating on a spiritual level, as is Putin, and when that takes place, all bets are off. Hitler believed he was the messiah that would lead Europe for a thousand years, his words, and Putin believes he is the incarnation of Saint Vlad of the Rus. What is your answer to that? If you think having Starbucks and McDonald’s closing up shop, and Visa and Mastercard cutting Russia off does anything other than make Putin laugh as he falls asleep, you have another thing coming. Vladimir Putin has thrown down the gauntlet and burned his bridge behind him, how do you answer that? If Ukraine was smart, they would negotiate, accept concessions and make a deal. Or, they can see how far Putin is prepared to go, because guess what? Putin is “all in”, and you better bring your A-game. Putin has certainly brought his.

Concern Rising That Putin Could Use Nuclear Weapons

FROM DEFENSE ONE: Putin sparked alarm among nuclear watchers last month when he ordered the country’s nuclear forces be put on a “special regime of combat duty.” Speaking to lawmakers on Tuesday, Avril Haines, the director of Office of the Director for National Intelligence, said that move was mostly “signaling” to keep NATO from intervening in Ukraine.

“He is effectively signaling that he’s attempting to deter and that he has done that in other ways. For example, having the strategic nuclear forces exercise that we indicated had been postponed until February, again, then as a method of effectively deterring,” Haines said.

It’s not the first time Russian officials have said NATO activity in Ukraine could prompt them to use nuclear weapons. In 2017, Russian parliamentarian Vyacheslav Nikonov made a similar statement. But Haines and others told U.S. lawmakers that as the Russian invasion stalls, the threat of nuclear use is rising.

At the hearing, CIA director William Burns said the Russian military doctrine contemplates the use of smaller tactical nuclear weapons.

“You know, Russian doctrine holds that you escalate to de-escalate, and so I think the risk would rise, according to the doctrine,” Burns said.

Army Lt. Gen. Scott Berrier, the head of the Defense Intelligence Agency, told lawmakers that Putin may think such weapons give him an asymmetric advantage.

“I also believe that when he says something, we should listen very, very carefully and maybe take him at his word. So this question is the one that analysts are pondering right now, and I think we really do some more work on it,” Berrier said.

A former senior White House official familiar with Russian nuclear security issues told Defense One that the risk of a Russian first nuclear use is rising, largely because Putin doesn’t view such weapons in the same way as the United States, or even the former Soviet Union.

“The United States has newer weapons to deter conventional conflict…Russia has nuclear weapons as part of a warfighting battle plan,” said the official, who called them just a “warfighting tool” for Russia. The former official said the danger is increasing “precisely because the conflict in Ukraine is going badly.”

The official outlined a scenario in which Putin consolidates some gains in southern Ukraine but fails to install a new puppet regime.

“Ukrainians may or may not cease and desist. The West may or may not continue to arm the Ukrainian insurgency and [Putin] might decide, ‘OK. I’m going to set off a bomb somewhere in western Ukraine to send a message that I have crossed the nuclear threshold, and you can follow me if you want.” READ MORE

Putin’s nuclear ‘blackmail’ of Ukraine is ‘incredibly worrying’

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The post The World Failed To Take Adolf Hitler Seriously And Paid The Price, We Would Do Well To Take Putin Seriously And Get Prepared For Nuclear War appeared first on Now The End Begins.