This piece was reprinted by OpEd News with permission or license. It may not be reproduced in any form without permission or license from the source.
It did not take a tirade by Sen. Lindsey Graham, or the outspoken "Victory Over Russia in Ukraine" pledges of Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate leader Church Schumer, or the "weakening Russia" objective advertised by Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin to give President Putin a complex.
Nor is it some kind of surprise to him that he is atop the list of those to be removed by "regime change." What causes wonderment is the nonchalant way that prominent US policy officials proceed willy nilly, apparently without really comprehending the dangers at hand - even when those dangers are laid out before them by top intelligence officials like Haines and Burns.
Putin, of course, is under no illusions. He is only too well aware that this is what the U.S.-arranged coup d'etat in Kyiv in 2014 - rightly labeled the "most blatant coup in history" - was all about.
That coup sharpened the Kremlin's understanding of the existential threat Russia faced. If confirmation were needed, it came - surprisingly - from the US Defense Intelligence Agency. In DIA's Dec. 2015 "National Security Strategy Report," DIA Director Lt. Gen. Vincent Stewart asserted:
"The Kremlin is convinced the US is laying the groundwork for regime change in Russia, a conviction further reinforced by the events in Ukraine. Moscow views the US as the critical driver behind the crisis in Ukraine and believes that the overthrow of Yanukovych is the latest move in a long-established pattern of U.S.-orchestrated regime change efforts."
So, you don't have to be paranoid " Paranoia or not, the likelihood that nuclear weapons might be used if Putin "perceives" he is losing in Ukraine is NOT something to be treated with such nonchalance.
Reasonable policy makers would be well advised to change the Conclusion, resting beneath those premises in the fateful syllogism depicted above.
(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).
2
2
1
