Zelensky’s Starring Role in Dr Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb

We have now entered the world of Dr Strangelove

Today Ukraine get the bomb… the UK hand over Storm Shadow missiles…

It has been over a year since Russia made its decisive move into the Ukrainian civil war, dispatching troops to the Donbas region, an area encompassing approximately 50,000 square kilometres, accounting for around 13% of Ukraine’s total land area.

This contested region comprises Donetsk and Luhansk provinces, with Donetsk covering roughly 26,500 square kilometres and Luhansk spanning around 26,200 square kilometres. It was in this troubled territory that a significant portion of Ukraine’s population resided—4.5 million individuals caught in the crossfire of a brutal civil war that raged on for eight long years before Russia’s formal involvement on February 24, 2022.

It is an area scarred by the agonising toll of Fourteen Thousand Deaths, a grim milestone that went unnoticed for far too long.

Again an area that witnessed Fourteen Thousand Deaths before anyone paid anyone notice.

Now Ukraine has become the latest in a series of forever wars with the industrial arms complex feeding the riders of the apocalypse, literally like there will be no tomorrow.

This is a war of attrition, where the lifeblood of former brothers and neighbours drenches the soil, yet no one calls for a ceasefire or seeks a path to peace. Instead, it is an inexorable march towards oblivion, step by step, with the oligarchy all too eager to indulge in the spoils of war, their bank balances swelling as the butcher’s bill grows. And Blackrock looms ready like a vulture to pick apart the carcass of Ukraine gorging on its assets if there are any left.

Some advocate that Russia should just withdraw, of course, they have no consideration for the millions that held out in that long 8-year civil war against the Ukrainian state.

As Elon Musk pointed out these people represented the pro-Russian Party before the coup of 2014 and the rise of the Nazis across Ukraine.

Now here we are standing on a precipice, teetering between the destructive forces of power and the yearning for peace. The echoes of Dr Strangelove reverberate in our minds, reminding us of the harrowing consequences that await if we allow this descent into chaos to continue unchecked.

And while peace is only a phone call away we see more arms shipped to feed the frenzy and Zelensky gets his bomb…

Beyond Borders: UK Provides Ukraine with Advanced Storm Shadow Missiles

In a significant move to arm Ukraine against Russian forces, the UK has confirmed the supply of long-range missiles, specifically the Storm Shadow cruise missile, requested by Ukraine.

Storm Shadow is an Anglo-French low-observable, long-range, air-launched cruise missile developed since 1994 by Matra and British Aerospace, and now manufactured by MBDA. Storm Shadow is the weapon’s British appellation.

The Storm Shadow missile, manufactured with a range of approximately 560 km (300 nmi; 350 mi), and delivers a conventional BROACH warhead of 450kg., it surpasses the capabilities of the Himars missiles previously supplied by the United States, which have a range of around 80km (50 miles). This development equips Ukraine with new offensive capabilities as it prepares to counter Russia.

The extended range of the Storm Shadow missiles grants Ukrainian pilots the ability to engage from anywhere in Ukraine reaching deep into the Donbas region even into Russia, with a massively reduced exposure to the frontlines. These missiles, designed to be launched from aircraft, employ low-altitude manoeuvres to evade enemy radar detection before homing in on their targets using infrared seekers.

Tory Defence Secretary Ben Wallace announced the decision to supply the missiles during a session in the House of Commons, following repeated appeals from Ukraine for additional weaponry from Western allies. Wallace emphasised that the missiles would allow Ukraine to push back Russian forces operating within Ukrainian sovereign territory.

Earlier this year, Ukrainian Defence Minister Oleksii Reznikov assured the international community that longer-range missiles would not be used to attack targets within Russia itself. He emphasized Ukraine’s commitment to providing guarantees that the weapons would not be involved in offensive actions against Russian territory.

In February, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak expressed his readiness to dispatch long-range missiles to Ukraine, and subsequently, the British government initiated a procurement process for their acquisition. Sunak emphasised the importance of aiding Ukraine in shielding its cities from Russian aggression, asserting the United Kingdom’s position as the first country to provide Ukraine with longer-range weapons.

The announcement of the arms shipment to Ukraine has drawn a response from the Kremlin, with spokesman Dmitry Peskov warning of an “appropriate” military reaction if Ukrainian forces employ the British-supplied Storm Shadow weapons.

The Storm Shadow missile has been utilised by both the British and French air forces and has seen action in conflicts such as the Gulf War, Iraq War, and the Libyan Civil War. Notably, this recent arms promise to Ukraine was initially reported and confirmed by The Washington Post two days ago but only realised by British media today.

The weird world of warmongers

While some view the provision of advanced weaponry to Ukraine as a necessary measure to counter Russian aggression, others caution against the risks of further escalation. Warmongers advocating for a war with Russia downplay the potential consequences and fail to recognise the gravity of the situation.

It was toe-curling to read Historian Timothy Snyder, in an op-ed for The Times, openly calling for a NATO war with Russia, disregarding the hazards associated with such a conflict.

In a guest opinion piece in the Times titled “We Forget Nuclear Powers Have Lost Wars,” Snyder concludes, “When Russians talk about nuclear war, the safest response is to ensure their very conventional defeat.” (Without explanation, the headline was changed to “Putin Is Fighting, and Losing, His Last War.”)

Snyder complains that “Americans’ fear of escalation delayed the supply of weapons that could have allowed Ukraine to win last year. One after the other, the weapons systems deemed escalatory have now been delivered, with no negative consequences.”

Demanding the “defeat” of Russia, Snyder makes the following extraordinary statement: “Russia has 11 time zones of space for retreating soldiers and plenty of practice in propaganda refashionings.”

In calling for the “defeat” of nuclear-armed Russia, Snyder declares:

“No option is without hazards.”

The statement is redolent of the assertion by General “Buck” Turgidson in Dr Strangelove that “I’m not saying we won’t get our hair mussed” in the event of a thermonuclear war.

A pathetic naive acceptance of collateral damage in a nuclear war, a war with no winners.

Furthermore, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg’s recent interview with the Washington Post sheds light on the alliance’s true objectives. Stoltenberg unequivocally states that recapturing the territories lost by Ukraine in 2014, particularly Crimea, remains a central goal for NATO.

NATO's Stoltenberg: "The war didn't start in February last year, the war started in 2014."
Stoltenberg is right. The war started in 2014 with a US so-called regime change commonly known as a coup and we are all paying the price now… #WWWIII pic.twitter.com/xggofm5OE5

— Labour Heartlands (@Labourheartland) February 24, 2023

This contradicts the narrative presented by the NATO powers that they were merely responding to an unprovoked war. The interview also highlights the extensive transformation and reinforcement of NATO’s military capabilities since 2014, with combat-ready troops stationed in the eastern part of the alliance and increased defence spending.

Stoltenberg declared, “The war in Ukraine has fundamentally changed NATO, but then you have to remember the war didn’t start in 2022. The war started in 2014. And since then, NATO has implemented the biggest reinforcement of our collective defence since the end of the Cold War.”

Stoltenberg continued, “For the first time in our history, we have combat-ready troops in the eastern part of the alliance, the battle groups in Poland, Lithuania, the Baltic countries, actually the whole eight battle groups from the Baltic Sea down to the Black Sea. Higher readiness of our forces. And increased defence spending. Until 2014, NATO allies were reducing defence budgets. Since 2014, all allies across Europe and Canada have significantly increased their defence spending. And we have modernized our command structure, we have more exercises, we have established new military domains like cyber. So in totality, this is a huge transformation of NATO that started in 2014.”

He added, “No other major power has 30 friends and allies as the United States has in NATO. Neither Russia nor China has anything similar. And together, NATO allies represent 50 percent of the world’s military might and 50 percent of the world’s economic might.”

This passage blows apart the narrative by the NATO powers that the conflict was an “unprovoked war.” Instead, it makes clear that the NATO powers provoked and escalated the conflict with the aim of reversing the territorial losses they incurred that year.