The Prelude to World War III Just Happened, And Almost Nobody is Talking About It

Ukraine has launched American-made missiles into Russia, despite Putin's warnings that this would constitute a Western act of war.

A screenshot from the 1983 movie, Wargames. If you know, you know.

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My generation grew up under the thread of global thermonuclear war between the United States and Russia.

Today, I am being reminded of that specter from my childhood.

Yesterday, I told you that President Biden authorized the Ukranian use of long-range missiles manufactured in the United States, despite Putin’s warning that he would consider this an act of war by America. The move was lauded by former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who wants to take things even further:

Today, reports have emerged that escalation has already begun. Ukraine has launched five of these missiles into Western Russia:

At 3:25 a.m. local time (7:25 p.m. ET) Tuesday, Ukraine fired six ballistic missiles at a facility in Bryansk, the ministry said. It said that American-made ATACMS missiles had been used in the attack.

Russian air defenses said they shot down five of the missiles and another was damaged. Fragments from the damaged missile fell on the territory of a military facility, causing a fire that has since been extinguished. There were no casualties or damage.

While news outlets are reporting on this development, it has not bubbled up to the level of public consciousness. On Twitter/X this morning, where discussions of current events are usually on the bleeding edge, I saw very few posts about this very serious escalation in the conflict — an escalation that could drag the entire West into the war.

But the awareness is slowly building.

As for the rapid launch of the ATACSM missiles after yesterday’s authorization, I can only say that the escalation by the Biden admin — whoever is running things — feels intentional.

I had asked in a video the weekend after the election — which got me flagged on TikTok for misinformation, incidentally — and again in my first podcast, where all the riots were over the Trump victory. Things seemed too quiet, and I wondered aloud if that’s because they were planning something different this time.

There are few more effective ways to sabotage an incoming administration than to stick it with a global, potentially nuclear conflict.

If this seems extreme, I agree. But I do not see a strategic reason to engage in this kind of reckless brinksmanship. As a refresher, this is what Putin said just a couple of months ago about this kind of cooperation:

I transcribed this for those who would prefer to read it outside of a video context, because it’s very important:

When we are talking about the use of Western-made long-range precision weapons, it is a completely different story. The fact is that I have already mentioned this and any experts will confirm that both in our country and in the west the Ukrainian army is not able to strike with modern long-range precision systems of Western manufacture. It cannot do this. This is possible only with the use of intelligence from satellites which Ukraine does not have. This data is only from satellites of the European Union or the United States. In general, from NATO satellites. [This] is the first thing.

The second [thing] and very important, maybe the key one, is that only NATO servicemen can make flight assignments to these missile systems. Ukrainian servicemen cannot do this. So this is not about whether or not to allow the Ukrainian regime to strike Russia with these weapons. It is a question of deciding whether or not NATO countries are directly involved in military conflicts. If this decision is made, it will mean nothing but direct participation of NATO countries and the United States, European countries in the war in Ukraine. This is their direct participation and this, of course, changes the very essence, the very nature of the conflict.

It will mean that NATO countries — the United States and European countries — are at war with Russia.

And if this is the case, then, bearing in mind the change in the very nature of the conflict, we will make appropriate decisions based on the threats that will be posed to us.

The Nuclear Threat

Today, Russia is already rattling sabers. This morning, the Russian government announced an update to its nuclear doctrine: