"Biden allows Ukraine to strike Russia with U.S. long-range weapons," reported NPR mid-day Sunday.
A danger worse than the missiles themselves is the possible Russian retaliation against the United States. It could be catastrophic.
Earlier, Russia threatened action against the United States if Ukraine were given permission for this kind of escalation:
"Putin sent a clear warning to the West: don't allow Ukraine to use your long-range missiles to strike Russian territory," reported BBC on September 13, 2023. CBS News added, "Putin says Nato will be 'in the war' if U.S. or allies let Ukraine fire long-range missiles at Russia."
There isn't much ambiguity about that. The bigger issue is "why this, why now?"
Biden made the announcement in the waning days of his administration and at a time when he had already been dismissed by his own party from seeking an additional term in office.
Was this just an impulsive act of a retiring president? Or was it a political act of throwing a hot potato to his adversary, the incoming president Donald Trump? Or did someone else make the decision for Biden?
Handing Trump with an open state of war with Russia would be some big hot potato. It certainly would spoil Trump's plans for a quick and peaceful settlement of the war in Ukraine.
What reasonable rationale could there be for perpetuation of the unabated killing and destruction in Ukraine that have followed Russia's brutal invasion in 2022? Who could favor such a diabolical course in world affairs?
Who could possibly benefit?
Following Trump's tasking of Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy to help clean up government waste, Reuters seems to have answered part of that question; "US defense shares, government contractors fall after Trump efficiency picks."
That creates a double whammy for the defense business: a sharper pencil on defense spending, and giving it one less war to fight. That could make a lot of people very unhappy.
But averting their grief would come at the expense of the American people. If Putin were to carry out his threat to hold us responsible for long-range missile attacks on his homeland, what happens next?
It's one giant step toward a catastrophic nuclear attack on us. Maybe even the start of an out-of-control nuclear war.
The defense industry is not a solitary player in this game of escalation.
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