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“Tit-For-Tat” Finally, a war in which I can hate all sides


Recently, a certain Mr.Putin of Russia delivered a message to the “Collective West” concerning a war. Mr. Putin, alert, focused, and not at all doddering, was blunt:

Today our armed forces, as I have mentioned, are fighting on the line of contact that is over 1,000 kilometres long, fighting not only against neo-Nazi units but actually the entire military machine of the collective West. …

Washington, London and Brussels are openly encouraging Kiev to move the hostilities to our territory. They openly say that Russia must be defeated on the battlefield by any means, and subsequently deprived of political, economic, cultural and any other sovereignty and ransacked.

They have even resorted to the nuclear blackmail. I am referring not only to the Western-encouraged shelling of the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant, which poses a threat of a nuclear disaster, but also to the statements made by some high-ranking representatives of the leading NATO countries on the possibility and admissibility of using weapons of mass destruction – nuclear weapons – against Russia.

I would like to remind those who make such statements regarding Russia that our country has different types of weapons as well, and some of them are more modern than the weapons NATO countries have. In the event of a threat to the territorial integrity of our country and to defend Russia and our people, we will certainly make use of all weapon systems available to us. This is not a bluff.

“This is not a bluff.”  Humm…

The first reaction to this warning from Mr. Putin will be the predictable efforts to denigrate it, a wave of pish-posh what a loser! That’s certainly going to be the first knee-jerk response from the Journalists of the Jerking Knee. These over-paid whores will assume their customary and well-salaried scoffing pose and point out, in their patented hackneyed manner, to wit: “a man who says he is NOT bluffing actually  IS bluffing!”

Mirabile dictu!

All around the media daisy chain sloping foreheads will be slapped. A #officialhashtag will be bot-boosted on Twitter for a bit and then the ever-wanking western war propaganda wagon will roll on. It would be nice to get some war news without a slathering of Global Goulash slapped on its ass like plumbers’ putty, but such are the dreams of children. (Or those with a functioning Telegram account.)

Then again some still small voices hardly heard will whisper, “Hey, what happens if you take Mr. Putin at his word and he really isn’t bluffing? If so, it’s not a threat but a bet. A bet that is existentially blunt. If we raise does he call or go all in?” 

In plain terms, the blunt wager tendered by Mr. Putin seems to be, put bluntly, “Are you willing to exchange the obliteration of Los Angeles for the simultaneous obliteration of St. Petersburg? Or shall we prepare to exchange Moscow for London?” Cold? Yes, but there is still a deeper chill hiding inside this Putinesque proposition.

This wager imagines that we live in a tit-for-tat world. Putin imagines this and we do as well. We think, well, if he does this we then do that. The pretty thought that all tend to cling to is that any nuclear exchange can be “limited” to a global game of firestorm ping-pong. 

The actual global situation which evolves after a single nuke is used is the very antithesis of Ping-Pong; it is more rightly named “Swarm.” It is something measured in millions of corpses squared. Mr. Putin’s wager may be a bluff, but it comes in a world where if a bluff is called and it is not a bluff you are in a much more macabre and grisly strategic situation. You are no longer in the world of tit for tat.

Where tit for tat evaporates is in the white-hot center of a nuclear “event”; then you are in a the real-world real-time realm when there is neither room nor time for a pause; a realm in which there is never a moment to broker a truce or engage in any negotiation whatsoever.  

Once nukes are used the only path toward a win is to send everything as soon as possible; a weapon hoarded is a weapon lost. Send them all. Send them now. Launch on No Warning.

Yes, this is a Hail Mary play but not one made from desperation. It is made because it is the only strategic move left on the board. It is a play made to overwhelm the enemy to such a degree as to degrade, destroy, and erase his retaliatory capability. In short, kill all his forces before he kills all of yours. Nuclear War really is a global game of “Last Man Standing.”

Is Putin’s ploy a bluff? Maybe / Maybe Not. It’s only a bluff until the first nuke launches into its deadly parabola. And that first one is, as we know from myth, always free.

Comments on this entry are closed.

  • Ed P September 26, 2022, 10:08 AM

    Nuking LA would surely be doing it a favor! And the UK has no nukes of its own – they’re all US supplied, managed and cannot be launched without US say-so.

    • Vanderleun September 26, 2022, 11:11 AM

      That’s interesting. I did not know that.

      • ThisIsNotNutella September 26, 2022, 1:35 PM

        It’s not called the Global American Empire by nobody for nothing.

        Like the early Roman Principate, the old forms and proprieties are generally publicly observed, but those who need to know feel the goad when necessary and are regularly reminded where the real power lies.

        FWIW, the university I studied engineering at in Australia in the 80s had an immigrant cadre of ex-UK nuclear engineers who bailed in the early 80s as the collapse of the UK fast breeder project and various strategic and tactical systems which began slamming into affordability and national technical capability brick walls in the 60s reached its sorry climax. They all hated Margaret Thatcher with the heat of a thousand suns (but that’s another story).

    • Fred V September 26, 2022, 3:58 PM

      Hogwash, UK indeed has its own nukes entirely under UK control

      • hooodathunkit September 26, 2022, 8:00 PM

        Probably confused because the US gave the tech to the UK, even lending tooling, scientists, and technicians to get their programs going. Real kudos go to France for going it alone from scratch, not only armed but have the greatest electric power capability in Europe with a couple more plants underway. Pick on them (deservedly) all you want but the French got this part right, and the test will be this winter unless Putin has a huge change of heart.

        …. aaaannnndd China has 3X to 5X the amount listed. Mebbe more. IIRC it was VP Biden who ‘slipped’ and got all the US oriented humint in Xiland terminated, so we don’t know anything anymore, or if we do, we can’t risk the last agent(s?) still living.

        But China’s been on a building binge, and not hiding it either. Notice that they’ve been building new power plants left and right, and they’re almost all coal powered, a resource they have craploads of. The nukulur stuff is going somewhere else; guess where.

        • ThisIsNotNutella September 26, 2022, 8:25 PM

          China has a bunch of new nuclear power stations under construction. These take longer to build than coal powered stations for obvious safety reasons. Agreed that they almost certainly have many more nuclear weapons than acknowledged. Big woop. At this point, I trust them to act rationally with WMD more than I do USGov. Come to think of it, I trust the Iranian Mullahs more than I do USGov.

          Big problem in China is getting all that coal mined in Shanxi, Shaanxi, and Inner Mongolia by rail to some of the coastal industrial regions and population centres — many of which are powered by coal shipped in from Indonesia, Australia, and elsewhere. That being said, word is that earlier this year Xi Jinping called in the mining bosses (many of whom are private billionaire owners — lose this Muh Communism nonsense) and told them to get digging 24/7 and not to worry about the cascading perverse disincentives from environmental KPIs that had all levels of officialdom buzzing about them like flies in recent years — due to geopolitical factors (Ukraine, etc.) all hand-waving virtue signalling is canceled for the present and just mine the @#$%ing coal as fast as you can. In the words of Schmitt: ‘Sovereign is He who makes the Exception’. I think they got a shock last winter with rolling power cuts due to local officials being scared of pollution levels in their districts showing red on higher leadership’s dashboards.

      • ThisIsNotNutella September 26, 2022, 8:10 PM

        You can be sure the US has a kill switch on all of the UK’s Trident missiles.

    • Fletcher Christian September 27, 2022, 5:19 AM

      Baloney. The missiles are US supplied and maintained, but the warheads are all ours – and the UK is most definitely not under the command of the USA in this manner or any other. Unless economic threats are a factor, and I don’t think they are in a nuclear war.

      And why are the warheads all ours? Well, that would be because you stabbed us in the back at the end of WWII. The USA has a habit of cheating its allies.

      • hooodathunkit September 27, 2022, 7:13 AM

        Not questioning your last sentence, but I’d like to hear what made up the second-to-last.
        Can you give some details on the back-stabbing? Thanx.

        • Fletcher Christian September 28, 2022, 8:33 AM

          Bear in mind that much of the technical aspects of the Manhattan Project came from British scientists, many of whom worked at Los Alamos, using the data from the earlier Tube Alloys project. 1946 saw the Atomic Energy Act of 1946, in which all the work done by British scientists was kept (with no British access) by the USA.

          And then we have the American intervention in the Suez crisis of 1956, which led directly to the rise of Arab nationalism and the 70 years of terrorism since then, and arguably to the problems Israel continues to have with its neighbours.

          As for the women and the dentistry, Mr. Austin; well, many people think the American obsession with cosmetic dentistry and cosmetic surgery absurd.

      • Mike Austin September 27, 2022, 5:23 PM

        Fletcher, I see you are whining again. So the US “stabbed Britain in the back”? Now that sounds just like the Nazi’s argument for Germany’s defeat in World War I. The fact is the US saved your skinny asses twice, once in World War I and again in World War II. If we had not intervened in World War II, you Brits would be eating Sauerbraten and Spätzle and drinking Beck’s. But your women would be prettier, and your dentistry would be much improved.

    • Quartermaster September 30, 2022, 8:44 PM

      UK paid a substantial part of the development costs of the nukes they have. They are under their control.

  • ghostsniper September 26, 2022, 10:13 AM

    A world war lasts at least 4 years.
    If you can survive it do you have the means to live through it?
    You aren’t in control of the big picture but possibly you can in part control the little picture.
    Are your ducks in order?

  • jwm September 26, 2022, 10:34 AM

    Y’know, at this point I almost hope he does nuke LA. Just put me at ground zero, and I’ll see y’all on the other side.
    Not feelin’ it this morning.
    BTW- could we have a reprise of Tsar Bomba video? Be appropriate right now.

    JW (fuck this shit) M

    • ThisIsNotNutella September 26, 2022, 2:45 PM

      How about watching LA get nuked from a nice, safe vantage point? I reckon would be enough to perk me up for a while. Be of Good Cheer!

      • Mike Austin September 27, 2022, 5:30 PM

        You forgot San Francisco.

  • Freddo September 26, 2022, 10:49 AM

    Not sure whether and when I will have to fight for my family and house, but I’m sure it is not going to be at the side of the islamists or the sexually-deviant mass-immigration globalists.

  • jwm September 26, 2022, 11:14 AM

    Another thought-
    If Bidet starts WWIII, the donks will lose both the senate and the house in the mid-terms.
    Makes it all worthwhile, right?

    JWM

    • David September 26, 2022, 9:40 PM

      As I like to say to leftist fools who complain about this , that, or the other. Hey , be of good cheer, no matter how bad things get at least Trump is not President.

  • John Venlet September 26, 2022, 12:48 PM

    Predicting what is to come in the Ukraine/Russia dustup is as difficult as attempting to get through Pynchon’s Gravity’s Rainbow.

  • ThisIsNotNutella September 26, 2022, 1:29 PM

    Global Goylash.

    Only 90 nukes and holding, my ass.

    Fun and games aside, I’m a big fan of Listening to Putin and Xi and thinking on their words for a day or three before going into turd flinging monkey mode per our chattering classes and clownish politicians.

  • Buck Turgidson September 26, 2022, 2:09 PM

    Russia has just shy of 6,000 nukes and the US about 5,400. If all are serviceable (which I doubt) then this could be calculated as the US having a numerical advantage because of our accuracy. We’d hit far more targets than Russia. We might get our hair mussed.
    First targets in military planning, should the political leadership decide to observe a military strategy and not a political one, are the other guy’s nukes, and his launching support. Then, his command, control and communications. Not Los Angeles or St Petersburg. That’s science fiction.
    In this military exchange, the purpose is to destroy the enemies nukes or attrit them so well that his nuclear punch is severely blunted. Social scientists and political diaper-wearers will complain that just one city destroyed is too much. Yes, it is too much emotionally, but militarily it is not significant.
    War is hell, but nuclear war is a coxsukr.
    ~KCK
    Have a Nice Day

  • OneGuy September 26, 2022, 3:54 PM

    We don’t “really” know how many nukes Russia has.
    We don’t know how many Russian nukes are viable. They must be maintained or they may not work.
    We (the people) don’t really know how many nukes we have or if they are all viable.
    It is likely that if nukes are used anywhere they will be used everywhere.
    If the U.S. and Russia have a full scale nuclear war most people in North America, Europe and Russia will die, probably 2 billion people.
    It is unlikely that we could have any other sort of nuclear war it will be all or nothing.
    If Russia uses any nukes in Ukraine I believe that will precipitate a full scale nuclear war within hours to days.

    • ghostsniper September 26, 2022, 5:26 PM

      More likely the US sets off a nuke in Ukraine and blames it on Russia.
      I’d bet money on it.
      Otherwise, I agree with all you wrote.

      • ThisIsNotNutella September 26, 2022, 6:07 PM

        Yep… I can easily imagine the Kagan Cabal pulling a stunt like that.

        • Mike Austin September 27, 2022, 5:28 PM

          ThisIsNotNutella: You are correct. It’s the Kagans with their hired bitch Nuland all the way.

          Ghost: Count on it. The US regime in its death throws will take as many nations as possible with it into Hell.

  • ThisIsNotNutella September 26, 2022, 8:39 PM

    In other news, Putin just issued an Ukase (for that is the word they use) granting Edward Snowden Russian Citizenship. Just makes me like the man even more.

    • Vanderleun September 27, 2022, 9:01 AM

      Good for him.

      • Mike Austin September 27, 2022, 5:26 PM

        Yep. Now we have to figure a way to get Julian Assange a Russian passport.

  • Fweedom Pods September 27, 2022, 5:01 AM

    At least you found the silver lining.
    The Kraine is only one more aid package away from victory and Russia is the big “looser” as it adds more territory and cannon fodder for the big show.
    After the war all will finally be equal in the Freedom Pods so keep your social credit score up with right think happy thoughts.

    • Vanderleun September 27, 2022, 8:59 AM

      Sir, yes SIR!

  • Dirk September 27, 2022, 9:05 AM

    That said, your local target packages are up to date,,,,,,,,, Right?

    You would be remiss thinking you got no commies in your turf.

    Wise words, “ Never Let A Crisis, go to Waste” that sword cuts both ways.

    • ghostsniper September 27, 2022, 11:25 AM

      On a happy note, last week I crossed the under 2 second line, consistently.
      Draw, from AIWB with shirt, and hit an 8″ disc from 24 feet away.
      Heavily modified Glock 19 with Holosun and Vedder kydex holster.

      • Dirk September 27, 2022, 12:48 PM

        We’ll done Ghost. AIWB? I’m not an initial guy, “ aft inside waist band”?

        • ghostsniper September 27, 2022, 2:37 PM

          appendix
          Until a year ago I was at 5 o clock.
          Vedders ain’t cheap but they’re good.

  • Jack September 27, 2022, 1:26 PM

    All this talk about their nukes and our nukes and who will do what to whom and in what order.

    My only question is who might be spared the joy of being nuked? Prob just the wog scabs who started it all.

    • Fletcher Christian September 29, 2022, 11:56 AM

      That, I doubt. I think that in such a scenario, there might well be a couple of accidental extremely bright flashes in Saudi Arabia.

  • just me September 30, 2022, 5:04 PM

    love the “who is producing nuclear weapons” chart, honest, loyal, reliable, always picked on, America is the only one “reducing” its stockpiles, pull the middle one, it makes snow. l seem to recall a recent refusal to reup to the mid rage missile treaty that America refused to sign when THE Donald was in charge because they were making more of them.

  • LargeMarge October 3, 2022, 3:02 AM

    re — statistics of nuclear weapons
    .
    Are those numbers from the ‘inflation is down’ and ‘photovoltaic will save us’ loudmouths?
    Why would I believe anything from that bunch of nincompoops.
    And based on any rational individual’s experience with any bureaucrat at any level in any bureaucracy, the entire ‘house of cards’ concept of government is collapsing without the help of either President Putin or pResident pudding-head.
    Next.