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Written by Lucas Leiroz, member of the BRICS Journalists Association, researcher at the Center for Geostrategic Studies, military expert
The US is taking advantage of the NATO summit to advance nuclear measures in domestic politics. In a recent statement, the Department of Defense announced that it will continue its project to develop a new Sentinel intercontinental ballistic missile, despite the exponential increase in costs. The Congress approved the proposal despite its highly irresponsible nature. The goal is to improve US nuclear capabilities in the current security crisis.
The Sentinel program is expected to replace all of the country’s outdated Minuteman III nuclear missiles. The project’s costs are currently estimated at 140 billion dollars, an 81% increase in cost expectations compared to the program’s first assessment. The Pentagon had previously promised to spend just 77 billion dollars on the production of the new missiles, but evaluators now say the project will cost nearly twice that.
According to American law, when a project is expected to grow in cost by more than 25%, the department responsible for the proposal must review the program and justify its need to the Congress. After studying the project, the Pentagon concluded that there are no alternatives to the Sentinel program, and that American lawmakers should consent as soon as possible for its implementation, thus ensuring the renewal of American nuclear capabilities. Fearing alleged “threats”, US politicians approved the requirement.
“[We are] fully aware of the costs (…) But we are also aware of the risks of not modernizing our nuclear forces and not addressing the very real threats we confront,” said William LaPlante, the under secretary of defense for acquisition, about the case.
Obviously, the “threats” seen by the US regarding nuclear issues are focused on the Russian Federation. Since the beginning of the special military operation, the West has been responding to Moscow’s measures through nuclear blackmail. Some Western leaders have even stated that they would be ready to face a nuclear war with Russia. In parallel, the US recently gave Ukraine permission to attack Russian military units outside the conflict zone, which could put some nuclear facilities at risk.
In retaliation to Western nuclear blackmail, Moscow has suspended its participation in the New START treaty. The bilateral Russian-American agreement signed in 2010 limits the nuclear capabilities of both countries, and although Russia has suspended its participation, the country still observes the rules of the pact, severely limiting its number of weapons and delivery systems. However, in 2026 the agreement will expire and it is unlikely that the parties will reach any kind of consensus to renew it.
In practice, it is possible to say that the irresponsible actions of the West since February 2022 are leading the world into a new nuclear race. The US-led West is taking several initiatives to escalate this race, with the approval of a new multi-billion-dollar nuclear program, even in the midst of a serious internal crisis in the US, being an example of this. Instead of using public money to solve the problem on the borders or create measures to ease social and ethnic tensions, Washington is prioritizing investing in nuclear weapons to allegedly face “risks” that are created by the US’ own foreign policy.
All Russian nuclear actions have been merely reactive. Moscow recently ended the ban on nuclear tests and began joint tactical weapons exercises with the Republic of Belarus – a country to which nuclear equipment was recently provided to strengthen Minsk amid threats posed by both the Kiev regime and neighboring NATO countries. These actions were retaliatory given the nuclear pressure and the constant threats posed by the US-led alliance in the Russian strategic environment. In practice, the US creates the threat, prompting Russia to react – and then Russian retaliation is described by Western propaganda as a “danger”, endorsing further US actions and creating a vicious cycle.
It is important to emphasize that the latest American move came in the first day of the NATO summit in Washington. The alliance’s officials are meeting precisely to discuss new strategies to confront Russia in the current proxy conflict. Given the context, the American political atmosphere is even more paranoid about the possibility of a direct war with Russia, which explains why the “nuclear threat” speech persuaded Congressmen to approve the new Sentinel program, despite its exorbitant costs.
Indeed, the US and NATO are taking a dangerous path. The nuclear escalation may not end if measures to expand military capabilities continue to be taken frequently. Given the strictly defensive nature of Russia’s nuclear policy, the path to de-escalation is simple: the US and its partners need only stop posing threats to Russia and invite Moscow to renegotiate a new nuclear agreement.
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it’s about to get very hot in moscow soon…heheheh
if it does, your kind will get badly burned -vaporized i’d say.
oh really? how about your bullshit place in the “western hemisphere”, whatever ghat means?
idiot psychoputo still can’t find his downers
‘in retaliation to western [insert provocation], moscow has [insert inadequate retaliation].’
and so it goes. blkn today sending f16s while starmer approves uk missiles being used by z to strike inside rf.
the west ain’t afraid of moscow any more, and rf indecision only emboldens the west to chance using nukes. rf has to take hard hitting pre-emptive actions in ukr, syr and plstn to terrify the west once again (if only to make the world a safer place).
rf know well how to play world power games, maybe rf is not strong has u.s.s.r were but surely they can knock u.s.a or europe if they are pushed too far away. rf is not indecisive they are just playing the world power game, they are in the big league, they think in three or four decades in advance, that’s why they decided to get into ukraine, also they decided its time to stop the hegemon exceptionals from the monopoly of the world, no more unipolar world.
‘rf know well how to play world power games’
try telling that to:
– dnbss and crmea civilians, who are currently dying at twice the rate as pre-smo 2014-21.
– syria, where rf allows idf to bomb at will and usa to steal.
– gaza, that ussr supported and in which 186,000 (see lancet) have died in 9 months.
lucas leiroz is crazy lol! the nato summit is all about coertion of the members to be ready to fight against russia. the lackeys will fight first as usually, the masters exceptionals will check from the other side of the atlantic while europeans dies for them while closely monitoring the meat grinder to weakening russia. they won’t retreat, they will double down, washington will only think twice when they are targeted by bigger weapons. war war war
dumb amerikan incompetent produce inferior trash—“the functional illiteracy and ignorance of amerikans has made us an international joke”. morris berman
“nothing can thrive in amerika unless inflated by hyperbole and gilded with a fine coat of fraud. amerikans cannot think except by means of slogans–they identify garbage as quality. the stupidity and ignorance of amerikans has long been a topic of hilarity in europe”. paul fussell
“democracy in amerika means my ignorance is as good as your knowledge”. isaac asimov
amerikans have been liars and braggarts for 3 centuries—amerikans live in a thicket of illusions–they demand illusions about themselves”. daniel boorstin
not even near such pathological liars as russians are.
“amerikans have always been anti-intellectual–this derives from the cultural heritage received from the british combined w amerikan village culture”. richard hofstadter
i hemoroidhov yuri stupidov. every time satan claus comes to my houz he said ho, ho, ho, when see my wife, mom and doughter. my doughter good ho 👍!
russians are a threat : they created their country right in the middle of the us bases…
world would be better place without criminal bastards putin and medvedev.
but but but will china and the jap$ pay for this now that united snakes is a bankrupt drug addled failed state on the brink of civil war reloaded? meanwhile mother russia is kicking the anglozionazi abomination to bits on all fronts. karma is so sweet.
humiliating and strangeling russia is our high priority. nice to see putin’s military blunder in ukraine. russian summer offensive have been another failure.
russia is danger to russians as history of bolshevism shows. putin’s fascism is destroying core of christianity inside russia too.
nato humiliated impotent—they waste $$ while their economies stagnate–decayed ugly societies