Nuclear War: Mutual Assured Destruction (MAD) Turned On Its Head

Former NATO Supreme Allied Commander General Wesley Clark expects the U.S. to retaliate against Russia in case of a nuclear war in Europe.

The four star retired General of the United States Army, told CNN that if Russia attacked hypothetically “say, Warsaw,” then “Putin-dominated” Russia should expect a retaliation. “We’re going to play back then,” he said.

The Russians are fearful of NATO expansion eastwards encroaching into their sphere of influence. NATO is being influenced by former Soviet States that were freed from communism to help modernize, financialize and westernize their societies after suffering decades of totalitarianism. Those same nations in eastern Europe are being influenced by NATO and their chiefs in Washington and Europe to help keep the military industrial complex alive and kicking for future generations in their western section.

The world is being divided along east and west. The Warsaw Pact no longer exists and the Russian threat to attack Warsaw goes against the doctrine of Mutual Assured Destruction (MAD), where neither side dare use nuclear weapons in case they are not fast enough on the draw.

The Russians have always respected this doctrine, since it is based on reason and rationale. They did so during Soviet times and are still doing so now, unless one considers the Russian leadership as mad.
NATO on the other hand used to follow the MAD doctrine until the Berlin Wall came down and it saw itself as the victor against Russia more so than against communism.

The doctrine of MAD has been turned upside down. Instead of two or more sides entrenched in their positions not contemplating pressing the nuclear button, which will assure mutual destruction, you now have one side encroaching on another, with both sides for the first time contemplating using or defending against a surprise nuclear attack. Mad indeed.

 RT reports:

There is hardly a risk that Russia is going to stage a surprise attack tomorrow, yet Russia has invested in “a whole new set of military hardware” and has an “absolutely new doctrine,” retired US General Wesley Clark told CNN Money’s Cristina Alesci.

“They are using nuclear weapons in their military exercise as a means of deescalating a conflict, as though they could fire a nuclear weapon at, say, Warsaw, and then NATO would say, “Oh, my goodness, we did not know you really mean it,” the former NATO commander said.

His opinion comes in unison with fears of Polish Foreign Minister Witold Waszczykowski, who said last month that “Russia’s activity is a sort of existential threat because this activity can destroy countries.”

Russia more dangerous than ‘non-existential ISIS threat’ – Polish FM https://t.co/oLRmbmrHHc pic.twitter.com/pvmxVMBdbp

— RT (@RT_com) April 16, 2016

“‘Since you fired a nuclear weapon at us – we surrender. You can have it.’ They think that way, that’s what they’re practicing,” Clark said.

“They’re making a big mistake, because that won’t work that way. We’re going to play back then,” the retired general said.

Quite to the contrary of Clark’s nuclear exchange scenario as a result of a Russian “surprise attack,” Moscow believes that NATO expansion to the East enables the alliance to deploy forces next to Russia’s borders and then accuse Moscow of “carrying out dangerous maneuvers” near the alliance’s bases, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in late April.

“This is a mean-spirited attempt to turn the issue upside down,” Lavrov told Sweden’s Dagens Nyheter daily.

“NATO military infrastructure is inching closer and closer to Russia’s borders. But when Russia takes action to ensure its security, we are told that Russia is engaging in dangerous maneuvers near NATO borders. In fact, NATO borders are getting closer to Russia, not the opposite,” the Russian FM said.

‘NATO seeks expanding geopolitical space to encircle states that disagree with it’ – Lavrov https://t.co/ydY9bz009K pic.twitter.com/cSuUDgP3Kw

— RT (@RT_com) April 29, 2016

In the meantime, Wesley Clark believes there is no Cold War under way and there won’t be one because “there is no Iron Curtain today, despite [Russian President Vladimir] Putin’s efforts to reinstall it.”

“He cannot quite do that,” Clark insists, because Russia is connected to the west “by bonds, by investment and by debt and by travel.”

“So he has clamped down on travel, but there is still a lot of money that flows back and forth, including some of his investments,” Clark said, once again making a specific point that the US’ allies in NATO “aren’t doing enough” to contribute to joint security financially.

The retired general acknowledged that the structure of national security has been “relatively consistent” for the United States since the end of WWII. “We’re tied irrevocably with our bonds to Europe, especially through NATO,” Clark said.

“So we may get mad at our European allies but we need them. And they need us. Economic forces come and go but if nations stay together and they’re bond by these alliances – they can spread stability and peace throughout the world,” Clark said.

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Edmondo Burr

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