Stumbling Down a Path Toward Nuclear Armageddon

In recent times, have there been more troubled regions bearing conflicts with potential to instigate nuclear war than Ukraine in Eastern Europe and Palestine in the Middle East?

And has there been more disconcerting complicity in these conflicts by the most powerful nation on the planet, with its unparalleled, military supremacy?

Could there be a worse time for the U.S. to be led by an increasingly ineffectual leader with seemingly ebbing compassion and rising senility? After all, this is the guy who is always within quick reach of the “nuclear football” and has singular authority to order the launch of American nuclear weapons.

As Commander in Chief, Joe Biden has overseen the U.S. arming of Ukraine and Israel in their respective conflicts with Russia and Hamas. His leadership in this regard has been abysmal from the perspective of peace and security. This is a tragedy; Joe Biden once offered promise in seeking nuclear disarmament.

Ten days before the inauguration of President Donald Trump, then Vice President Biden called for the U.S. to adopt a no-first use of nuclear weapons policy. He believed nuclear weapons should only be used as a deterrence against other nations employing them. Moreover, Biden claimed that the U.S. must pull the world out of its nuclear quagmire, stating:

“If we want a world without nuclear weapons — the United States must take the initiative to lead us there. Moreover … as the only nation to have used nuclear weapons, we bear a great moral responsibility to lead the charge.”

Biden reiterated this no-first nuclear use position as a candidate in the 2020 presidential Democratic primary, among his many concerns for international peace that he published in an article in Foreign Affairs. In fact, his article called for fundamental change in U.S. foreign policy, noting that our nation has “too often … relied solely on the might of our military instead of drawing on our full array of strengths,” that “the use of force should be the last resort, not the first,” and “diplomacy should be the first instrument of American power.”

Oh where, oh where, has that Joe Biden gone?

In 2022, the U.S. Department of Defense released its Nuclear Posture Review under Biden’s leadership.  The document stated the following:

“We conducted a thorough review of a broad range of options for nuclear declaratory policy—– including both No First Use and Sole Purpose policies — and concluded that those approaches would result in an unacceptable level of risk in light of the range of non-nuclear capabilities being developed and fielded by competitors that could inflict strategic-level damage to the United States and its Allies and partners.”

What a remarkable shift in Biden’s thinking: possibly using nuclear weapons in response to non-nuclear attacks!

Consider the present-day Ukrainian-Russian war. Under Biden, the U.S. has armed Ukraine just enough to keep Russian territorial gains to a certain limit. This has prolonged the war, which has killed thousands of innocent Ukrainians, displaced millions more from their homes, and destroyed vital infrastructure in several cities and communities.

Recently, during one week in late May, Ukraine used armed drones to attack two long-range radar facilities hundreds of miles within Russia. This might appear as a modest military triumph for Ukraine, were it not for the fact that Russia uses the two radar facilities as part of its early warning system for incoming, nuclear-armed ballistic missiles. From Russia’s perspective, the drone assault was an attempt to compromise its defense and co-deterrence against a nuclear attack: a provocative poke in the eye of the key nuclear opponent of the U.S.

What was Ukraine thinking?

But let’s not be too hard on Ukraine here. The U.S. has been no less reckless with, nor less insensitive to, Russian concerns over a potential nuclear war.

Within one week in early June, the U.S. military launched two unarmed intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) from Vandenberg Space Force Base on the Central Coast of California, sending them 4,200 miles to the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands. The U.S. Air Force Strike Command publicly, and seemingly proudly, referred to the missile testing as “showcasing its readiness” to employ U.S. nuclear missiles.

Was this not the U.S. flexing its nuclear muscle? Was it, perhaps, an “I dare you” challenge to Russia and the other nuclear opponents to the U.S.? Could the timing of the ICBM tests have been any worse, given the ongoing Russian-Ukrainian conflict?

Then there’s Israel and Gaza.

The U.S. openly brags about its nuclear arsenal and delivery systems. Israel, however, refuses to disclose whether it has nuclear weapons or not. Still, it is widely believed that Israel has as many as 90 nuclear warheads. The U.S. knows this well, but chooses not to admit it. Our national leaders continue to keep this “secret” even though two elected officials in Israel have publicly suggested that their country use its nuclear weapons on Gaza.

Israel is the only nation in the Middle East to have nuclear weapons. It’s baffling how the Biden Administration tolerates Israel’s nuclear program and its lack of disclosure about it. One asks, how can President Biden not have second thoughts about the exceptions the U.S. extends to Israel, despite the monstrous way Israel has conducted its war on Hamas in Gaza?

It’s unfair to measure Joe Biden’s competence to serve as president on the basis of his performance in a single 90-minute debate. However, the nine months Biden has failed to genuinely address the unjustified slaughter of thousands of innocent Palestinians in Gaza and destruction of their homes, schools, hospitals, water and power systems — enabled by American munitions — speak volumes to our current president’s questionable integrity and judgment.

Has the man lost his soul, or his mind, or both?

Perhaps a better question to ask, is whether Joe Biden is truly capable of ordering a first nuclear shot against another country—or allowing Israel to do so?