This is the context of that particular fragment of Vladimir Putin’s announcement:
They [Washington, London and Brussels] have even resorted to the [sic] 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.
I think that reminder is needed because, watching the news this public holiday, I noticed nobody seem to have it in mind (I’m looking at you, Jeremy Fernandes and your guests at The Drum).
(Incidentally, a few weeks ago, Vladimir Putin was looking fatter, his face a lot rounder. Eagle-eyed Western non-medical observers quickly arrived at the most logical diagnostic: Putin had liver cancer. As you can see above, a miraculous cure must have taken place. Let’s see how the alternative Parkinson’s disease diagnostic fares).
----------
----------
This was Biden two days ago:
----------
Sabre-rattling makes people anxious.
Take the ABC’s Greg Jennett. But, could this be just bluff? – he wonders.
So, this morning he asked John Blaxland (professor of International Security & Intelligence Studies, ANU): “Are we to take him [Putin] seriously when he says he does not bluff? Is this a real risk, the use of tactical nuclear weapons?” (by the way, Greg, where did Putin speak of tactical nuclear weapons?)
Blaxland: “Well, he’s been bluffing that he’s not bluffing for, you know, the last seven months.”
Nothing more reassuring than clear-eyed expert advice and journalistic analysis.
----------
But at least our “leaders”, the good guys, know what they are talking about, right?
Enter Zelensky. His opinion came swiftly: he does not believe the world would allow Russia using nuclear weapons against the Ukraine.
It’s hard to understand that and it’s not because his English is particularly broken. Does Zelensky suppose Putin needs someone’s authorisation before using nuclear weapons? No, surely. That cannot be the explanation.
Surely Zelensky knows that if the Russians were considering the use of nuclear weapons against the Ukraine – and we don’t know that they are – his Western masters would have to threaten Russia with retaliation or even skip the whole threat thing and launch a first strike.
Is Zelensky suggesting that? Are those the threats Putin was talking about? I won’t lie to you. I despise Zelensky as much as I despise Putin and Biden, but even I find it hard to believe he is capable of that. It would be monstrous, unthinkably reckless and – frankly – criminal.
So, I tend to dismiss that possibility. However, I remember that Zelensky spent months attempting to push NATO into declaring a no-fly zone over the Ukraine, knowing full well that that would inevitably start World War 3.
----------
Sharing the highly moral and humanistic values of “like-minded” (the trendy expression) Western liberal democracies, the Australian Labor Government reacted by courageously condemning Putin’s escalation … while keeping a prudent silence on Biden’s.
Minister for Foreign Affairs Penny Wong was quick off the bat: Australia is considering sending additional Bushmaster troop carriers (extremely popular with Ukrainians, it seems).
The announcement was expected:
 |
| Right-click for a larger image (source) |
What’s surprising is how generous Oz is to Ukraine: it seems our help exceeds what France, a European country, gives that country.
But Aussie generosity has strictly defined limits – just like the highly evolved morality and humanism of liberal democracies:
 |
| Right-click for a larger image (source) |
----------
Pakistani authorities attributed their floods to climate change and begged for support from the international community. Pakistan, they say, is suffering the effects of climate change without having contributed to it.
The 2020 per capita CO2 emissions (consumption based) for Australia and Pakistan are 15.37 and 1.06 tonnes respectively.
----------
Mark my words: “experts” will pop up out of the woodwork urging us to dismiss Putin’s threat as mere bluff. They thought he was bluffing before he invaded the Ukraine, let us hear them now: this time around, no doubt, they must be right.
It seems we’re caught between the criminal and the imbecile, between the deranged and the brainless and the wormtongue. May God have mercy of us all.