(PresidentialHill.com)- In a lengthy column last week, Mark Schneider, a senior analyst with the National Institute for Public Policy, argued that Russia’s use of nuclear threats in its war in Ukraine is an “exercise in nuclear blackmail” which has exposed just how unprepared and unwilling the Biden administration is to engage in nuclear deterrence.
While the nuclear threats from Russia managed to change the attitude toward nuclear deterrence of some NATO states, the Biden administration refused to heighten our nuclear alert status in response to Russia’s aggression.
Schneider writes that France and Germany are considered the two weakest NATO members when it comes to standing up to Russia. But even they took action to enhance NATO’s nuclear deterrent after Russia’s nuclear threats.
But the Biden administration has done nothing to “reduce the vulnerability” of the United States’ “nuclear deterrent forces to a pre-emptive nuclear attack,” Schneider explains.
Schneider also blasts the Biden administration for failing to do anything effective to deter Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in the first place. He criticized the administration for imposing restrictions on Ukraine’s use of US weapons, suggesting that the restrictions could lead to a Russian victory.
And for all the administration’s talk about the risk of World War Three, Schneider writes, it “has actually enhanced the effectiveness of Putin’s numerous nuclear threats.”
Schneider chronicles the actions both Germany and France have taken to counter Russia’s nuclear threat and notes that the Biden administration did nothing to send a clear message to Russia. Instead, Schneider writes, it took “no action to enhance the survivability of our deterrent.” What’s more, the Biden administration also canceled routine testing of intercontinental ballistic missiles.
Surely it can’t be a surprise to Mark Schneider that the Biden administration is feckless and timid. Its bungled withdrawal from Afghanistan less than a year ago is proof of that.
Biden’s national security team is Obama’s national security team. The unilateral disarmament and dovish stance are baked in.
Read Schneider’s column HERE.
