The Coming Nuclear Holocaust

Episode Transcript
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(00:24):
In the dark shadows in the whitecold. Fearlessly we search for knowledge new
and old. We drink the strongspirits and read the ancient tones. The
order of the Ebroecast. We arethe Brave and the Board. A court

(00:56):
history conspiracy and violence. Welcome tothe Abercast. I'm your host, John

(01:41):
Towers. Hey, um, Igot the vessel of the art whatever www
dot abercast dot com. Check outthe storefront, tarot cards, t shirts,
YadA, YadA, YadA, let'sget going. Last week we did
U the an episode called American Dystopia, where just kind of setting the new

(02:02):
I don't know, like the thenew status quo for what it what it's
like, you know, America isnot like it was five years ago,
certainly not like it was ten yearsago. So we just kind of wanted
to take a look around and belike, what the fuck happened? And
this is the way it is nowadays. So um So to kind of go

(02:22):
along with that as like a companionpiece, I wanted to kind of talk
about, um, the war inUkraine, the Russo Ukrainian War or whatever
they're calling it. It's what youyou know, put in the easy bake
oven, you open up the littlebox for World War three and you put
it in there, and this iskind of where we are. I mentioned

(02:44):
it last week, um about thethe application Ukrainian Ukraine's application to NATO and
the intrinsic trap they're in where ifthey get accepted or whatever as an official
member of NATO, we have towe have to become engaged in a hot

(03:13):
war with Russia. So I feellike, whenever I think about this stuff,
I feel like, what is it? Fucking the Nietzschean time loop?
Like when I was a little kid, was like at the very end of
the Cold War, and I rememberbeing just obsessed with it. I remember,
you know, doodling like mushroom clouds, like it was ubiquitous. It

(03:35):
was everywhere. There are movies aboutit. It was like the fucking TV
so Damnation Alley, giant cockroaches,you know this kind of stuff. So
um. So I definitely have myeye on this now because here we are.
It's kind of gone away since thenineties and now it's back, and

(04:00):
you know, theoretically the whole worldshould be structured around keeping us in Russia
apart from each other. I don'tfucking piss in my side of the poll
and I won't piss in your sideof the poll, and like that's that's
it. But um, it seemslike there are folks, a lot of
them who are somehow in charge,who are just salivating at the at this

(04:25):
idea of UM going to war withRussia, where sending billions of dollars of
aid and weapons to them. Um, We're gonna talk a lot about this,
UM, the pipeline that got sabotagedand who who did it? UM,

(04:46):
and all this stuff, and Ijust feel like here, here,
here we go again. So UM, So as a companion piece to last
week show, I kind of didwant to just like, look this,
this is the state of the warin Russia. And we're gonna start with
Putin's speech. And as we gothrough this, I'm actually reading an al

(05:09):
al Zera article that they kind ofwent through it and pulled out some stuff.
And as we go through this,I want you guys to think about
Dugan and the UM three episodes wedid on the fourth Political Theory, which
was based on Alexander du Can youfind on the feature topic link I believe

(05:31):
under history. Anyhow, it's importantto note that Dugan daughter just got car
bonbed and everyone was like, oh, that was actually for intended for Dugan.
So there's more sab and like,no one has stepped up to take
a credit for that for that oneeither. So um, So as we

(05:55):
go through this, think of theFourth Political Theory, those three episodes that
we did, and think about theway that Dugan has framed the Fourth Political
Theory as a war on modernity andour sort of role in that worldview.
So Putin's speech on annexation, whatexactly did he say? President Putin announced

(06:19):
that four occupied regions of Ukraine wouldformally be incorporated into mother to raw Shah.
The President Putin announced the formal annexationof four regions of the Ukraine on
his speech on Friday. Putin andthe leaders of the four regions signed treaties
to annex lu Hotsk, Luhansk,Don whatever these four things. I'm not

(06:44):
gonna subject you guys to let thisa move which has been denounced as illegal
by Ukraine and other Western powers.During a thirty seven minute long speech,
Putin spoke about the breakup of theSoviet Union, western colonial policy, nuclear
weapons, and his view of Westernmorals. This is so fucking interesting.

(07:10):
The quotes below have been translated intoEnglish from Russia defending our land. We
will defend our land with all thepowers and means at our disposal. In
ninety one, at a Blazova forest, without asking the will of the common
citizens, representatives of then party elitesdecided to destroy the USSR, and some

(07:34):
people suddenly found themselves cut off fromtheir motherland. This tour apart and dismembered
our nation, becoming a national catastrophe. I admit that they did not fully
understand what they were doing and whatthe consequences this would inevitably lead to in
the end, but this is nolonger important. There is no Soviet Union.

(07:56):
The past cannot be brought back,and Russia today does not need it
anymore. We are not striving forthis the battlefield. If you listen to
the common knowledge, like experts,they say that this is what's driving Putin
is wanting to kind of reforge Russia. So here he's saying, that's not

(08:16):
what that's not what we're doing.We are not striving for this the battlefield
to which fate and history have calledus, in the battlefield for our people,
the great historical Russia, for futuregenerations, our children, grandchildren and
great grandchildren. The message to Kiv. I want the key of authorities and
their real masters in the West tohear me so that they remember this.

(08:41):
People living in these four areas arebecoming our citizens forever, full stop.
We call on the Kiev regime toimmediately end hostilities, end the war that
they unleashed back in twenty fourteen,and return to the negotiating table. We
are ready for this, but wewill not discuss the choices of the people

(09:03):
in these four these four previously Ukrainianareas that has been made Russia will not
betray them. So then he goeson to talk about the nord Stream gas
leak. Sanctions were not enough forthe Anglo Saxons. They moved on this
sabotage. It is hard to believe, but it is a fact that they

(09:28):
organize the blast on the nord StreamInternational gas pipelines which run along the bottom
of the Baltic Sea. It isclear to everyone who benefits from this.
So am I saying that there's nosuch thing as false flags? No,
am I saying that it's beyond thespycrap. I don't know how, I

(09:52):
don't know how I need to saythis, is it beyond Putin to have
bombed his own gas Pipelin lines toframe somebody else, ie us. Everyone's
like, well, why would hebomb it? He could just turn it
off. They don't understand that thetheater of the global political situation Western.

(10:16):
So back to his speech on hestarts talking about Western imperialism in the West
began its colonial its colonial policy backin the Middle Ages, and they followed
the slave trade and the genocide ofthe Indian indigenous tribes of America, the
plunder of India of Africa, andthe wars of England and France against China.

(10:39):
What they did was hooking entire nationson drugs, deliberately exterminating entire ethnic
groups for the sake of land andresources. They hunted people like animals.
This is contrary to the very natureof man, truth, freedom and justice.

(11:00):
So as he's talking about the West, he starts talking about the nuclear
precedent. The United States is theonly country in the world that has twice
used nuclear weapons, destroying the Japanesecities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and setting a
precedent even today. They actually occupyGermany, Japan, and the Republic of

(11:22):
Korea and other countries, and atthe same time cynically call them allies of
equal standing Western morals. And nowthey have moved on entirely. This is
the this is the point. Well, I guess even the nuclear thing was

(11:43):
probably the war Dugan's war on modernity. But here now they have moved on
entirely to a radical denial of moralnorms, religion and family. The dictatorship
of the Western elites is directed againstall society, including the people of the
Western countries themselves. This is achallenge to all. This is a complete

(12:09):
denial of humanity, the overthrow offaith and traditional values. Indeed, the
suppression of freedom itself has taken onthe features of a religion outright Satanism.
Do we really want here in ourcountry in Russia instead of mum and dad
to have parent number one and parentnumber two number three? Have they gone

(12:33):
completely insane? Do we really wantit drilled into our children in our schools
that they are supposedly genders besides womenand men and children to be offered the
chance to undergo sex change operations.We have a different future, our own
future. So that's just a flavorfrom Al Jazeera of what Putin said,

(13:01):
and you know he so he goeson and he brings up the precedent that
the United States, UH said,with the nuclear set, with the nuclear
weapons and World War Two. Hegoes on to say, Hey, these
guys have lost their moral compass,their ethical their ethics are fucked up.

(13:26):
And then he goes on to sayshit that people probably if they wouldn't say
out loud, probably agree with,like, hey, you know, look
at them, what they're doing totheir their fucking kids. They're gonna screw
their fucking kids up forever with thisshit. So I'm gonna go to the
hill now. Putin puts US officialson edge with nuclear saber rattling. Sabers

(13:54):
don't rattle, they go. USofficials are on edge over President Vladimir Putin's
recent threat to use nuclear weapons aheadof his illegal and get tested moved to
claim huge swaths of Ukrainian territory.Current informer US officials said on Sunday that
although there is nobody in Russia whocould stop Peton from deploying nuclear weapons,

(14:18):
such a move would guarantee a cataclysmicresponse from the US and it's NATO allies.
To be clear, the guy whomakes that decision. I mean it's
one it's one man. There isno checks on mister Putin. Just as
he made irresponsible decision to invade Ukraine, you know now, now he could

(14:39):
make another decision. That was DefenseSecretary Lloyd Austin, who was talking to
CNN's Fred Zakira. So probably noone saw that since it was on CNN.
Austin added that he doesn't see anythingright now to indicate that Putin has
definitely he made such a decision.Former, well, hold on, hold

(15:01):
onto your hats. We're only fifteenminutes in. Former National Security Advisor hr
McMaster on Sunday said that Putin isunder extreme pressure after battlefield failures and domestic
frustrations over a mobilization order that couldsend hundreds of thousands of reservists into the
war. Hr McMasters, as weknow from the Battle of seventy three Easting.

(15:28):
Yes, so you could go andfind those episodes in the feature topic
link on abercast dot com. HrMcMasters was one of the captains or lieutenants
back then. He was a hegot out, he finally made it to
be a general and got out,and he worked for Trump for a little

(15:48):
bit. I think the message doPutin is if you use a nuclear weapon,
it's a suicide weapon, and theresponse from NATO in the United States
doesn't have to be nuclear. McMastertold Face the Nation host Margaret Brennan on
CBS. Putin's moved to annex thefour regions of Ukraine on Friday came after
he warned that Moscow would deploy itsmassive nuclear arsenal to protect Russian territory or

(16:15):
its people. So there's a littlebit of history that needs to be talked
about here. I can't believe,you know, we here, we're not
talking about it like we're we havea problem where we get people to do
stuff and we promise them to youknow, we make promises to get them
to do stuff, and then wetotally don't do it. And I know

(16:37):
this is going to seem like,um, I'm kind of using both sides
in my face just to say this. But you know, when the Soviet
Union collapsed, all these little allthese little parts of it that wound up
becoming their own, like little countriesand city states and whatnot, had nuclear
weapons. And when the Soviet Unioncollapse, we went in and we were

(17:00):
like, look, just give usyour nuclear weapons. Just let us destroy
them, and then we'll protect you. If Russia or anyone ever moves against
you, will take care of you. Big Daddy's got you, you know.
So maybe this is the reason thatwe're sending all this all this money
to them. You know, Idon't know, but it seems like we're

(17:22):
definitely And you're like, yeah,well, why are you saying both ways?
Like you don't like the war orwhatever, you don't want to support
the war or whatever, but you'resaying that we're responsible to take care of
it. And I guess my thingis like, look, I'm not a
politician, bro, you know,I'm just looking at it unfold, and
I can only I can only tellyou, like my opinion on it,

(17:45):
that shit is for that shit isfor politicians to figure out. My answer
would be, I am assuming thatif a different person were in office,
or if Afghanistan was handled differently,that we would not be in the Ukraine,

(18:07):
would not be in the situation it'sin now. There's a reason that
putin waited for this moment to invade. So there's there's my fucking answer.
Experts have said that the poorly trainedreinforcements are unlikely to change the course of
the war, and fear Putin couldincrease could be increasingly dangerous if Russia continues

(18:30):
to suffer costly and embarrassing losses.The Russian president is responding with only one
quiver he has left, which isto, you know, to threaten the
use of nuclear weapons, McMaster said. The former CIA director and retired Army
General David Petrea said on Sunday thatif Russia used the weapon in the US

(18:52):
would lead a fierce NATO response.So again that's challenging. There's there's a
giant problem with that. The Alliancewould take out every Russian conventional force that
we could see and identify on thebattlefield in Ukraine and also in Crimea and
every ship in the Black sep Keepthat in mind, put that on the

(19:17):
back of your mind, Patreya saidon ABC this week. Putin is trying
to cast this in any way thathe can to appear threatening, to be
threatening, to try to get Europeto crack. He thinks he can out
suffer Europe if you will. Petrayusadded, So there's a thing like I
used to really enjoy General Petrayus andmaddest like all these guys. But you

(19:42):
know, you have to remember thatwhen they get that general officer promotion,
that's a political appointment. You don'tget to be a general for passing aboard,
you know what I mean, Likethat's a that's a political it's a
political ointment. So you know,that's why there's such things as called colonel's

(20:03):
rebellions and this kind of stuff isbecause they're like the last legitimate sort of
non political military dude person. Youknow, you know what I'm saying.

(20:23):
I hope I'm I'm babbling, soback to it. Secretary of State Anthony
Blinkoln in a recent interview, saidthat he has told he has told Russian
officials to stop the loose talk aboutnuclear weapons, and okay, well I'm
sure they you know, I'm surethey'll pay attention. But they also warned

(20:47):
of the lack of checks on Peutonfrom within the Kremlin. Russian has got
itself into a mess that it's inbecause there are there's no one on the
system to effectively tell Putin he's doingthe wrong thing. The Secretary of State
told CBS sixty Minutes So Scott Pelleyin an interview that aired last week,
it's very important that Moscow here fromUS and know from US with the consequence

(21:11):
that the consequences would be horrific,Blincoln said. White House National Security Advisor
Jake Sullivan said last week the UnitedStates will respond decisively to any nuclear weapons
use and said that the US hasspelled out in great detail what that would
mean in top level talks with seniorRussian officials. Let me say it plainly,

(21:33):
if Russia crosses this line, therewill be a catastrophic consequence for Russia.
Top national security aid has said,all right, do you think that
they're worried about that? That youcan just turn on YouTube or the TV
and see Joe Biden like running literallyrunning away from reporters. Okay, so

(22:00):
this one is in the Moscow TimesIndependent News from Madarasha. This guy serge
A Vacuenco shock and awe who attackedthe nord Stream pipelines. Western governments have
not made formal findings of the responsibilityfor this week's sabotage attacks onto Russian underwater

(22:25):
pipelines carrying natural gas to Europe.While all of the evidence is being carefully
reviewed, it seems reasonable to expectthat some of it will soon be declassified.
In the meantime, NATO and theEuropean Union, and key figures like
the International Energy Agency Director Faith Brialare not holding back about the identity of

(22:48):
the culprit quote. It is veryobvious who is behind this issue, unte
the later said on September twenty nine. At the same time, the Russian
officials were unsurprisingly placing blame on theWest and have convened the United Nations Security
Council session to discuss the matter.There are aspects of this mystery that resemble

(23:10):
an Agatha Christie novel, which isnearly everyone involved appears to have a motive
or would benefit on its outcome.It's useful, therefore, even though,
as a thought experiment, to lookat what we know and what we don't
know about what happened, and theall important question of who stands the benefit.
So I'm not reading this saying thatwe did this shit. I think

(23:34):
it's interesting. I think it's aninteresting question, and if I had to
guess, I would guess that,yes, we did. We did this.
We are led by incompetent people.We cannot strategize ourselves out of a
paper bag at this point in time. I've already mentioned look at what look

(23:56):
at what we did trying to getout of Afghanistan and all, I mean,
there's still people fucked up over that. It's ironic that I think.
On the same weekend, HBO putout two documentaries, one on the Iranian
hostage crisis and one on the pullout of Afghanistan, and both of them

(24:18):
it's like they did it totally unironically, and they're both interesting some level
of interesting if you're if you're interestedin that history, where would they?
Pressure drops were reported at both thenord Stream one and nord Stream two pipelines

(24:42):
running underneath the Baltic Sea. OnSeptember twenty six, three separate leaks were
recorded off the coast of Denmark andSweden a few dozen kilometers apart. Both
lines in the nord Extreme one pipelinewere impact impacted, along with one line
of the nord Extream two. Reportsfrom seismologists based in Denmark and Sweden suggests

(25:04):
that sizeable explosions on the order ofone hundred kilos of TNT occurred in both
instants. So, if I domy quick combat engineering math, kilograms to
pounds, one hundred kilos equals twohundred and twenty point four six two three
pounds, which is it's a it'sa lot. That's a lot of TNT

(25:30):
to be swimming to the bottom ofthe Baltic Ocean times three. Unlike an
oil spill, gas leakage is relativelyharmless for the surrounding area. At the
same time, it's like a giantfart. Some climate experts are, of

(25:51):
course, climate experts are warning thatthe amount of methane, a powerful greenhouse
gas, being released from the damagepipelines could have a significant impact on the
climate change. According to initial estimates, a total of five hundred million cubic
meters of gas was lost, whichis the equivalent of eight million tons of

(26:11):
carbon dioxide or whatever. Skip aheadhere. A normal political and business environment,
all three damaged sections could probably berepaired within a year by a single
repair fleet. It's quite possible thatthe biggest problem would be not the sub
seed work itself, but pumping outthe water from the three one two hundred

(26:34):
kilometer stretches of pipelines. Rock debriswould also have to be cleared out lest
it damaged the inside of the pipeline. Once the flow is restored, Another
concern would be the state of theinside polymer coning, which is not designed
to withstand prolonged contact with seawater.The total bill might run into hundreds and

(26:57):
millions of dollars, maybe even billions, but it is a small fraction of
gas Prom's annual budget. So they'renot even mentioning what this is going to
do to Western Europe this winter.I know, you guys, they got

(27:18):
they better run out and get somefucking space heaters and some fucking generators or
something or something. Let's skip aheadhere to Nordstream too. However, was
to see this is it was sanctionedby the United States, and the pipeline
was completely completed solely by Russian ships. The pipeline was completed last year,

(27:41):
but never launched. Germany put anend to the project in February, two
days before Russia's invasion of Ukraine.Their pairs would require a work permit from
the Danish government, since it wouldbe carried out in their territorial waters.
Given the current political environment, theywould probably be difficult to obtain such permission.
I think, I mean, whateveris he going to give a shit

(28:06):
about permission from? You know whatI mean? There are provisions within the
existing sanctions for a waiver to beissued if work is needed to prevent damage
to the environment or national safety.Nordstream two might apply on those grounds,
but it is unlikely to be granted. Most likely any repairs will have to
wait until the end of the warin Ukraine, if not longer. So

(28:30):
I have another one here. RetiredPentagon advisor says the US is most likely
to destroy Nordstream pipelines. Retired USArmy Colonel so here we go. Douglas

(28:52):
McGregor, who is a Pentagon advisor, claimed that the United States is most
likely the state actor that sabotage thenord Stream pipelines. In doing so,
the US has isolated Germany and madecertain that they will have a cold and
dark winter. McGregor added that Britainprobably also played a role and that the
attack was carried out to prevent Germanyfrom bailing on the war in Ukraine.

(29:17):
During an appearance on the Judging Freedompodcast, McGregor said a process of elimination
rules out Germany because they are dependenton the North Stream for their energy security,
while it also served no benefit forthe Russians to have sabotaged its own
infrastructure. I mentioned a little whileago that no one seems to be talking
about the possibility of the false flagsort of situation. Germany appeared to be

(29:44):
ready to abandon the proxy war andremove sanctions on Russia so it could actually
provide natural gas to its slaves.That's coming winter. Isn't it to say
we know it must have been Washington. We can't say that because we just

(30:06):
don't know. But it's very clearthat we have foreclosed Berlin's options. Berlin
was drifting away from this alliance.Chancellor Oloff Schulz said, I'm not sending
any more equipment. I won't sendany tanks. Now he's in a bind
because the United States has simply robbedhim of his option of bailing out.

(30:26):
Who's going to supply him gas andoil and coal and everything else if he
bails out? Where does he turnnow? And remember the Germans, who
are facing terrible consequences at home,refuse to restart nuclear power plants. The
former official said, Okay, onemore real clear politics. Jeffrey Sachs,

(30:49):
the rest of the world thinks theUS probably sabotaged the Nordstream pipeline, but
it doesn't show up in our media. Bloomberg TV host pushed back against Columbia
University economist Jeffrey Sachs on Monday whenhe suggested that the US and Poland are
probably behind the destruction of the NordStream pipelines. In a lot of the

(31:11):
world is watching these events in horror, Sex as they view this as a
horrible clash between Russia and the US. They don't see this as we do
in the media, as an unprovokedattack by Russia on Ukraine. Most of
the world sees it the way wedescribe it. Most of the world is

(31:32):
just terrified right now. Frankly,he added, the European economy is getting
hammered by the sudden cut off ofenergy, and now, to make it
definitive, the destruction of the NordStream pipeline, which I would bet was
a US action, perhaps US andPoland. That is speculation. Sex says.
I know it runs counter to ournarrative. You're not allowed to say

(31:52):
these things in the West, Butthe fact of the matter is all over
the world, and when I talkto people, they the US did it.
Even reporters on our papers and areinvolved to tell me. Of course
the US did it, but itdoesn't show up in our media. Jeffrey
Sachs. I was attacked in theAtlantic for being on the side of peace,

(32:14):
and I confess I'm on the sideof peace. I'm very worried that
we're on the path of an escalationin nuclear war, nothing less than that.
Russia feels that this war is atthe core of its security interests.
The United States insists that it willdo anything to support Ukraine's defeat of Russia.
Russia views this as a proxy warwith the United States. Whatever one

(32:36):
thinks about this, this is theplan of extraordinary dangerous escalation. A lot
of the world is watching these eventsin horror, and a lot of the
world doesn't like this NATO expansion,which, as they interpret as the core
of this. They want to seea compromise between the US and Russia and
vote after vote the United Nations.Basically, it has been the West countries

(33:00):
that have been voting for sanctions anddenunciations and other actions, whereas most of
the world, certainly most of theworld counted by population, is on the
sidelines. They view this as ahorrible clash between Russia and the US.
They don't see this, as wedo in our media, as an unprovoked
attack by Russia on Ukraine, anyonein the US think. Anyone in the

(33:23):
US thinks, well, what elseis it? But that is because the
way our media has been reporting this, the conflict goes back a long time.
It didn't start in February twenty four, twenty two. In fact,
the war itself started in twenty fourteen. This is what Putin called out during

(33:44):
his speech, if you recall nottwenty twenty two, and even had the
antecedents unbelievable to be hearing on oneside that they will use nuclear weapons if
they have to, while the otherside says, you can't frighten us.
Europe is very is in a veryvery sharp economic downturn. The sharp decline

(34:10):
in output and living standards also showsup as a rise in prices. But
the main fact is that the Europeaneconomy is getting hammered by the sudden cutoff
of energy. Now to make adefinitive the destruction of the Nord Street pipeline,
which I would bet was a USaction, perhaps US poland that is
speculation. So it seems like thisarticle is just in some kind of time

(34:36):
loop itself. It just keeps repeatingthe same sort of stuff over and over
again. So there is in theFederalist. On the Federalist, there is
a piece, a foreign policy piecethat talks about how it's called, as
Russia threatens nukes, the US haslimited options. That's a nice gas mask.

(35:00):
I need to get a gas mask. My gas mask is old as
fuck. Well, I gotta takennote. The US and its allies are
trying to decide whether Putin's nuclear threatsare largely bluff and whether whether our warnings
are taken seriously. News flash,they're not. The number of annual fatalities

(35:23):
for war has dropped precipitously since theend of World War Two, despite the
number of actual conflicts having increased significantly. The unprecedented developments has been correctly linked
to the form formidable deterrent power ofthe nuclear forces in the United States and

(35:44):
its allies France and the United Kingdom, and a deterrent that may now be
diminishing, just as when the UShas achieved political consensus to begin a new
round of necessary nuclear modernization. SinceWorld War Two, US nuclear and conventional
weapons have successfully deterred direct to warbetween great powers, but just current strategic

(36:08):
balance is now coming under a greatstress see Tony Stark doesn't know what he's
talking about. And then I thinkin the first Avengers movie, he was
like a nuclear deterrent because that alwaysworks out just fine. And I was
watching that and I was like,it seems like it does kind of,

(36:29):
but you know, it's written byJoss Whedon, who not only is an
idiot, but a leftist idiot.So one key strategic guardrail was the US
goal of exceeding the power of ouradversaries, especially with nuclear deterrents. But
as a retired US Air Force GeneralGeneral Garrett Harnack warned more than a decade

(36:54):
ago, the post Cold War,decades long failure by the US to modernize,
what he described as embarking on aholiday from history, has real world
consequences. One worrisome development was aformer Russian president Dmitri Medvedev h concluding last

(37:14):
week that if Russia used nuclear weaponsin Ukraine, the US would be too
scared to respond. So Medvedev wasthe guy. I remember when Obama.
Obama was meeting with Medvedev and theywere Mike, they were doing like a

(37:35):
like a joint whatever, and atthe end they stood up and their mics
were still hot and and um.Obama was like he told Medvedev. He
was like, hey, you know, he shakes his hand and he goes,
hey, when you go back home, tell lad that I'll have I'll
have more leeway to work with themafter the election. Okay um. During

(38:01):
our holiday from history, four thingshappened. First, there has been what
Adam Admiral Charles Richard described as abreathtaking Chinese nuclear build up, during which
US policy makers insisted China's rise wasquote peaceful unquote this um this remember China

(38:24):
Gate where basically the Clintons were sellingthe Lippo group and all this like all
of our all of our nuclear secrets. What was the guy's name? Uh,
I can't remember, that's it.I'm not prepared. Second Russian the
second Russia to create in nineteen ninetynine that it would build more usable,

(38:45):
accurate, discriminate in short range nuclearweapons in pursuit of a strategy to threaten
to escalate from conventional conflict to anuclear level. This escalate to win strategy
aims at keep, aims to keepthe US out of the fight altogether,
a strategy that appears to be bearingfruit. Third, while the US strategic

(39:09):
nuclear modernization is now robustly under theway underway. Our shorter range and smaller
theater nuclear capability has previously been jettisonedand withered, and still remains vastly inferior
to that of Russia and even China, China, China the Fourth. Russia

(39:31):
invaded Ukraine in both twenty fourteen andtwenty twenty two, for which we should
have been but we're not prepared,especially given the US and the United Kingdom
both pledged to support Ukraine as farback as nineteen ninety four. I believe
that's the thing, that's the agreementthat I was speaking about earlier, like,

(39:57):
hey, just give us your nuclearweapons. We'll big Daddy's got you.
US mistakes have led to a numberof further nuclear developments that are flashing
red on the warning screens of ourmilitary commanders. The US has witnessed.
The Russian invasion of Ukraine has beenaccompanied by unprecedented number of explicit threats by

(40:22):
Moscow to use nuclear weapons against theUS and its allies that apparently those have
successfully deterred the US from directly interveningmilitarily. Although the US nuclear modernization is
thankfully moving quickly forward, the actualdeployments remain at least half a decade away,

(40:44):
while new theater forces such as submarinelaunched cruise missiles. Again, keep
this little bit on the back ofyour mind. With the ships at the
Baltic Sea, I'll be ready lateron this next decade. Adding further complications
to the strategic environment. The combinedChina and Russian nuclear build up calls any
question the viability of the twenty tenNew Start two Arms Agreement and the fifteen

(41:08):
fifty warhead limited under which the USmust operate for the first time in more
than four decades. The US hasseriously contemplated on whether to build back up
beyond the New Start ceilings. Sowhat are our options? What, then,
is the United States to do?Our options aren't great, but here

(41:29):
they are. Our New Start Treatyforce structure restricts the US hedge, which
we can add roughly in additional onethousand, five hundred c inland based missile
warheads do or arsenal or double whatwe have now, it would take four
years to accomplish. Such force mightnot even match the new Chinese warheads based
in three hundred and sixty silos.As for building more accurate or lower yield

(41:54):
nuclear warheads for theater systems and explicitpresidential finding is required that such a weapon
is needed, and admittedly controversial decisionthat probably would be characterized by opponents as
supporting a nuclear war fighting and notdeterrence goal. The war fighting is bad,

(42:16):
the deterrence is good for former beingcharacterized by using nuclear weapons to actually
fight a war, while the latteris only a threat to retaliate. Much
US conventional and nuclear modernizations will takeplace in the next decade. In the
meantime, our enemies are not goinggracious, are not going to graciously wait

(42:40):
around for US to get our acttogether. US conventional weapons are having a
positive effect in reducing Moscow's aggression againstthe Ukraine for now, but every assumed
US conventional military success turns to failureshould Russian President Vladimir Putin use a new

(43:00):
nuclear weapons against Ukraine and its allies. US war games and tabletop exercises has
confirmed the US would, under thecurrent military balance, fail to achieve a
favorable outcome if nuclear weapons were introducedinto the conflict by Russia. So there
are a few unknowns to talk about. To summarize the current geostrategic landscape does

(43:25):
not favor the United States. Dueto our force structure, we lack arms
control leverage to get Russia to agreeto a good deal such as limiting or
banning multiple warheads, a proposal Russiahas previously rejected. And if a conflict
goes nuclear with the first use ofhighly accurate, low yield Russian weapons,

(43:46):
this is when you hear them saystrategic nukes. That's that's what it is,
the low yield. The US andits allies have limited options with which
to respond, as our europe basegravity bombs to platforms from which they are
launched have to fly through enemy territoryto avoid air defense. Whether cyber An

(44:08):
advanced conventional capabilities can fill in thatgap is not fully known. We have
no guarantee any nuclear conflict will remainat the conventional level, where the US
has at least a good chance ofstopping Russian aggression. For now, the
US and its allies are primarily tryingto decide whether Putin's nuclear threats are largely

(44:31):
bluff, and we are stuck notknowing whether our warnings to avoid nuclear escalations
are taken seriously. All right,I'm running room behind. We still haven't
we still have more to talk about, so I'm mean kind of hitting around
to this one for a while.Here. This is The Washington Examiner by

(44:58):
Ryan King, dateline October third,twenty twenty two. So this is just
a few days ago. Russian submarinewith nuclear tsunami technology vanishes. One of
Russia's nuclear powered submarines, named thebell Go Rod, has reportedly vanished from

(45:22):
its Arctic harbor and Western countries fearit could be gearing up to test its
advanced weapons systems. The bell GoRod is believed to be armed with quote
Poseidon unquote nuclear torpedoes that supposedly havethe ability to traverse hundreds of miles underwater
and include nuclear tsunamis near coastal regions. This Italian newspaper reported this nuclear mega

(45:50):
torpedo is unique in the history ofthe world, submarine expert Hi Sutton explained
on his website Covert Shores. Besides, it is a completely new category of
weapon. It will reshape naval planningin both Russia and the West, leading
to new requirements and new counter weapons. NATO has NATO has warned its members

(46:12):
that Bell Go Rod has left itsperch in the Arctic Harbor per Lab Republica
bell Go Rod is believed to beone of the largest submarines in the world.
It has in its service. Backin July, the New York Post
reported NATO officials reportedly believe it couldbe headed to the Kara Sea for testing.

(46:36):
Formally known as the K three twonine Bell Go Rod, the submarine
has been described as the epitome ofa new concept in warfare. Let's see
the largest fleet of spy submarines inthe world. They're based in the Arctic.
Meanwhile, like, that's the mostsuper villain move right to park all

(47:00):
your submarines in the Arctic. Thenews of bell Go Rod's disappearance comes amid
heightened concern that the Kremlin is eyeingits nuclear weapons as its suffer setbacks in
the Ukraine. Recent footage shared ona pro Russian telegram channel showed a train
transporting advanced military year that belongs tothe twelfth Main Directorate, which helps maintain

(47:24):
Moscow's nuclear stockpile. The Daily Mailreported last month, Russian President Vladimir Putin
sent much of the West into afrenzy when he vowed to defend the territorial
integrity of our Motherland by all themeans at his disposal, remarks that were
widely interpreted as a nuclear threat.The Kremlin has suffered a string of snags

(47:50):
on the battlefield and neighboring Ukraine.Recently, Russian forces pulled back from a
great eastern city of Lyman, locatedin the Blah Blah Blah. During the
signing ceremony, Pewton said that theUnited States created a precedent for deploying nuclear
weapons, which it did during WorldWar Two. Western officials, such as
the Secretary of State Afni Blincoln,have warned of consequences for Russia deploying nukes

(48:15):
over the weekend. Retired Lieutenant Generalhr McMasters again see the episodes on seventy
three the Battle of seventy three Eastingsummarize that Moscow could be on the precipice
of really the collapse of the Russianarmy in Ukraine. So, like I
said, I just kind of wantedto touch base. I'm not sure if

(48:37):
I want the podcast to become,you know, the history of the end
of the world in real time,but sometimes it seems like this is what
we're doing here. I had onemore article pulled up, but basically,
it's just how the Army can't recruitanybody anymore. The Army follows a twenty

(48:58):
five percent short of its recruiting recruitinggoal. Um it says here the takeaway
frantic effort to make up the widelyexpected gap in a year when all the
military service struggled in tight jobs marketto find young people willing and fit to
enlist. So that's it. That'sthe This is the abercast and I'm John

(49:22):
Towers, and um, just toclose on a closing note, now is
the time to you know, bethe first sergeant for your house. You
know, get more, get somemore beans, get a couple more bullets,
stock up on your band aids likethese are the things that we can
do logistically to uh, like Imentioned earlier, buy some fucking space heaters

(49:45):
and and some and a generator ortwo god knows I have. So UM,
now is the time to be thefirst sergeant for your home and your
your loved ones. You know,you a little get a little wiggle room
in your in your stores and yourum in your cupboards and your junk drawers

(50:07):
and your first aid kits and youknow, um it's a smart move because
you know you read through this shipand you never know what's happening. And
I am literally gonna go shop fora gas mask, um, the one
I stole from the Army when Ieat when I got out. Uh can't.
I mean, I guess it couldstill be good. I don't know,

(50:28):
but I need to get it.I need to get a new one.
So I'm gonna go, Um,start a fire in the backyard.
Uh, pour a drink. Cook, I'm gonna cook steaks tonight, and
uh, I'm gonna enjoy the quietwhile it's here. Um, and then
I'll be shopping for gas masks onmy on my cell phone. All right,

(50:53):
I'll see you guys in a fewdays. Um. Please think about
the first sergeant. You know,I want everyone. I don't want anything
bad to happen to anybody. Butyou know, you prepare what is it?
How does it go? You preparefor the worst and hope for the

(51:15):
best. Yeah, I guess that'swhere I'm at. Thank you for listening,
and we hope that you enjoyed theshow. Please send an email or
find us on social media and letus know what you think about the show.
We would appreciate it if you wouldgive us a five star rate and
review. Wherever you find your favoritepodcasts, you can find Stigmata's studios,

(51:42):
graphic novels, and comic books asapprocast dot com Welcome to the Red Archive.
Get access to over fifty hours ofarchived episodes, more bonus audio,
additional exclusive content, all this foronly one dollar a month. Find the

(52:04):
link to the Red Archive at abcastdot com

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