SCOTT HORTON, via connor@scotthorton.org, @scotthortonshow
Horton is editorial director of Antiwar.com and the author of the just-released Provoked: How Washington Started the New Cold War with Russia and the Catastrophe in Ukraine.
AntiWar.com is reporting that: “The New York Times reported on Sunday that President Biden had authorized Ukraine’s use of long-range U.S.-provided missiles in strikes on Russian territory, an escalation Moscow has made clear risks nuclear war.
“U.S. officials told the paper that Ukraine can now use Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS), which have a range of up to 190 miles, to strike Russian territory. The ATACMS are fired by U.S.-made multiple rocket launch systems, including the HIMARS. Ukraine can only fire the HIMARS with coordinates provided by or confirmed by the U.S. and its allies, meaning the U.S. will now directly support strikes deep inside Russia. …
“Earlier this year, President Biden gave Ukraine the greenlight to strike Russian border regions with U.S.-provided weapons, including shorter-range rockets fired by the HIMARS. A few months later, Ukraine launched its invasion of Kursk, and Ukrainian officials began pushing hard for the U.S. to support longer-range strikes inside Russia.
“In response to those calls and comments from Western officials supporting the idea, Russian President Vladimir Putin said if NATO supported long-range strikes in Russia, it would put the Western military alliance ‘at war with Russia.’
“Putin then ordered changes to Russia’s nuclear doctrine that lowered the threshold for the use of nuclear weapons. Under the new doctrine, an attack on Russia by a non-nuclear armed state that was supported by a nuclear power will be considered a joint attack.”
Horton is director of the Libertarian Institute, host of Antiwar Radio on Pacifica station KPFK in Los Angeles, California and podcasts the Scott Horton Show. His past books include Enough Already: Time to End the War on Terrorism and Fool’s Errand: Time to End the War in Afghanistan.