“It must be kept in mind that the employment of powerful and long-range means of destruction in modern warfare and their high technical readiness and speed of action permit the warring sides to mutually destroy in a short time not only single targets and objectives, but also entire elements of troop combat formations – subunits, units, control centers, communications centers; to put rear area bases out of action; and also to destroy large sectors of the lines of communication, with the simultaneous creation of vast zones of contamination, fires, obstructions and inundations. As a result of this the status of troops and the situation as a whole may change rapidly and abruptly.”
MARSHAL A. GRECHKO, 1975 [I]
(Originally published here in the J.R. Nyquist Blog, republished with permission.)
There is a widely accepted myth that nuclear weapons are too destructive for practical use. For psychopaths, of course, one cannot have too much death and destruction. So where is the impracticality? Ted Bundy murdered dozens of women and buried them in shallow graves. That’s a lot of work, and a lot of risk, for something that makes no sense. But that’s what psychopaths do. We should not expect it to make sense or sound practical.
The danger of getting caught and executed did not deter Bundy from his course of killing. Bundy loved killing young women. In terms of nations, France and Britain threatened Hitler with war if he invaded Poland, but Hitler invaded Poland anyway. Deterrence failed here, too. In the case of nuclear war, deterrence will also fail.
Nuclear war has something to offer political psychopaths – something that stands deterrence on its head. Psychopaths love killing and hurting people. It is their path to self-affirmation. Consider the People’s dictatorships: North Korea (DPRK), the People’s Republic of China (PRC), Socialist Republic of Vietnam, Cuba, etc. These regimes are sustained by the routine robbing and killing of human beings. Ultimately, all these regimes were born in mass murder and sustained by mass murder – not because mass murder is “practical.” To put it simply, mass murder appeals to them.
Consequently, thermonuclear weapons are a “must have” item for communist regimes. Even a small and impoverished communist regime, like the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, has nuclear weapons. For many decades the leaders of Russia and China have believed that nuclear weapons are the decisive weapons of the next big war. The Chinese communists outwardly pretend that they are not interested in nuclear weapons. They publish books about “unrestricted warfare” – that is, death by a thousand cuts. Yet here we are, suffering from thousands of small communist cuts and we have not fallen. How do you destroy the richest, most advanced country? You better use nuclear weapons. In fact, this is what Soviet experts were saying sixty years ago.
In a volume edited by Marshal of the Soviet Union, V.D. Sokolovskii, we read, “Nuclear strikes by strategic missiles will be of decisive, primary importance to the outcome of a modern war. Massive nuclear blows on the enemy’s strategic nuclear weapons, economy, and system of government control, and the concurrent defeat of his armed forces in military theaters will permit the attainment of the political aims of war much more rapidly than in previous wars.”[ii]
Here is a Soviet military professional telling his subordinates that nuclear war is the most practical war of all. It is very difficult, however, to get Americans or Europeans to agree with this. There have been, in recent decades, two false narratives advanced about nuclear war. These narratives say that the radiation from nuclear weapons will kill everyone on earth, and that the earth will die in a nuclear winter.
According to Dr. Peter Vincent Pry, “Radioactive fallout from a nuclear war could be a major threat to human life, if the nuclear attacks involved groundbursting of warheads. Airburst or low airburst nuclear weapons would pose no or a greatly diminished fallout threat.” In terms of military efficiency, noted Pry, “All U.S. targets … including missile silos, can be most efficiently attacked by airbursting warheads because airbursting maximizes the lethal radius of overpressure and blast effects, the dominant killing mechanisms.” Pry pointed out that bomber fratricide from ground-bursting nukes would not be in the interest of the Russians, whose bombers would be sent to key target areas to finish the job. If the atmosphere above those targets was radioactive the follow-on bomber crews would not survive.[iii]
According to those who have studied the radiation question, there is no scenario in which a nuclear war would produce enough global fallout to kill all life on earth. The movie On the Beach, which portrays a world dying from fallout, is purely fictional. There might be some local areas that are turned into desert, and tens of millions could die of radiation poisoning, but millions more would survive. The problem with nuclear war, in terms of mass death, is the same as that of world war; namely, economic disruption and mass starvation. More people would die worldwide from economic collapse following a nuclear war than would die from heat, blast, or nuclear radiation. According to Cresson Kearney of Oak Ridge National Laboratory, the effects of a nuclear war “would be far from the end of human life on earth. The dangers from nuclear weapons have been distorted and exaggerated, for varied reasons. These exaggerations have become demoralizing myths.”[iv]
Having dispensed with the radiation myth we should also examine the nuclear winter myth, invented by the Russians and passed off on gullible “scientists” who used Soviet climate models in their 1983 TTAPS study.[v] The theory of nuclear winter states that debris and smoke from nuclear strikes would rapidly cool the Earth, making life impossible. The famous television scientist, Carl Sagan, was used to sell nuclear winter to the public; but as Pry observed, “Carl Sagan, who is now better known as a popularizer of science than as a research scientist and whose specialty in any case is astronomy, was … unqualified to make the technical case for nuclear winter.”[vi] But there is more to this story. Russian scientists were instructed by the KGB to give American scientists bogus climate models with which to validate the nuclear winter theory. According to Russian intelligence defector Sergei Tretyakov, “I was told the Soviet scientists knew this theory [nuclear winter] was completely ridiculous.”.[vii]
According to Peter Pry, “Numerous prominent physicists have condemned the scholarship and findings of TTAPS. In testimony before Congress on 10 October 1984, Edward Teller cautioned that nuclear winter ‘is an unwarranted exaggeration … [as] such predictions have proved false in connection with fallout and the depletion of the ozone layer which have been well publicized and discussed in the past.’”[viii]
Nuclear weapons are powerful bombs. They can be used rationally, to destroy military targets. They have already been used against two cities in Japan. Moscow’s active measures regarding nuclear war have been extremely effective. The entire population has been indoctrinated to think that nuclear weapons can only be used for deterrence, that mass use of nuclear weapons would lead to the extinction of all life on Earth. Imagining from this that a large nuclear arsenal is unnecessary, the United States has allowed its nuclear arsenal to rot. The same can be said for British and French nuclear arsenals. All rotten.
Once upon a time there was “deterrence.” But now our deterrence has been compromised. And none of our leaders seem to understand what has happened. Our present leaders are people who believe in universal peace and equality, social justice, and global warming. Deep down they are suspicious of those who feel threatened by communist states. In their view, America was the main aggressor and threat to peace during the Cold War – not the Soviet Union.
As I write these words, Soviet Marshal Grechko’s decrepit epigones are building the rockets and warheads needed to change the “situation as a whole … rapidly and abruptly.” They are degenerate thieves, of course; yet they have missiles that work, and modernized nuclear weapons. If they can get their act together, they will try their hand at nuclear blackmail. Failing this, they can always use the weapons and eliminate us outright.
Why not?
The Russian invasion of Ukraine, and Chinese preparations for war against the United States, are clearly in evidence. Once the Russians and Chinese have traveled down the path of military mobilization what else can they do? Their economic commitment to war might already be past the point of no return. Of course, all normal people would agree that nuclear world war is insane. From the standpoint of the weapons themselves, those who deny the efficacy of the weapons are insane.
Last weekend we saw a live fire exercise where 120 Iranian ballistic missiles were launched against a country aligned with the United States (i.e., Israel). Of course, this was a test of Western interception capabilities and Iranian missile accuracy. It was a very expensive test, costing more than a billion U.S. dollars. To explain further: Ballistic missiles with conventional warheads are silly. The blast radius is too small relative to the expense. The game-changer in rocketry comes when you put a nuclear warhead on a ballistic missile. This is what Russia, China, and North Korea have done, and this is what Iran is working towards.
It should be mentioned, as well, that live fire missile tests are also being carried out by Russia against Ukraine. Again, these are very expensive and not terribly effective attacks. Yet these attacks allow Russian rocket troops to improve their aim. Because of the Ukraine War, Russia has acquired battlefield missile veterancy by using ballistic missiles in combat.
To underscore the point more directly: Ballistic missiles are ideal for carrying nuclear warheads. For every ballistic missile there must be a nuclear warhead. The Iranians wanted to know how many warheads would reach targets in Israel. Was it 5 out of 120? The Iranians are going back to the drawing board. At the same time, many observers are puzzled at Russia’s persistence in the Ukraine War. They are puzzled at the ongoing low quality of the Russian troops. But they should not be puzzled. The quality of the troops does not matter once nuclear bombs are used. It is much better to sacrifice low-quality troops than high-quality troops when war shifts into nuclear high gear.
With these observations in front, I present my most recent interview with Mr. D. Wang of Lude Media, who speaks of Chinese and Russian war preparations.
INTERVIEW WITH LUDE MEDIA: CHINA PREPARES
JRN: Is there anything new in the Chinese Communist Party’s strategy? Are we seeing what you expected to see in terms of continued Chinese harassment of Taiwan and the Philippines?
LUDE: Regarding Taiwan, we must emphasize the importance of the subversion plan in defeating an U.S. Marine intervention. The CCP seeks an opportunity for a sudden attack. Without such an opportunity they will not attack. If they do a big hit, then the hit must be effective. They are currently building undersea traps to lure American nuclear submarines and other ships into the seas around Taiwan.
JRN: Does the large earthquake hitting Taiwan make China’s strategy against Taiwan easier?
LUDE: Actually, the CCP studies the earthquake zone around Taiwan. They would like to cause an artificial earthquake if they could. What they want, most of all, is to break the communications links between Taiwan and the outside world. If they can impair the undersea cable, then the subversive forces within Taiwan can say that Taiwan has to negotiate a deal with the mainland government. Then the outside world will have no time to react. Everything in this situation depends on Taiwan’s police and military forces. Are they functioning properly? Have they been subverted? If these are functioning properly, CCP subversion will be difficult.
JRN: How is Chinese President Xi’s health? I understand he has high blood pressure.
LUDE: Xi does indeed have high blood pressure, and it is a problem. Last March, before he went to Russia, he had a minor surgery. I must emphasize that when a CCP leader is sick, they have a special team to maintain that leader’s health at all costs. Xi feels he can maintain control for twenty years. I believe we cannot count on internal subversion of the CCP ruling group. It has a strong hold and there is no viable opposition.
JRN: Do you have any intelligence on China’s view of the Ukraine War?
LUDE: My information is that Xi’s CCP is already in a high-level alliance with Russia. It is almost at a military level. The CCP has not only offered support to Russia, but they are tasking the China CCP battle system to share data with Moscow. They are quickly upgrading and optimizing their weapon systems. In terms of practical applications, they are looking at the Ukraine War in terms of a future war against the West.
JRN: So, the CCP views the Ukraine War as a kind of laboratory for developing new tactics, systems, and strategies?
LUDE: Yes. The CCP’s recent history shows that they have not engaged in a large-scale military operation since the 1970s, so they need to learn. They also need opportunities to test new weapon systems. When they formed this alliance with Russia, they saw it as an opportunity. In the Spanish Civil War everyone tested new weapons. Ukraine is very much like this. Before the West learned that Russia would attack Ukraine, we knew in advance that an invasion would occur. The CCP has insisted that the war will take years, and will serve as a laboratory for weapons testing.
JRN: Does the CCP leadership expect Russia to win the Ukraine War? And do they have any projections as to when or how the war will end?
LUDE: They think Russia will win, but they are focused on the political fallout of this win. The longer the war takes, the more likely it will cause political instability inside the United States, and they would like to exploit this political instability if they can. The analogy here is the Vietnam War. The idea is to make the U.S. back down over a period of time. If you want an estimate, they think the war will last at least five years.
JRN: What do they think of Russia mobilizing 14 new divisions and 16 new brigades by the end of this year?
LUDE: I have no information about this, but I should comment. First, the West can only prepare based on what is on the table. You also must consider what is under the table. Remember what the Russians did during the Battle of Stalingrad. They mobilized their reserve and prepared an offensive the power of which nobody suspected. We should expect that Russia and China are carrying out secret mobilizations. With regard to war preparations, we must always overestimate and never underestimate. This is what we learned from the May 2022 Guangdong recording. We have information that the Chinese mobilizations discussed at that time have already been carried out. Secondly, the war in Ukraine will be prolonged for the sake of further mobilizations, especially as Russia and China transform their economic systems – shifting to war economies.
JRN: Does the war in Ukraine serve as a kind of camouflage for more advanced Russian and Chinese war preparations?
LUDE: The war camouflages their ace card. This is their special advantage. They have a successful history in terms of hiding their next move. Consider what happened to the U.S. First Marine Division in the Korean War when the Marines encountered the Chinese Volunteer Army in 1950. The point of such a sudden attack is to inflict fear, to exploit psychological weakness. This is the point. This is how the Soviets defeated and demoralized the German Army in the Second World War. The Germans lost their mobilization ability, even as they saw such large Soviet mobilizations. This psychologically defeated the German side. It persuaded many that the Germans could not win the war. It is important to win a war by coming up with unexpected reserves of strength.
JRN: An FSB analyst has sent letters to Russian dissidents in Paris. These FSB letters alleged that China was asking Russia to join in an attack against Japan. Have you heard about an operation of this kind from your Chinese sources?
LUDE: War between China and Japan is almost inevitable. China will begin this fight when the opportunity presents itself. If you are going to dominate East Asia, Japan is a Western stronghold that must be broken down. So, Japan must be confronted by the CCP at some time in the future. Therefore, the CCP prepares the internal hate of the Chinese people against Japan. And another thing is that the CCP military forces are aligned with Russia in the Far East so as to attack through the Sea of Japan. The weak point of the Western alliance is the Japanese Sea. So, they are preparing traps there in advance.
JRN: The most disturbing thing about the FSB letters was that the Kremlin wanted FSB economic analysts to determine whether the Russian economy could survive if every major Western economic center was destroyed by meteors from space. One does not need much imagination to realize what the analysts were being asked. Has there been similar inquiries by the CCP leadership?
LUDE: To answer this we need two things. I did not hear anything about this from the CCP side. Secondly, I do not believe China has the ability to initiate a nuclear attack. The CCP’s strong point is their unrestricted warfare and their infiltrators. Their best strike force is their biological warfare. Regarding Chinese nuclear forces, there is a question-mark. Russia has strong nuclear forces. China may not have such strong nuclear forces. Talking about economics, the CCP has done analysis as to whether they can function economically during a war. The answer is yes. They do discuss their economic independence. They think climate change is benefitting their alliance. In the Far East of Russia, for example, the climate is becoming warmer. And that means Siberia has a greater potential for exploitation.
JRN: From what I have observed, Russian solar scientists appear to believe in global cooling. There was a meeting of Chinese and Russian scientists about this in 2018. They were very guarded about their deliberations. Have you heard anything about this?
LUDE: I believe this is propaganda. Global warming benefits Russia and the CCP. If global warming opens the Arctic Sea route, they both stand to gain. We have to understand that global warming can be caused by carbon emissions. They do not want carbon emissions controlled.
JRN: On reading the book, Unrestricted Warfare by colonels Qiao and Wang, I noticed they were advancing a strong CCP disinformation narrative; namely, that nuclear weapons are obsolete and China has no interest in building them. But now we find that China is building nuclear weapons rapidly, so that China may overtake the U.S. in the next two years. What do you say to this?
LUDE: Of course, the CCP is rapidly developing nuclear power and weapons. They do not expect to use nuclear weapons because their true purpose is to employ unrestricted warfare. Basically, you cannot respond to attacks which are deniable. China is, for example, working on a dirty bomb. They try and use low-level nuclear weapons for disruption purposes.
JRN: Many analysts here in the West are concerned about Chinese young men of military age crossing the U.S. border illegally. Is the CCP placing special forces in the U.S. secretly? Are they doing this in preparation for a future war, or is it merely in preparation for sabotage operations?
LUDE: I have talked about this since January 2023. The CCP is trying to infiltrate 250,000 military personnel into the United States. They want these people in place when the war begins – to attack water systems and military bases.
JRN: How many of these 250,000 military personnel sent to the United States as infiltrators are expected to remain loyal to the CC? If they are left here too long, won’t they be corrupted by the American way of life?
LUDE: If you betray China, you get serious punishment. First, they control who gets out of China and who goes to America. They have hostages back in China. If they smell any betrayal, you can suffer the effects of Party discipline. So, under such a strict system, it is very hard to break free. The entire operation to infiltrate America with troops is carefully organized. It is organized around a kind of Ho Chi Minh Trail for China, as in the Vietnam War. This Ho Chi Minh Trail runs through Mexico to the U.S. border.
JRN: Don’t the Chinese strategists worry about Chinese defectors from the 250,000 going over to the Americans and exposing the entire plan? What makes them so confident and bold as to try something so dangerous?
LUDE: First, 250,000 is a large number. Think of various cities in the United States. They have batch after batch of troops infiltrating America’s southern border. These troops will not show themselves openly in the USA. So, the Americans will not notice. Their mission is to force the U.S. to lose control over its own society. As long as government control is broken, the dollar system will be crushed. The key thing is to create chaos on U.S. soil. Unless you defeat the dollar system, which backs up the American military, you have no chance.
FRIENDS & ENEMIES: WW2 PART 2
Jeff Nyquist with Alex Benesch
NOTES AND LINKS
[i] A. A. Grechko, The Armed Forces of the Soviet State (USAF translation, 1975), p. 208.
[ii] V.D. Sokolovskii, editor (Rand Translation), Soviet Military Strategy, p. 407.
[iii] Peter Vincent Pry, The Strategic Nuclear Balance, Volume 2: Nuclear Wars, Exchanges and Outcomes (New York: Taylor & Francis, 1990), p. 196.
[iv] Ibid.
[v] The acronym TTAPS comes from the names of the scientists who backed the study: Richard Turco, Owen Toon, Thomas Ackerman, Jams Pollack, and Carl Sagan.
[vi] Pry, p. 199.
[vii] Pete Early, Comrade J: The Untold Secrets of Russia’s Master Spy in America After the End of the Cold War – I am tired of citing this once again, but people simply will not read or believe the evidence.
[viii] Pry, p. 199.
