JOHN F. FLOYD COMMENTARY: It's best not to sleep on Putin's threats

I pray what I am about to write never comes to fruition, but unfortunately, under present circumstances, there is a possibility. I take what Russian President Vladimir Putin says at face value. Putin talks of nuclear war and most Americans assume he is referring to Ukraine. It is my un-educated opinion Putin is talking about a nuclear engagement with the United States. What better time for Russia to stage and commit to nuclear aggression than while the United States has troubling leadership?

Walter Russell Mead wrote in the May 3 Wall Street Journal, “Having been drawn this far into the conflict, Washington cannot now accept a Ukrainian defeat without a serious loss of honor and prestige. But even discounting nuclear risks, the task of assisting a bankrupted Ukraine to prevail against larger Russian forces in a war of attrition is a daunting one. Currently, the Biden Administration is committed to winning a war it thought wouldn’t happen on the side of a country it believed to be helpless in the face of dangers and difficulties it does not yet know how to assess.”

The Biden Administration has already lost its honor and prestige with the circus withdrawal from Afghanistan, so that’s not an issue. The Biden Administration must now dismiss all the background noise, quit reading the national news that makes one think Ukraine is winning the war, and laser focus on the nuclear threat to the United States. Putin is not afraid to talk about nuclear weapons and their use.

Putin said if anyone intervenes in Ukraine and creates unacceptable threats for us that are strategic in nature, the Russian response will be lightning fast. He further stated, “We have all the tools for this that no one else can boast of having. We won’t boast about it, we will use them.” Does anyone think he is boasting about using nuclear weapons on a hapless Ukraine? What if Putin has decided this is the time for a showdown with the United States? What if China has agreed to be a partner in such a showdown? Both countries have nuclear arsenals that include intercontinental ballistic missiles that can reach the United States. The United States can retaliate but massive suffering of humanity would follow. All because of one psychotic man, Vladimir Putin.

Peggy Noonan summed the situation up very succinctly. She wrote in her Wall Street Journal column, Declarations, “Sometimes a thing keeps nagging around your brain and though you’ve said it before you have to say it again. We factor in but do not sufficiently appreciate the real possibility of nuclear-weapon use by Russia in Ukraine. This is the key and crucial historic possibility in the drama, and it really could come to pass. And once it starts, it doesn’t stop. Once the taboo which has held since 1945 is broken, it’s broken. We don’t want to step into that age.” If one wants to be realistic, substitute United States where ever Noonan mentions Ukraine.

The United States met the Cuban Missile Crisis with determination and assurance to Soviet leader Khrushchev, that the U.S. would go to war before the U.S. would allow Soviet missiles in Cuba, ninety miles from our border. Russia has determined the inclusion of Sweden, Ukraine, and Finland as a threat. Ukraine has a border with Russia of 1,426 miles and Finland’s border is substantial. Russia sees this as congruent with the Cuban Missile Crisis.

I hope my assumptions are just that, assumptions, and nothing comes from Putin’s aggressive rhetoric. The thing I can’t figure out, just what is Putin’s end game? Putin is systematically destroying the infrastructure of Ukraine. It will take billions to restore the country regardless of who wins.

But one thing is sure, Vladimir Putin will not allow a defeat at the hands of the West to be his legacy.

John F. Floyd is a Gadsden native who graduated from Gadsden High School in 1954. He formerly was director of United Kingdom manufacturing, Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co., vice president of manufacturing and international operations, General Tire & Rubber Co., and director of manufacturing, Chrysler Corp. He can be reached at johnfloyd538@gmail.com. The opinions reflected are his own.

This article originally appeared on The Gadsden Times: JOHN F. FLOYD COMMENTARY: It's best not to sleep on Putin's threats