(Ken Silva, Headline USA) As the Biden administration continues to escalate the U.S.’s role in the war in Ukraine, the scientists responsible for setting the “Doomsday Clock” have warned that the world is closer than ever before to nuclear annihilation.
The Science and Security Board of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists said Tuesday that it is moving the hands of the Doomsday Clock forward, largely—though not exclusively—because of the mounting dangers of the war in Ukraine.
“The Clock now stands at 90 seconds to midnight—the closest to global catastrophe it has ever been,” the scientists said in a statement.
The Science and Security Board largely blamed the potential for nuclear war on Russia, whose president, Vladimir Putin, has made threats toward that end. The scientists also urged the U.S. to “keep the door open to principled engagement with Moscow.”
“Finding a path to serious peace negotiations could go a long way toward reducing the risk of escalation,” the scientists said. “In this time of unprecedented global danger, concerted action is required, and every second counts.”
However, the Biden Administration has steadily instead escalated its role in the Ukraine-Russia war.
Indeed, the Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday that U.S. officials are considering sending M1 Abrams tanks to Ukraine, despite recent comments from Pentagon officials about how they would be difficult for Ukrainian forces to maintain. This latest development follows reports last week that U.S. officials are considering helping Ukraine retake Crimea, which has been Russian territory since Putin invaded it in 2014.
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg and numerous U.S. policymakers have also called for driving Russia out of Ukraine altogether—despite warnings from National Intelligence Director Avril Haines last May that Putin could use nuclear weapons if he thinks he’s losing the conflict.
Writing on his blog last week, former CIA Russia analyst Ray McGovern blasted the Biden Administration for its hawkish policies and lack of diplomacy with Russia.
“If the U.S. really wants to avoid war with Russia, it must realize that, barring the use of nuclear weapons, Russia is not only determined to prevail but has the means to prevail. What has gone on in Ukraine over the last nine years poses an existential threat to Russia. It will not tolerate an existential threat,” wrote McGovern, who heads an organization of former intelligence officers called the Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity.
“Biden and his sophomore advisers do not seem to ‘get it,’ and this makes it exceptionally dangerous.”
Ken Silva is a staff writer at Headline USA. Follow him at twitter.com/jd_cashless.
