House Democrat: Obama’s Foreign Policy Could Lead to Nuclear War

Recently the Obama administration approved the deployment of more special operators to the Middle East, ostensibly to engage ISIS targets in Iraq and Syria. This “specialized expeditionary targeting force” will help Iraqi and Kurdish forces in the region, and will eventually “conduct raids, free hostages, gather intelligence, and capture ISIL leaders” according to Defense Secretary Ashton Carter, who spoke to the House Armed Services Committee on Tuesday.

Carter cited the recent special forces raid that rescued several ISIS prisoners as the perfect example for why we need a small standing force in the region that can strike anywhere, and anytime. Of course, our military has probably been fighting ISIS in Iraq and Syria for a long time. Not to defeat them though. They just want to contain ISIS while these radicals fight Assad, but that’s a story for another day.

After Carter laid out the administration’s plan (which he admits, he is unsure of the deployment’s legality), one of the members of the committee put the defense secretary in his place with a reality check. She challenged him on Obama’s previous decision to allow American fighter jets to patrol the Turkish border earlier this month, in light of recent events.

Carter got a hint of just how difficult it may be to sell Congress on such legislation when Representative Tulsi Gabbard (D., Hawaii) suggested that Obama’s decision to place American fighter jets equipped “to target Russian planes” on the border between Turkey and Syria, and his stated opposition to Russian-backed Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad, could lead the U.S. into a nuclear war with Vladimir Putin’s regime.

“Russia’s installation of their anti-aircraft missile-defense system increases that possibility of — whether it’s intentional or even an accidental event — where one side may shoot down the other side’s plane,” Gabbard told Carter. “And that’s really where the potential is for this devastating nuclear war.”

That little tidbit about allowing armed jets to counter Russian aircraft was largely ignored by the mainstream media at the time, but the horrifying possibilities of that deployment can’t be ignored after Russia’s bomber was shot down. Gabbard’s comment was somewhat uncharacteristic given her typically hawkish stance, but it’s totally understandable.  Who in their right mind would think that kind of air cover is still good idea? That’s like going back in time to give Gavrilo Princip a handgun. You know what’s going to happen.

The Defense Secretary in turn tried to reassure the committee that the current situation won’t escalate to a real war between the US and Russia. Apparently these nations have nothing more than a diplomatic disagreement, with no military implications. “We have a different view, a very different view from Russia about what would be constructive for them to do in Syria. That’s not the same as the United States and Russia clashing.”

However, the Russians sure don’t seem to have such a hunky dory attitude about the status of this conflict. They’re clearly preparing for the worst, which includes nuclear war. Take a look at the “Doomsday Plane” that Russia just created.

Russia’s defense industry has completed tests of a new flying command center capable of maintaining full control over the country’s armed forces in the event of a global disaster or nuclear war. Russia and the US are the only two nations to possess a command center of this kind.

The airborne strategic command center aboard an Ilyushin Il-80 aircraft, a modification of the Il-86 wide-body jet airliner, has successfully completed testing and will be ready for operations by the end of 2015, Russia’s United Instrument Manufacturing Corporation (UIMC) said.

The operational deployment of the airborne center is indispensable in situations when there is an absence of ground infrastructure, and in conditions where communications from ground facilities have been disrupted.

So while the Defense Secretary is sitting before the House with a straight face, and telling our representatives that nothing bad could come from deploying armed jets in such a precarious situation, the Russians are preparing for a nuclear holocaust by building a flying nuke bunker for their political and military elite. The lies and stupidity that spew from our leaders never cease to amaze and horrify me.