By Jerry Kroth

May 15, 2023: Information Clearing House --A few months before war broke out, Putin held a press conference. A BBC reporter asked if he was going to invade the sovereign county of the Ukraine or would he be giving them some sort of security guarantees? Frustrated, Putin said “Security guarantees!” We are the one who need security guarantees! The US built missile bases and “attack systems” in Poland and Romania.  What would you do if we built missile bases in Canada or Mexico?

That got me wondering, but then the war started, and all the sanctions and condemnations flowed, and I kind of forgot about that press conference.

But now that we are over 400 days into this war, I still  wonder if Putin was as crazy as he is described in the media, or  whether there was any basis for his fear.

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I wrote to a number of professors of international relations, but then decided, “Hey why not ask Chat Gpt?”

So I did. My first question was this:

The US has missile bases in Poland and Romania. It says the bases are purely defensive. Russia argues they could easily be converted to offensive “attack systems.”  Question: “Does Russia have a right to inspect the Polish and Romanian missile systems to verify that they are purely defensive in character?”

And Chat GPT said “No!”

Hmmm!

My next question was whether there were any nuclear weapons in Eastern Europe.

Chat GPT said “No!”

Well that is reassuring. “What makes Putin so uptight?” I thought to myself.

Then I  asked “Are there any treaties prohibiting placing nuclear weapons in Eastern Europe?”

Chat GPT said “No!”

Hmmm!  “Well maybe he does have a right to worry.”

Then I asked “Are there Pershing II missiles in Europe which can carry nuclear weapons? “

Chat GPT said “ Yes, and they were stationed in Germany “but then it said there were none in Europe, so I didn’t get a straight answer.

Chat GPT kind of disappointed.

Then I asked if there were any hypersonic nuclear missiles in Europe today?
Chat Gpt said the following:

“I’m not sure about hypersonic nuclear missiles in Europe today, but according to an article on globalresearch.ca, the United States will soon deploy hypersonic missiles, armed with “a variety of payloads” (that is, nuclear and conventional warheads), in Europe (there are rumors of a probable first base in Poland or Romania). However, I couldn’t find any information on whether these missiles have been deployed yet.

And then I said to myself, “Jesus!”

I then asked how fast a hypersonic nuclear tipped missile can fly
It answered, 6200 km/hour.

I started putting two and two together. If Ukraine joined NATO and US/NATO built military bases there, a hypersonic nuclear tipped cruise missile could hit the Kremlin, which is 390 miles away, in about 6 minutes!

So, basically, this amounts to a Cuban Missile Crisis in reverse, happening before our eyes. When Putin says NATO presents an existential threat, he’s talking straight talk.

If NATO wins this war, the Kremlin could be hit in 6 minutes with a hypersonic nuclear missile based in Ukraine, and there are no treaties prohibiting that eventuality.

If we negotiated a strategic arms treaty, today, it could specify that only defensive weapons in Poland and Romania could be deployed, no NATO bases in Ukraine, no hypersonic nuclear tipped missiles at all in Europe, no nuclear weapons in Eastern Europe, and Russia would get to inspect and verify.  Simple enough. Imagine that! 

There would have been no war at all. And all those lives lost could have been saved.

Why we couldn’t —or can’t—agree to that boggles my mind?

Jerry Kroth, Ph.D. is an Associate Professor Emeritus from Santa Clara University in California and may be contacted through his website collectivepsych.com