From her irresponsible column, here:
Mr. Putin talks about nuclear weapons a lot. He did it again Wednesday: In a meeting with politicians in St. Petersburg, he 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 said: “We have all the tools for this that no one else can boast of having. We won’t boast about it, we’ll use them, if needed.”
He’s talked like this since the invasion. It’s a tactic: He’s trying to scare everybody. That doesn’t mean the threat is empty.
There are signs the Russians are deliberately creating a historical paper trail, as if to say they warned us. On Monday Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said the risk of nuclear conflict is “serious” and “should not be underestimated.”
No he doesn't. No he hasn't. And neither has Lavrov. Listen for yourself. It's Peggy who is supplying "the risk of nuclear conflict", not Lavrov. Lavrov is clearly referring to the dangerous increased rhetoric about the possibility of nuclear conflict, which is precisely the hysteria Peggy Noonan is engaging in. The Russians have been very circumspect. They don't actually use the terminology. They're not bluffing. They're beating around the bush to create uncertainty, to keep their enemies off balance.
Putin has never used the phrase "nuclear weapon" in any of these examples which have been reported in the press since the beginning of the war in Ukraine. Putin's hypersonic capability is clearly in focus in his statements. He has them and the West does not. He's threatening to use them with conventional warheads against Western targets, which is bad enough. But nuclear warheads? That's what he wants us to think, to create fear. But he's never actually said it.
The nuclear talk is all Western hype, exaggeration, and lying. And Drudge is a major aggregator of such headlines. It's irresponsible and it must stop, because to continue it is to make the unthinkable, thinkable, and then actual.
Try exercising your free speech absolutism then, as your tongue vaporizes inside your mouth.
Meanwhile Peggy Noonan appears not to have considered that Putin has daughters, to whom he might really want to leave something other than smoking embers.
Hysteria has a way of blinding one to important facts.
NOONAN: Putin Really May Break the Nuclear Taboo in Ukraine!
Moscow warns 'do not underestimate threat of nuclear war'... ^
Putin test-fires 'Satan' nuclear missile... ^
Cronies 'flee to bunkers' in sign might turn nuclear... ^
UN Warns: Nuclear War 'Within Realm of Possibility'... ^
Putin actions trigger long-buried fears of nuclear war for generations of Americans... ^
Accused of Nuclear 'Terrorism'... ^
Putin nuclear threat part of new escalation policy... ^
Even Putin's generals look stunned after being ordered to put nuclear forces on 'alert'... Decree that shocked the world... ^
PUTIN WARNS HE'LL NUKE WEST ^
Nuke-capable missiles loaded onto subs... ^
NUKE BOMBER BUZZES UKRAINE... ^
POPE NUKE WARNING ^
ZELENSKY NUKE WARNING TO WORLD... ^
CIA Director: Nuke threat not taken 'lightly'... ^
Nuke Fears Stoked With Atomic Weapons Warnings... ^
Senators mull unthinkable: Vlad detonating nuke... ^
FEAR: More Putin Nuke Threats... ^
Likely More Nuke Threats... ^
PUTIN NUKE FEARS GROW ^
NUKE CONCERNS RISING ^
Nuke threat part of new escalation policy... ^
NUKE CRAZY! ^
ORDERS NUKE FORCES ON HIGH ALERT ^
ORDERS NUKE FORCES ON HIGH ALERT ^
