"You will be at war with NATO"

Nuclear disarmament

Think Before You Take the Plunge, ©2023 William L. Brown

Blowing up a nuclear power plant would be a monstrosity. But monstrosity is Russia’s national dish.

Russia has monstrously destroyed, murdered, tortured and raped its way into Ukraine starting in 2014. It has kidnapped children, dropped phosphorous bombs, smashed civilian homes and energy infrastructure, and has despoiled or stolen cultural treasures.

In the early hours of June 6 Russia monstrously exploded a major dam in occupied southern Ukraine, causing a humanitarian and environmental crisis so massive it has been dubbed an “ecocide.”

Russia may be preparing an even more monstrous act to follow - blowing up a nuclear power plant. The Ukrainian intelligence agency says Russia has mined the Zaphorizhian Nuclear Power Plant and has positioned cars full of explosives on the site.

Photos and seismic data suggest there was similar set-up at Kakhovka Dam just downriver from the nuclear plant. Kakhovka is now a damp jumble of concrete at the head of a scoured, polluted flood-plain stretching 90 miles to the Black Sea.

Russia doesn’t care what it does to people, even its own. Russian troops were caught in the flood as well as civilians, and the Russians fired on rescue efforts on their own side of the river. The military advantage of breaking the dam is fleeting, but the civilian effect will last for decades or longer: housing and infrastructure loss, environmental poisoning, and disrupted water supply, which includes Ukraine’s now-broken agriculture-irrigation system.

Ukrainian waters near Dnipro, 80 miles upriver from the Zaphorizhian Nuclear Power Plant, October, 2022. Photo: William L Brown

The repercussions will be felt for years all the way to the Black Sea where debris, bodies, explosive-mines and pollutants have been washed. All of that savagery to briefly hinder Ukraine’s counterattack! The world was shocked and horrified, but took no action. Russia got away with it.

So, how about it, world? Will you just stand there while Russia blows the nuke plant, letting radioactive clouds drift over you? Can Russia get away with that, too?

Not if NATO warns Russia it will treat a nuclear attack of any kind, including nuclear-plant sabotage, as an attack on NATO. Radioactivity knows no boundaries and is uncontrollable. Any release in Europe would drift into NATO airspace.

Russia only respects force. They may disdain human suffering and ecocide but they can calculate the outcome of a military contest with NATO.

“The best way to deter this threat is to give Putin’s Russia clarity as to what happens if they use nuclear weapons,” said Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) as he and Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) introduced a bipartisan senate resolution June 22.

“This resolution is meant to send a message to Vladimir Putin and to his military: they will be destroyed if they use tactical nuclear weapons or if they destroy a nuclear plant in a way that threatens surrounding NATO nations,” said Blumenthal.

“Our message is to those around Putin.” said Graham. “If you do this and follow his order, should he give it, you can expect a massive response from NATO. You will be at war with NATO.”

Yes, war with NATO is scary for us, too. But, it won’t happen. Russia will back down, it is not suicidal. Dictator Putin has shown just recently his strong desire for self-preservation. When the Wagner Group mutinied and marched on Moscow, Putin fled to a distant bunker. Note that when faced with a threat, he negotiated.

Reader, you can threaten Putin! You can stop him! Please email or call your congresspersons and ask them to support the Graham, Blumenthal resolution to address threat of Russian tactical nukes. Also support the House version introduced June 27 by U.S. Representatives Joe Wilson (R-SC) and Steve Cohen (D-TN).

The full Senate resolution text is here. The text of the House resolution is here.

[UPDATE: These resolutions are now Senate Resolution 268 and House Resolution 562]

Congressional contact information is at your fingertips. There’s a handy website here that will identify your representatives and their email and phone numbers. All you have to do is send a simple email saying you are a constituent (providing an address gives credibility) and something like, “please support the Graham/Blumenthal and Wilson/Cohen resolutions backing a NATO response to a nuclear attack on Ukraine.”

You can just put that in the subject field. Congresspeople carefully track numbers of constituent calls and correspondence. If voters care enough to contact them, they pay attention. So, please do this. It’s not just for Ukraine, all of us are in danger of a radioactive release.

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Thanks for the enthusiastic response to the last NativeCpeaker “Border Incidents”! I am encouraged to do more graphic-novel-type stories. Stand by - it is a time-intensive project. Thanks for your support!

Bill Brown