Former Centcom Commmander and disgraced CIA Director Gen. David Petraeus, 70, continues to opine about the Ukraine War, saying 70-year-old President Vladimir Putin has nowhere to go but down. Yet Petraeus, while CIA Director under former President Barack Obama, shared the CIA’s darkest secrets with the mistress-biographers Paul Broadwell in the biggest breach of CIA secrets and national security in the modern history. Petraeus breaches with Broadwell so far exceed anything former President Donald Trump did at Mar-a-Lago, it’s not even close. Yet with so many discredited officials, they get back in the news. Petraeus has been saying that if Putin uses tactical nuclear weapons, the U.S. and NATO would wipe out his army and naval forces in Ukraine, something so preposterous it’s absurd. Petraeus knows about Mutual Assured Destruction [MAD].
Petraeus’ new theory shows how far he ‘s out of the loop since getting fired in 2012 as CIA Director and stripped of his security clearance Opining as a private citizen, Petraeus has great confidence in things he once knew about while a respected general, once groomed for a top slot in the Pentagon. But suggesting that over Ukraine the U.S. would risk getting hit with an ICBM in New York and Washington is nonsense. Survival is more important than whether Ukraine’s 44-year-old President Volodymyr Zelensky gets back 25% of Ukraine’s sovereign territory lost to the Kremlin over the first seven months of the war. Speaking to ABC News on Sunday, Petraeus went over the deep end. “Just to give you an hypothetical, we would respond by leading NATO, a collective effort that would take out every Russian conventional force that we can see and identify on the battlefield in Ukraine and also in Crimea and every ship in the Black Sea,” Petraeu said.
Petraeus shows he’s been out-of-the-loop for too long to be speculating on national TV about worse case scenarios. Does Petraeus really think that Ukraine’s so important to U.S. national security that it’s worth fighting a nuclear war with the Kremlin? If Putin used a tactical nuke in Ukraine, the U.S. and NATO would not start WW III, possibly all out nuclear war, over Ukraine. Petraeus has lost any sense of proportion, talking about the U.S. and NATO wiping out Putin’s military. What happens if China joins the fight against the U.S.? Does Petraeus really think that Ukraine is worth starting a thermonuclear war? What needs to happen is that before the Ukraine War spirals out-of-control, both warring factions need to go to the peace table and work out their problems. Unlike billionaire Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, Petraeus offers no practical solutions for peace.
No one is left in the U.S. press to ask intelligent questions of crackpots like Petraeus, who once had credibility, but sacrificed his career over a frivolous affair. If Petraeus wanted to be taken serious, why didn’t he take his job seriously as CIA Director? Spilling all the beans to his mistress showed how seriously Petraeus took his job. Now he’s opining about the U.S. and NATO wiping out the Russian military if Putin uses a tactical nuke in Ukraine. Petraeus knows all about Mutual Assured Destruction, the nuclear doctrine that stands as the best deterrence to nuclear war. Does Petraeus really thing the Ukraine War is worth starting a nuclear war with Russia? Biden has never told the American public why the Ukraine war is so important to U.S. national security. Saying that he’s holding the line against Putin’s forward march to take over all of Europe is absurd, outrageous, beyond the pale.
Petraeus told ABC News that if Putin uses a tactical nuke all bets would be off. “Perhaps you can make that case,” Petraeus said, about whether using Putin using a tactical nuke would trigger Article 5 because of nuclear fallout. “The other case is that this is so horrific that there has to be a response—it cannot go unanswered,” Petraeus said, referring to a U.S. and NATO response. Petraeus is so far over his head talking about U.S. response knowing he had his security clearance stripped once the Broadwell affair forced him to resign as CIA Director. While all the media debates the pros-and-cons of nuclear war over Ukraine, the press doesn’t see the absurdity of igniting the world for a small, inconsequential, bankrupt country like Ukraine.. Petraeus is ready to wipe out the Russian army and navy but has no answer for starting an all out nuclear exchange between Russia and the U.S.
Petraeus going on national TV does more to whip up panic than to propose constructive solutions to ending the Ukraine War. Talking about Putin’s losses does nothing to find ways to end the conflict. “The battlefield reality he faces is, I think, irreversible,” Petraeus said. “No amount of shambolic mobilization, which is the only way to describe it, no amount of annexation, no amount of even veiled nuclear threats can actually get him out of particular situation,” Petraeus said. Petraeus gives no insights into how the Ukraine War ends, only wildly speculates if Putin does this or that. Once the EU and NATO realize that Ukraine could suck the Continent into WW III or a nuclear war, more pressure will be put on Biden and Zelensky to go to the peace table. Petraeus talks about wiping out the Russian military but it’s unrealistic given Putin’s nuclear arsenal and willingness to use it.
About the Author
John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He’s editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.
