Scott Ritter talks Russian military hardware

Scott Ritter has a very strong pedigree and background but has some odd verbal and facial tics that make him look disingenuous. Sometimes he makes broad statements that are backed up by information that he has on good authority, but that he hasn’t presented. He also talks very quickly in a decidedly non-beginner-friendly style. Those looking to disagree with him will be able to do so quite easily. However, if you listen to what he says, you will learn something. And his analyses have been proven correct much more often than wrong over the last couple of years.

This video has a lot of information and is well-worth listening to. I’ve including citations below, outlining his equating the foreign policies of all American presidents—regardless of party—as well as his detailed descriptions of the Russian arsenal as well its potential extremely deleterious effects.

Scott Ritter : Is Israel Prepared for a Three-Front War? by Judge Napolitano's Judging Freedom (YouTube)

“When John F. Kennedy was briefed on the first nuclear employment plan after he became president in 1961, he walked out of the Pentagon. He said ‘and we call ourselves the human race. This is disgusting. You’re asking me to murder hundreds of millions of people. I can’t do that. You have to give me other options.‘

“But the war machine doesn’t have any other options. Lyndon Johnson almost got physically ill when he was briefed on it. So, too, Richard Nixon, who said ‘This is insanity. What are you talking about? You can’t ask me to make a decision that causes hundreds of millions of people to die.‘

“Every president’s been briefed on this war plan, up until George W bush, said ‘this is crazy’. Even Ronald Reagan, who was fighting the evil empire, couldn’t do it. He said ‘I can’t do it. That’s why we need Strategic Defense Initiative.‘ That’s why he went with nuclear disarmament.

“Only George W. Bush. when the Cold War ended and we suddenly weren’t facing mutually-assured destruction, said ‘hey, nuclear preemption could be in our benefit.’ And then, Barack Obama, who said ‘that’s bad,‘ he went along with it. Donald Trump doubled down by bringing in a new category of nuclear weapons, and Joe Biden has doubled down by changing our employment doctrine. American people, wake up. We’re the bad people in the world here. We’re the ones that have a policy of nuclear preemption and an employment plan designed to do that. So, as we edge towards a crisis with Russia. Stop thinking about the Russians nuking us; we start by nuking them. That’s the way it works.”

“That’s the point I’m trying to make here. The weapons that Russia would use against Ukraine in a situation where they have made the decision to take the government of Ukraine out—to take Kiev, the government sector, out—are non-nuclear in nature. They are strategic weapons.

“It’s called the Awangard. It’s a hypersonic warhead that’s loaded on to strategic missiles—old SS1-19s, the Sarmat, the new heavy missile, the Yars mobile missile—they all have regiments that are equipped with conventionally armed Awangards. These will hit at—impact on the ground at—26 times the speed of sound. That’s the equivalent of a 26-ton bomb. All right, we’ve seen what happens when a 1.5 ton or a three-ton bomb goes off. This will be a 26-ton bomb coming in at hypersonic speed. It will take out entire blocks.

“And all Russia has to do is sprinkle Kiev with a half-dozen of them and the city ceases to exist. Mind you, they can also do that to Brussels, to NATO headquarters, they can do that to the British, they could do that to anybody. These aren’t nuclear weapons and, when they do this, the impact will be so devastating, it’ll have a nuclear-like impact on the psychology of the West.”