Demise of the INF Puts Germany in the Crosshairs
Almost a fortnight ago, the United States and Russia canceled the Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces Treaty. Although this treaty was between Russia and the U.S., it was all about Europe.
These intermediate-range weapons are nuclear missiles that can reach Europe from Russia, and vice versa. But their range is too short to hit the U.S.
These missiles are particularly scary, as they are quite mobile and reach their target quickly. Russia could use such missiles to launch a surprise attack on Europe. If the attack is detected, Europe would have only seconds, at most mere minutes, to decide what to do.
This is why the treaty was made—such missiles put the whole world on edge with nato and Russia both keeping their fingers on the nuclear trigger, ready to react and launch nukes a moment’s notice.
With the inf Treaty on its way out, these weapons are back on the table. Russia has already developed and deployed some.
Europe is in the nuclear crosshairs. Last week, Spiegel Online wrote, “What may at first glance appear to be a regression to the chilliest days of the Cold War, is in fact much more dangerous.”
“If you think Europe is under strain now, wait until it faces a new nuclear arms race,” wrote Edward Lucas in the Sunday Times.
And now Germany is talking about its nuclear options.
Over the last two years, there has been a dramatic increase in the nuclear debate in Germany. The demise of the inf is focusing even more attention on European nukes and a European military.
In the 1970s and ’80s, Europe relied on the U.S. to defend against such nukes. Now it wants to rely on itself—this is true especially of Germany. Handlesblatt published an article titled “New Arms Race: As Nuclear Treaties Dissolve, Germany Wakes Up to New Responsibilities.”
Germany’s former vice chancellor and foreign minister, Sigmar Gabriel, wrote an article titled “Europe and the New Nuclear-Arms Race.” He wrote, “Europe is now entering a potentially dangerous period and must play a much more active role in the nuclear-arms debate.”
Roderich Kiesewetter, a defense expert with Germany’s ruling Christian Democratic Union (cdu) party, said, “If Russia doesn’t dismantle its systems, we must ensure Europe’s security and shouldn’t exclude any options, even nuclear ones.”
If Putin continues to reject all forms of cooperation, “one must, if need be, consider nuclear retrofitting in Europe,” said Elmar Brok, a cdu member of the European Parliament. T-Online wrote that Germany is stumbling “into a debate about nuclear armament, reminiscent of dark times.”
Fear of these Russian missiles in the breakdown of the treaty is pushing Europe to militarize.
This is exactly what Trumpet editor in chief Gerald Flurry has warned of for years.
In the January 2004 Trumpet, he described how the rise of strongman Putin “strikes intense fear in Europe.” In that article, he described how Putin’s cementing of his power in the 2003 election “is triggering a fear that will hasten the uniting of the European Union.”
Ten years later, Mr. Flurry described how Putin shocked Europe with his invasion of Ukraine. “Europe’s dreadful fear of Vladimir Putin—its next-door neighbor—is going to help shape and form the Holy Roman Empire rather suddenly,” he wrote in the May 2014 Trumpet issue. “The fear you see in Europe because of events in Crimea is going to cause 10 leaders in Europe to unite in a sudden and dramatic way—and in precise accordance with the Bible’s description of that European empire!”
With the demise of the inf Treaty, that fear ratcheted up a notch. It is hastening the fulfillment of Bible prophecies made thousands of years ago.
You can read more about these prophecies and how Russia is helping to bring them about in Mr. Flurry’s article “The Crimean Crisis Is Reshaping Europe!”
