All over the globe America faces danger.
Iran is close to a nuclear device.
China is threatening war over Taiwan.
North Korea is launching ICBMs.
But only one country today poses an existential threat to the United States.
And that country is Russia.
Despite having an economy the size of Mexico, and a conventional army that may be on par with it, Russia continues to host the world’s largest nuclear arsenal.
Don’t be fooled by the ineptness of the Russian army in Ukraine.
This is a very dangerous bear.
And make no mistake about it: The bear wants to not only devour Ukraine, but diminish the United States.
I have long had an interest in Russia. I was in the Soviet Union as a college student and later, in 2010, I visited Moscow to interview former Soviet General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev, the only interview he granted to commemorate the 100th birthday of the late President Ronald Reagan.
The wide array of experts I speak with all seem to agree that Russian President Vladimir Putin has started this war because he sees weakness in America.
After the Afghanistan withdrawal debacle, they say, the United States looked especially vulnerable.
As a former leader in the CIA tells me, both Russia and China are seizing this moment to “redraw the world map” in their favor.
The day after the invasion, Putin gave a televised address to the Russian people.
The speech is posted on the Kremlin website, and lays out Putin’s worldview.
In his address, Putin indicates this is not a war so much on Ukraine but rather the United States.
He asserts that the United States has been, in the name of democracy, spreading chaos everywhere.
And Putin claims Ukraine is just one of many messes America has created.
He also asserts America is spreading a liberal social culture that fundamentally wants to change traditional society, an assault on the laws of nature, he says.
For these reasons, Putin has claimed the right to attack a democratic nation, one that never provoked or threatened his nation in any way.
He has invaded it, bombed it, slaughtered innocent civilians, including women and children, and is actively deporting its citizens to concentration camps in Russia.
Is it OK to make a comparison to Hitler or Stalin here?
Again, we must remember that Ukraine never threatened or provoked Russia in any way.
While it wanted to be a NATO member, it had zero chance of joining NATO and there was no process underway for it to join the alliance.
And even if Ukraine were to join NATO, as a sovereign state it should have the right to do so.
Putin’s actions with Ukraine are a new and dangerous escalation for him.
Last December, before fears over Ukraine arose, Newsmax Magazine’s cover story featured Putin, with the mocking title “Vlad the Great” — and the ominous warning “Post Trump, Putin Becomes Master of the World.”
The inside story, authored by best-selling author Kenneth Timmerman, headlined “Putin’s War on the West” and detailed his efforts to “weaken the U.S. and its allies.”
Timmerman predicted the rise of a new Russia-China axis, with Iran, to challenge U.S. hegemony globally.
Eerily, that Newsmax cover story has become prophetic.
Without Trump or any clear strong leader in the West, Putin is out to subjugate Ukraine, the first stop for his global ambitions.
He is a real threat.
All Americans — of all political sides — should be united in their resolve to thwart Putin and support Ukraine, its people, and the Zelenskyy government.
This resolve does not mean we need to have direct confrontation with Russia. Instead we can show our support with military aid, economic support, and other logistics.
It is now in the vital interest of the United States that we do so.
Christopher Ruddy is CEO of Newsmax Media, Inc., a leading news company that operates Newsmax TV and Newsmax.com. Read more Christopher Ruddy Insider articles — Click Here Now.
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