German Marshall Fund Warns To Prepare for Nuclear War

June 10, 2022 (EIRNS)—Heather Conley, head of the German Marshall Fund, does not rule out a further escalation of the Ukraine war—and yet warns against being “intimidated” by Russia, in an interview (on May 30) with Germany’s leading business daily Handelsblatt.

Conley is seen as one of the leading U.S. experts on Russia. During the administration of President George W. Bush (2001-2009), she was part of the U.S. State Department’s leadership team responsible for Europe. Conley now heads the German Marshall Fund, one of the most important trans-Atlantic think tanks in Washington.

In the Handelsblatt interview, Conley calls on the German government to speed up arms deliveries to Ukraine. “It’s no good if the equipment arrives when the battle is decided,” she says. The war is turning into a battle of attrition in the east of the country, she declared.

“The military situation is reminiscent of Verdun in World War I,” Conley explains. “Little scraps of land are captured sometimes by one side, sometimes by the other, with no one winning.” That’s why, she says, the West must continue to support the Ukrainian army—and do so for the long term.

Beyond that, “We must prepare for the use of tactical nuclear weapons,” she said. Had anyone like her made such a statement in Moscow, or Putin himself, the West would have screamed: “Russia is threatening us with nuclear war!”