The Cost to Start a Nuclear War

 The U.S. Government has spent fifty billion this year on military and other help for Ukraine and the Senate has passed a bill containing nearly 50 billion more. One might wonder if that is enough to get a general nuclear war started.

The United States since 1940 had spent nearly six trillion dollars on nuclear weapons procurement and development by 1998. I would guess that since then quite a bit more was spent. The cost of keeping the nuclear locker is $35 billion each year. A lot of money has been spent to enable nuclear war. The amount of federal dollars spent on finding viable, innovative economic alternatives to war such as is Ukraine are ridiculously small in comparison. The U.S. government and especially the Democrat party prefers to invest in war rather than peace.

https://www.brookings.edu/the-hidden-costs-of-our-nuclear-arsenal-overview-of-project-findings/

The United States has given Ukraine direct assistance in a single year greater than the G.D.P. of more than 100 nations. Settling the conflict with a negotiated solution was and is the more stable course even after a year of blundering political response if the war actual does precipitate nuclear conflict. Russia has valid historical claims on Ukraine and the western government’s claims are understandable too. Demilitarizing the Dnepr frontage except for Kiev and letting Russia keep its eastern Ukraine lands with free travel for each nation over the border is quite possible. To fail to recognize Russian claims exemplifies the blindness that often occurs in the political leadership realms of belligerents of war.

https://www.cfr.org/article/how-much-aid-has-us-sent-ukraine-here-are-six-charts

President Reagan wanted to rid the world of nuclear weapons and that is still a good idea. Yet when the United States proves again and again that nuclear weapons is the only thing it really respects among nations when it wants its economic way with things it is easy to understand why nuclear proliferation is apparently viewed as a declaration of independence by those newly arming. Others seem to acquiesce in the power of the nuclear powers with economic assets too.

If a nuclear develops from the Ukraine conflict it probably will need another 50 billion besides the 100 billion earmarked for Ukraine already to light the fire. Maybe Pres Putin will demure from using nukes if the war goes really bad and troops need to withdraw to old Russian borders. Even if they did stability might not follow for the U.S.-Russian relations.