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Nuclear strike to “social tourism”: Lanz explores the limits of what can be discussed – and bickers with Kühnert

2022-10-05T09:20:49.114Z


Nuclear strike to “social tourism”: Lanz explores the limits of what can be discussed – and bickers with Kühnert Created: 10/05/2022 11:12 am Markus Lanz and his guests Kevin Kühnert (SPD General Secretary), Christian Mölling (security expert), Claudia Kade (journalist, world) and Dmitri Gluchowski (writer). © ZDF Mediathek (Screenshot) Military expert Christian Mölling gives the all-clear to M


Nuclear strike to “social tourism”: Lanz explores the limits of what can be discussed – and bickers with Kühnert

Created: 10/05/2022 11:12 am

Markus Lanz and his guests Kevin Kühnert (SPD General Secretary), Christian Mölling (security expert), Claudia Kade (journalist, world) and Dmitri Gluchowski (writer).

© ZDF Mediathek (Screenshot)

Military expert Christian Mölling gives the all-clear to Markus Lanz on ZDF.

Strategically, Putin cannot afford nuclear weapons.

"Unless he's crazy."

Hamburg – How dangerous is Vladimir Putin – and is it actually only Germany that is worried about a possible nuclear strike?

Markus Lanz debates the situation in the Ukraine war on Tuesday evening (October 4).

And again and again indirectly the question of what one should actually talk about.

Or may.

According to security expert Christian Mölling, the development has shown two things: "The Ukrainians do not seem to be defeatable militarily." And Putin currently has no bargaining power.

With the annexation of the occupied territories, he found himself in a dilemma.

“According to the Russian constitution, he is not allowed to give back the annexed areas.

That means there is no longer any political assets left for him.”

These guests discussed with Markus Lanz:

  • Dmitri Glukhovsky

    (Russian writer)

  • Claudia Kade

    (

    world

    journalist)

  • Kevin Kühnert

    (SPD General Secretary)

  • Christian Mölling

    (security expert)

Russian writer Dmitry Glukhovsky

sees Putin isolated.

When Lanz shows a picture of the President with the new governors from the annexed areas, Gluchowski only sees a puppeteer and four puppets.

“The others are not politicians at all.

They are puppets.” Gluchowski makes another, somewhat more daring thesis: he doubts that the photo shows the real Putin.

At least Gluchowski sees abnormalities in Putin.

"That looks a bit suspicious.

People say he has at least two doubles."

Writer Gluchowski: The war "as a TV show"

Are the Russian media cheating?

No question for Gluchowski: "The power of television is incomparable here," he says.

“In Russia, television is defended like a military base.

The people who control television could tell people anything.” The writer sees mobilization as a potential turning point.

Before that, the war didn't really affect most Russians.

"They didn't have to pay a price for it.

You could watch the war as a TV show.” That has now changed dramatically.

Gluchowski himself faces up to 15 years in a prison camp in Russia, he says, because he wrote critical articles.

Military expert Mölling: The fear of a nuclear strike "must be taken away by political leadership."

Lanz plays an excerpt of a "bluff speech" in which Vladimir Putin threatens nuclear weapons, barely covertly, and adds, "That's not a bluff!" But Gluchowski contradicts: "Currently" it's a bluff, he says.

And military expert Mölling emphasizes that Germany is not used to making decisions under the threat of a nuclear strike.

It's a realistic threat at this point, "but that's not the biggest problem we have."

He appeals to politicians to take countermeasures.

The danger should not trigger fear in the population.

It must be “taken by political leadership”.

also read

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"Closer to dangerous line": Putin diplomat warns gloomy after US announcement on Ukraine delivery

Lanz and

Welt

journalist Claudia Kade see a certain confusion in Putin himself.

"This man is insecure, in a way also afraid," says Lanz.

What can he do in this situation with his hand on the red button, Kade asks.

Mölling explains the "three suitcase or three button principle" for a possible nuclear strike.

At least two other high-ranking military officers would have to press the buttons.

And they knew very well that they were crossing "a red line".

The question is: "Have you come closer to your goals, or are you suddenly at the end?"

India, Iran or China, for example, would not accept a nuclear strike by Russia, says Mölling.

Even with the use of tactical nuclear weapons in Ukraine, the Kremlin would at best create a "radiated" country.

In this respect, there is only one auxiliary assumption that can rationally explain a nuclear strike: namely, that Putin is "crazy".

“Rational in quotation marks,” Mölling adds.

SPD General Secretary Kevin Kühnert recalls past misinterpretations.

"We made a mistake once or twice," he says.

Ukraine was not overrun.

And Putin stopped delivering gas not only since the sabotage actions on the Nord Stream pipelines - although everyone assumed that Russia would continue to deliver.

Mölling and Kade now put Kühnert through the wringer.

They call for a leadership role for Germany in supporting Ukraine.

Kühnert defends himself: "It has steadily increased." Kade criticizes: "The actions were not that continuous." And Mölling thinks it is absurd "to derive leadership from this, that volumes are increasing".

He sees Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) on the train: "Someone should pick up the phone.

That’s where leadership might start.”

Kühnert would rather talk about domestic politics

Kühnert prefers to focus on domestic politics.

He is upset about CDU leader Friedrich Merz, who described Ukrainian refugees as social tourists.

Lanz sees Kühnert jumping over the populist baton: "As a governing party, you have to deal with something that Friedrich Merz has already apologized for?" Kühnert snaps back: "And do you believe his apology?".

When the opposition leader expresses himself in this way, it at least shows "social moods and developments".

You have to talk about that.

"But that's not the issue!" says Lanz.

An open exchange of blows develops between moderator and guest.

"Excuse me, you can't tell me what the topic is." Lanz closes the door: "Excuse me, no!

That's not seriously the level of the discussion." Kühnert: "You make a show three times a week and don't want to talk about reality?" Kade analyzes the situation: "Now we've somehow arrived on Friedrich Merz's track.

I don't know if that has anything to do with the Lower Saxony election campaign."

Lanz shows a graphic of the annual new debt of the Federal Republic of Germany.

After years of being in the black, "the thing shoots through the roof beyond belief".

That's amazing, "after we've been telling people for decades that there's no money for your schools, for infrastructure, fiber optics, for digitization." Suddenly, "the coal is bubbling up".

Kühnert sees "a strategy" behind the processing of the numbers.

You have to put them in the context of Germany's economic performance - and on the one hand it is enormous.

And on the other hand, now urgently to secure with the energy price dampening.

Kade explains how the new debts are to be managed: “Then it has to be repaid over the next generations.

You have to say that so clearly.”

Conclusion of the talk with Markus Lanz:

For a long time you had the feeling that Kevin Kühner had nothing to contribute that evening, but when it was his turn, things really got going.

Unfortunately, however, only on secondary theaters of war.

Regarding the Ukraine war and the nuclear threat, there were mainly appeasements.

(

Michael Gormann

)

Source: merkur

All news articles on 2022-10-05

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