The “Doomsday Clock” has been around since 1947, and it is rapidly moving toward 12:00 Midnight as temperaments and patience seem to be razor-thin throughout the world. In January of this year, The “Doomsday Clock” was moved-up two minutes to reflect the concern in regard global terrorism – and the recent news from NATO and Russia hadn’t even been taken into consideration yet:

Doomsday Clock set forward by two minutes

Updated Thu. Jan. 18 2007 8:01 AM ET

CTV.ca News Staff

According to a group of elite nuclear scientists, the world has moved closer to Armageddon.

The scientists have moved the minute hand of the Doomsday Clock closer to midnight to reflect the growing concerns of global terrorism, the unchecked nuclear ambitions of Iran and North Korea and — in a first — the threat of climate change.

The clock was first set 60 years ago by an elite group of nuclear scientists at the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, shortly after the United States dropped its atomic bombs on Japan. It was meant to symbolize the perils facing humanity from nuclear weapons.

But for the first time, the clock is also registering the threat of global warming, which they call a “second nuclear age.” MORE

On January 22, 2008, this story came-out in regard NATO’s belief that they should be allowed the capability to use nuclear weapons in preemptive strikes:

Pre-emptive nuclear strike a key option, Nato told

Ian Traynor in Brussels
Tuesday January 22, 2008
The Guardian

The west must be ready to resort to a pre-emptive nuclear attack to try to halt the “imminent” spread of nuclear and other weapons of mass destruction, according to a radical manifesto for a new Nato by five of the west’s most senior military officers and strategists.

Calling for root-and-branch reform of Nato and a new pact drawing the US, Nato and the European Union together in a “grand strategy” to tackle the challenges of an increasingly brutal world, the former armed forces chiefs from the US, Britain, Germany, France and the Netherlands insist that a “first strike” nuclear option remains an “indispensable instrument” since there is “simply no realistic prospect of a nuclear-free world”.

The manifesto has been written following discussions with active commanders and policymakers, many of whom are unable or unwilling to publicly air their views. It has been presented to the Pentagon in Washington and to Nato’s secretary general, Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, over the past 10 days. The proposals are likely to be discussed at a Nato summit in Bucharest in April. MUCH MORE

Followed closely by that announcement came this one from Russia – one that has to be taken seriously, perhaps even more so than the rumblings from NATO:

Russia Issues Pre-Emptive Nuclear Threat

Posted on 01/19/2008 4:24:22 AM PST by TigerLikesRooster

Russia Issues Pre-Emptive Nuclear Threat

By Sky News SkyNews – 27 minutes ago

Russia’s military chief of staff says Moscow would use nuclear weapons in pre-emptive strike if it felt threatened.

General Yuri Baluyevsky said there were no plans “to attack anyone” but reasserted Russia’s right to defend itself.

“To defend the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Russia and its allies, military forces will be used, including preventively, including with the use of nuclear weapons,” Gen Baluyevsky said.

The remarks do not represent a change in policy for Moscow.

But they do come at a time of heightened tension between Russia and the West. LINK

With Russia and NATO both adding to the frenzy of nuclear brinkmanship that is breaking-out in governments that have traditionally remained self-assured of their own capability of nuclear deterrence are growling and making noise as if somehow, they had been threatened and were publicly acknowledging they would defend themselves if the occasion should arise…

How will these new events affect the minute hands on the Doomsday Clock? Will they move forward to reflect this obvious escalation of rhetoric, or will more talk of nuclear war simply be factored into the equation of “global terrorism?” No matter what they do, it’s obvious that nuclear tensions are rising throughout the world, and while it has been Bush constantly stating that “the nuclear option is still on the table”, it’s time for some diplomacy to overrule the constant barrage of negativity that is now manifesting itself with other global players. In short, it time for the Bush administration to start deescalating the tensions that have been building for years; we won’t accept that war is the answer to everything, and people in America are waking-up to the fact that Bush has destabilized the entire world, its economy, the Middle-East, and open hostility from some of the major powers that will be shaping the future long after Bush is relieved of his duties. It’s time for politicians and Congress to see the devastation that Bush’s policies have wrought upon the world, and now there’s definitely evidence that Bush’s incompetence is the driving factor as the Doomsday Clock edges closer to Midnight. The “DoomsDay Clock” is symbolic in nature, however, the events and tension that move its minute hands are based on real events that threaten humanity itself – and these recent revelations from Russia and NATO are direct evidence that America’s foreign policy is destabilizing the entire world.

William Cormier

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