Unlike Past Conflicts With Russia, Escalation In Ukraine Risks Pulling The West Into War
By: John Daniel Davidson
March 11, 2022
Policymakers in Washington need to think carefully about whether we can escalate our involvement in Ukraine without plunging the West into war.
There’s a growing chorus of voices, mostly in Washington and among the corporate press, arguing the United States and our North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) allies need to do more to assist Ukraine against Russia. Providing the Ukrainians Javelin antitank missiles and Stinger antiaircraft missiles, as well as small arms and munitions, we’re told, isn’t enough. Nor are the unprecedented and devastating economic sanctions we’ve leveled against Russia, which arguably amount to a declaration of war.
They say we need to send warplanes, tanks, and advanced weapons systems. Some particularly enthusiastic neocons are even arguing that NATO should impose a no-fly zone over Ukraine, directly engaging Russian fighter jets and targets on the ground in a tactical air campaign against the Russians. But, at the very least, NATO allies should send Ukraine some MiG-29 fighter jets, and maybe even U.S. Patriot missile-defense systems.
These arguments tend to gloss over whether the United States and our allies can safely do any of this without embroiling NATO in a war with Russia. Even setting aside the question of a no-fly zone, which the Biden administration has for now ruled out, we are nevertheless trying to get as close to the line of belligerence without crossing over it. It very likely won’t be possible. On our current course, whether our leaders realize it or not, we’re mindlessly marching toward war with Russia.
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https://thefederalist.com/2022/03/11/unlike-past-conflicts-with-russia-escalation-in-ukraine-risks-pulling-the-west-into-war/
