This will be very brief. The long version is in the linked article. I’ll admit when I first heard this talk—actually, some time ago—I thought, No, this is too crazy. Never say never, I guess. There are, in fact, interest groups with an interest in escalation:
Will Biden Gamble on a Ukraine Coalition?
The Washington establishment is considering a risky and ill-defined intervention in Europe.
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Today, the Biden White House appears to be considering the use of a multinational force aimed at Russia. The NATO alliance is unable to reach a unanimous decision to intervene militarily in support of Ukraine in its war with Russia. But as signaled recently by David Petraeus, the president and his generals are evaluating their own “coalition of the willing.” The coalition would allegedly consist of primarily, but not exclusively, Polish and Romanian forces, with the U.S. Army at its core, for employment in Ukraine.
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I still have to say that this seems wildly impractical to me, from a strictly military standpoint. Neither Poland nor Romania have the military resources to do anything beyond committing a weird form of ritual suicide. I find it hard to believe that, short of nuclear war, the US could prevent such an outcome—and of course that would render everything moot, anyway.
Petraeus and others continuing to further define what a “proxy” war should resemble.
And today our Defense cabinet minister giving strategy updates and recommendations on Ukraine advancement options.
First I’ve heard of Austin openly doing this.