Biden’s decision to escalate the Ukraine war is a last-ditch effort by the military-industrial complex to undermine Trump’s ability to end this tragic conflict.
As President-elect Donald Trump prepares to replace several top-tier Pentagon officials and officers who have overseen our military support of Ukraine, the Biden administration has announced that it has given permission to Kyiv to use long-range American missiles (Army Tactical Missiles Systems, or ATACMS) to strike deep inside Russia, a policy change that risks escalation of the Russia–Ukraine war, even as Trump and his transition team plan to seek a negotiated ceasefire to the conflict. The resistance to Trump’s policy preferences has begun in the most dangerous place — the Pentagon. The military-industrial complex will not readily surrender its policy of victory in Ukraine, even if that means bringing us closer to a full-scale Russia–NATO war.
Putin has previously stated that such a decision by the U.S. and its NATO allies “will mean nothing less than the direct participation of NATO countries, the United States, and European countries in the war in Ukraine.” This decision comes in the face of a report that Trump will soon name a peace envoy to facilitate negotiations between Kyiv and Moscow to end the war. CNN reports that some U.S. officials have expressed concerns that the decision will escalate the war and deplete already dwindling stockpiles of such long-range weapons. Meanwhile, Britain and France have provided Storm Shadow cruise missiles with a range of 155 miles to Ukraine.
Biden’s decision essentially creates facts on the ground that may make it more difficult for Trump to negotiate a ceasefire. The longer-range missiles will not allow Ukraine to win the war, but they will enable Ukrainian forces to inflict greater damage on Russian forces and assets located deeper inside the country. Putin’s reaction will determine whether this provocative act will result in further escalation and delay any negotiations proposed by the incoming Trump administration.
Why is this provocative? The missiles have a range of 190 miles, which means they can reach Kursk, Voronezh, and Rostov. The GPS targeting system for the U.S. ATACMS missiles involves the use of U.S. satellites — the missiles cannot be fired without the involvement of the U.S. military. As journalist Christopher Caldwell recently noted, the use of such systems would constitute a “deadly, unambiguously American authored act of war,” and a “rash escalation” of the war. This decision, writes Caldwell, made by a president who even the Democrats admit is in cognitive decline draws the United States “closer to active participation” in the war. (RELATED: NATO Worried About Biden and Ukraine)
