Very carefully.
Especially when dealing with a Russian bear. To that end, “The US has been careful not to take steps or make statements that could unnecessarily escalate the tensions between Washington and Moscow,” CNN says (here).
“On Friday, the US canceled a test of the Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) to avoid any misinterpretation by Russia. [Defense Secretary] Austin had already postponed the test in early March to avoid any actions that could be misconstrued by Russia at such a sensitive time.”
(Apparently he learned something from a Minuteman test launch during the Cuban missile crisis:
“During the crisis, top civilian and military officials, including President John F. Kennedy, ordered that no actions be taken to needlessly provoke Moscow into believing that a U.S. nuclear attack was imminent or underway. Yet on Oct. 26, just two days after the DEFCON 2 alert commenced, Air Force officers followed a longstanding schedule and test-fired an intercontinental ballistic missile from California into the Pacific Ocean.”
From a 1993 Washington Post article here. The danger, of course, was the Soviets might have interpreted it as the beginning of a nuclear attack.)
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“In general, the US has also remained somewhat discreet about the weapons and equipment it sends into Ukraine,” CNN‘s story continues. “The US has also opposed the transfer of fighter aircraft to Ukraine through the United States, concerned that the Kremlin could interpret such a move as the US and NATO entering the conflict in Ukraine.”
The U.S. Air Force also kept mum for two weeks a successful test of a hypersonic missile launched from a B-52 “for similar reasons,” CNN says, i.e. they were being careful “not to provoke the Kremlin or President Vladimir Putin, especially as Russian forces expanded their bombardment of Ukraine.”
Biden has been criticized for not helping Ukraine enough. There’s no question he’s skittish, or why: “World War 3.” Early in the conflict, Putin made nuclear threats, and Biden seems to have taken the bait — if bait is what it is. The Biden administration has demonstrated it has excellent intelligence on what Putin was going to do — although it admits it doesn’t have a window into his thought process — and they’re better positioned than I am to assess how serious (or not) the threat is.
But the fact is, Putin has the means to destroy the U.S. and most of its population, and his ruthlessness isn’t a matter of conjecture. The dead bodies of murdered Ukrainian civilians and thousands of his own conscript soldiers demonstrate this man doesn’t have moral limits, and maybe not pragmatic ones, either.
So, better to enter the bear’s cage very carefully. It’s a fine line, and there’s a strong impulse to do more for the Ukrainians — and settle scores with Russia for their aggression and atrocities — but I like the fact Biden is approaching this rationally rather than emotion.
But the Ukrainians really do need all the help they can get, especially in heavy weaponry like fighter jets, tanks, and artillery, and Biden has to be careful not to become a prisoner of the fear that Putin is deliberately trying to create in order to gain a free hand in Ukraine.
His job is to see to it the bear, not the zookeeper, is in the cage.
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