United States-Poland Dogfight over Ploy for Sending NATO Warplanes to Ukraine by Finian Cunningham!
(2022-03-12 at 05:23:56 )

United States-Poland Dogfight over Ploy for Sending NATO Warplanes to Ukraine by Finian Cunningham!

Washington,D.C. could claim that the military aid to Ukraine so far is defensive weaponry. Sending warplanes, however, from a United States airbase is taking the involvement to a higher level risking escalation.

Polish shenanigans over sending fighter jets to Ukraine earned a sharp rebuke from the Pentagon. And then as if to underline the awkward ramifications of the spat, Vice President Kamala Harris was quickly flown to Warsaw on a damage-limitation task to patch up NATO unity.

It looks like both the Americans and the Poles got cold feet about a ploy to send fighter jets into Ukraine to contest airspace with Russian forces. With the Russian command claiming to have knocked out 90 percent of Ukrainian military airbases since its incursion on February 24, any such supply of warplanes from NATO members would be tantamount to a kamikaze mission.

Moreover, the move would mark a dangerous escalation of NATO involvement in a war with Russia, potentially pitting both sides in direct conflict. That could result in a Third World War. Notably, this risk of being embroiled in a wider war was highlighted by Polish President Andrzej Duda on March 1 in a joint press conference with NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg.

However, something changed in that wary calculus. Last weekend, the United States and Poland were reportedly having deep discussions about a plan to send MiG-29 fighter jets from the Polish Warsaw Pact inventory for deployment in Ukraine. The Soviet-era MiGs are what Ukrainian pilots are trained to fly. Washington,D.C. was keen on the idea because it was being presented as a "sovereign decision" by Poland to assist Ukraine on a bilateral level. That meant that the United States and NATO would be distanced from the supply of warplanes.

A second incentive for Washington,D.C. was that the Polish MiG fleet would be "backfilled" by United States F-16s. From a cynical point of view, the deal looked lucrative as well as tactical. The Polish MiGs flown by Ukrainians might cause some combat problems for Russia in the short term, but even if they were destroyed by Russian forces the replacement of the Polish fleet with new F-16s would be a boon for the United States military-industrial complex in the long term.

Somehow though the Poles suddenly got cold feet, perhaps realizing that their involvement on a "sovereign bilateral basis" could leave them potentially vulnerable to Russian counter-attack without the insurance policy of NATOs Article V collective defense. Trustworthiness is not exactly Uncle Sams strong point.

Then came the embarrassing switch that caught Washington,D.C. off-guard. Without consulting the Americans, the Poles offered to send the MiG-29s first to the United States airbase in Germanys Ramstein and from there on to Ukraine.

The Pentagons slap-down to Warsaw was swift and emphatic. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin told his Polish counterpart that such an idea was "untenable" and he "stressed that we do not support the transfer of additional fighter aircraft to the Ukrainian air force at this time, and therefore have no desire to see them in our custody either."

Evidently, Washington,D.C. got leery about the prospect of sending warplanes from one of its bases into a battle zone with Russia. Up to now, the United States has been transferring billions of dollars worth of weapons to the Kiev regime which have in turn been deployed against Moscow-backed Russian separatists in Ukraines southeast Donbass region (now independent republics recognized by Moscow as of February 21). Nevertheless, Washington,D.C. could claim that the military aid so far is defensive weaponry. Sending warplanes, however, from a United States airbase is taking the involvement to a higher level risking escalation.

Moreover what seems to have irked the Americans though is how the Poles maneuvered to set them up. Obviously, the Poles did not trust what Washington,D.C. was assigning them to do, and then the Americans were hacked off when the Poles came up with an alternative plan for deploying warplanes to Ukraine that might jeopardize the United States.

Following the Pentagon rebuke, Polands ambassador to the United States Marek Magierowski alluded to the shenanigans in an interview with CNN on March 9. He said Poland was "acutely aware" of the consequences - meaning possible armed conflict with Russia.

Pointedly, the Polish envoy revealed: "We were under immense pressure on the part of our allies, and public opinion also here in the United States. And we were acutely aware of all technical, legal, and diplomatic consequences of such a move, which was risky, of course.

That is why we came up with a logical, conscionable solution [of going via the United States base in Germany]. Our American partners rejected this proposal because they have come to the conclusion that it was too escalatory [sic]. Well, we understand this, and I believe that we can continue coordinating our joint efforts with our American partners and with other NATO members in order to help the Ukrainians defend themselves as effectively as possible."

What this means is the Poles did not trust the Americans over the idea of "sovereign bilateral" involvement, as Washington,D.C. was initially recommending regarding the supply of MiGs to Ukraine. And when the Poles sought to find American cover by involving the United States as the warplane conduit, the Biden administration balked big time and with a big measure of contempt for Warsaw trying to get smart on Uncle Sam.

Kamala Harris, the United States Vice President, has been dispatched in a hurry to Warsaw to patch up any ill-feeling. Such is the desperation in the Biden administration to project NATO unity towards Russia. Given her ineptitude, it would be imprudent to count on Ms Harris succeeding in smoothing things over.

It can also be reasonably conjectured that Berlin was not pleased either by the United States-Polish ploy to send warplanes against Russia from its territory. The Germans can feel aggrieved that NATO allies were putting a target on their back.

But this is not the end of it.

The United States of Americans and their NATO partners are reportedly going back to the drawing board to find more inventive ways of sending warplanes to Ukraine for combat against Russia without overt NATO involvement.

This might involve sending plane parts that are assembled in Ukraine or Ukrainian pilots flying fighter jets from NATO countries. The British too are this week sending new inventories of anti-aircraft weapons. NATO is sliding towards open conflict with Russia.

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