Escalating Tensions: Biden Deploys Reservists to Europe, Sparking Fears of Direct Conflict with Russia

Clear Facts:

• President Biden authorizes the deployment of thousands of U.S. reservists to Europe amid escalating tensions with Russia.
• Critics fear that the move might bring the U.S. closer to direct war with Russia, with the sentiment summed up in “America Last strikes again!”
• Republican Sen. Mike Lee of Utah urges Congress to invoke the War Powers Act to prevent Biden from further entangling the U.S. in the Ukrainian conflict.

President Joe Biden has authorized the deployment of thousands of reservists to Europe, escalating an American military presence already over 100,000 strong on the continent.

Army Lt. Gen. Douglas Sims, the director of operations for the Joint Staff, said, “This reaffirms the unwavering support and commitment to the defense of NATO’s eastern flank in the wake of Russia’s illegal and unprovoked war on Ukraine,” reported Politico.

Despite this statement, critics fear that the move, following the recent shipment of cluster bombs to Ukraine, brings the U.S. closer to a direct shooting war with Russia.

The sentiment is summarized in the phrase, “America Last strikes again!”

Republican Sen. Mike Lee of Utah has urged Congress to consider invoking the War Powers Act and other measures to prevent Biden from “locking us into supporting Ukraine.”

In his executive order, Biden stated it was “necessary to augment the active Armed Forces of the United States for the effective conduct of Operation Atlantic Resolve in and around the United States European Command’s area of responsibility.”

The order allows the Pentagon and the Department of Homeland Security to call up to 3,000 reservists, no more than 450 of whom may be members of the Individual Ready Reserve.

The reserve call-up is the first for Operation Atlantic Resolve, an operation initiated under then-President Barack Obama in 2014 in response to Russia’s annexation of the Crimean Peninsula.

However, this move has been met with stern criticism.

Richard Grenell, the former acting director of national intelligence under Trump, pointed out the discrepancy in NATO contributions, noting that only “eight of the 31 NATO countries currently pay their obligations.”

Joe Kent, a Washington state Republican running for Congress in 2024, tweeted, “Defending America is Biden’s last priority.”

Republican Senator Mike Lee stressed that “President Biden is arguably walking the U.S. up to the line of war and daring Russia to shoot first.”

He further warned that Biden’s move is a “dangerous provocation” and a potential stepping stone to an “endless war.”

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