The risk Joe Manchin is ignoring in his plan for Ukraine

Joe Manchin.
(Image credit: Illustrated | Getty Images, iStock)

Speaking with NBC's Chuck Todd on Sunday, Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) didn't endorse a U.S.- or NATO-enforced no-fly zone to stop Russia from bombing Ukraine. But he said it would be "wrong" to "take anything off the table" even as he acknowledged a no-fly zone, in Todd's words, "could trigger a wider conflict."

Todd is right on that point, as the plan would require U.S. forces to shoot down any Russian aircraft in Ukrainian airspace. Moscow would take that as a declaration of war, which would risk a nuclear exchange.

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Saoirse Gowan

Saoirse Gowan is a writer and researcher with a focus on public policy from a left perspective. She was born and raised in Ireland by an American mother and Irish father, and moved to Washington, D.C. in 2018. She currently lives in Hyattsville, MD, and spends her free time on art and dancing.