Drums of war start to beat in Democrats' chests


President Biden has tried to walk a careful line on Ukraine: keeping Kyiv in the fight against its Russian invaders while also keeping the U.S. and NATO out of it. His policies are aimed at making the invasion as costly as possible for Russian President Vladimir Putin while avoiding a wider war between nuclear powers.
That is probably the best that can be done, given that Russia's interest in Ukraine vastly exceeds ours, however horrific the world rightly finds Putin's aggression. But it does leave Biden open to the criticism that he should be doing more to help Ukraine achieve victory or to deter Putin. And there is a risk that his current approach will merely prolong the war, leading to more death and destruction.
So far, it has been easy for Biden to ignore such criticism, because it has mainly come from the type of hawks who brought us the Iraq war, a folly the president supported himself as a member of the Senate but has since regretted. Sen. Chris Coons, the man who now holds Biden's Senate seat and a liberal Democrat, will prove harder to ignore.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
"We are in a very dangerous moment where it is important that, on a bipartisan and measured way, we in Congress and the administration come to a common position about when we are willing to go the next step and to send not just arms but troops to the aid in defense of Ukraine," Coons said over the weekend. "If the answer is never, then we are inviting another level of escalation in brutality by Putin." He claimed Putin "will only stop when we stop him."
Coons also raised the specter of Syria, where war has continued to rage, as a view into Ukraine's future. The White House is holding firm for now. "The president has no plans to send troops to fight a war with Russia. He doesn't think that's in our national security interests," said press secretary Jen Psaki.
Once the "conversation" in Washington moves in this direction, though, the risk that we will blunder into war grows. We will soon see how deeply Biden and company have learned the lessons of 20 years of ineffectual foreign interventions.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
W. James Antle III is the politics editor of the Washington Examiner, the former editor of The American Conservative, and author of Devouring Freedom: Can Big Government Ever Be Stopped?.
-
Can Ukraine make peace with Trump in Saudi Arabia?
Talking Point Zelenskyy and his team must somehow navigate the gap between US president's 'demands and threats'
By The Week UK Published
-
Ukraine: where do Trump's loyalties really lie?
Today's Big Question 'Extraordinary pivot' by US president – driven by personal, ideological and strategic factors – has 'upended decades of hawkish foreign policy toward Russia'
By Elliott Goat, The Week UK Published
-
Is Europe's defence too reliant on the US?
Today's Big Question As the UK and EU plan to 're-arm', how easy will it be to disentangle from US equipment and support?
By Elliott Goat, The Week UK Published
-
Is the British Army ready to deploy to Ukraine?
Today's Big Question The UK 'would be expected to play a major role' if a peacekeeping force is sent to enforce ceasefire with Russia
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published
-
What will Trump-Putin Ukraine peace deal look like?
Today's Big Question US president 'blindsides' European and UK leaders, indicating Ukraine must concede seized territory and forget about Nato membership
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
Ukraine's disappearing army
Under the Radar Every day unwilling conscripts and disillusioned veterans are fleeing the front
By Chas Newkey-Burden, The Week UK Published
-
Cuba's mercenaries fighting against Ukraine
The Explainer Young men lured by high salaries and Russian citizenship to enlist for a year are now trapped on front lines of war indefinitely
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
Ukraine-Russia: are both sides readying for nuclear war?
Today's Big Question Putin changes doctrine to lower threshold for atomic weapons after Ukraine strikes with Western missiles
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published