Willie R. Tubbs, FISM News
It was revealed Wednesday that President Joe Biden and his advisors have been working on a contingency plan that could be employed if Russian President Vladimir Putin orders a biological attack or uses a weapon of mass destruction on Ukraine.
As first reported by the New York Times, the White House has created what has been dubbed the Tiger Team, which has met thrice weekly to discuss the possibility of chemical or nuclear attacks as well as how to proceed should Russia seek to expand its war into former Soviet nations like Maldova or Georgia.
Also at hand for the Tiger Team is establishing the line across which Russian cannot cross, the specific action Russia would have to undertake in order to trigger a military response from the U.S. and NATO.
The team was assembled in late February by order of National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, and its recommendations are expected to be central during the talks among President Biden and the other world leaders gathered in Brussels.
“The bottom line is this is a NATO decision,” Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.), chair of the Armed Services Committee, told the Times. “It won’t be the president’s decision alone. I don’t think he’d want to take action unilaterally.”
The fear of Putin ordering a nuclear or biological attack is palpable in Brussels, as there is a growing concern that Putin will heighten his tactics after Russian troops have failed to dominate the war thus far. Officials in Europe are concerned over the loss of life, physical threat to NATO nations, and a humanitarian fallout that would necessarily compound the crisis already being faced by the West.
“[Of] course this is extremely serious for the people of Ukraine,” NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg told reporters Wednesday. “But any use of chemical weapons or biological weapons may also have dire consequences for NATO Allied countries, people living there – the contamination, the spread of chemical or biological agents used in Ukraine may have dire consequences also for the population living in NATO Allied countries in Europe. So it just underscores the seriousness of all our concerns.”
As real as fears are that Putin could cause immense suffering for Ukrainians, even the world at large, with the use of a chemical weapons; to do so would almost certainly catapult Russia into a widespread war against NATO nations.
Stoltenberg would not go so far as to promise military action, but he minced no words when asked what the NATO response might be.
“On chemical weapons: First of all, any use of chemical weapons would totally change the nature of the conflict,” Stoltenberg said. “And it will be a blatant violation of international law and will have far reaching consequences. And I think that’s the most important message to convey, that any use of chemical weapons is absolutely unacceptable, and will have far reaching consequences.”