Oh, here’s what untenable really means:
Polish officials released a statement saying the government was ready to deploy all of its MiG-29 fighter jets to US Air Force's Ramstein Air Base in Germany so they could then be provided to Ukraine in its fight against Russia.
The White House had previously said it was in discussions with the Polish government about a plan for Poland to supply Ukraine with its Soviet-era fighter jets and the US to backfill the planes with F-16s.
That's what I thought. So here "untenable" just means no "fighter jet" laundering through Ramstein. It is still our intent, I believe, to replenish Poland for any Soviet-era MIGs it sends to Ukraine. That still is an untenable untenable. That back-door move fools no one, least of all Putin. It is still escalation and still involves a NATO country. This should not be a contest in stupid between Poland and the U.S.
...
Kirby
said that the decision about transferring Polish-owned planes to
Ukraine was "ultimately one for the Polish government," adding that the
proposal shows the complexities that the issue presents as Russia has made threatening statements over arms being provided to Ukrainians for use against Russian forces.
Who are you, Fiona Hill? Even the U.S.-lite plan is NOT "ultimately one for the Polish government" to make. Polish agency here is NATO agency. Poland is a fucking NATO country (to my chagrin) and Russia will see, rationally, any transfer of fighter jets to Ukraine by a NATO country as that NATO country being part of the war. The Kremlin has said so with regard to any military aid explicitly. Rationally, they could then attack Poland and what would that mean? Trigger Article 5 of the NATO treaty and now the U.S. is involved in the war.
The
idea as laid out by Poland was too risky, Kirby said, as the US and
NATO seek to avoid an outright conflict between the alliance and Russia.
…
[Vice President, not me] Harris is still scheduled to depart Wednesday morning for Poland, but now there are intensive conversations within the administration about how to work with Poland to come to some sort of agreement that allows the jets to reach Ukraine. A top State Department official said Tuesday that Poland did not consult with the United States prior to issuing its statement.
"I saw that announcement by the government of Poland as I was literally driving here today," Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs Victoria Nuland said during a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing.
