To say that conservative national security commentators and analysts were perplexed by
Biden’s announcement that 3,000 reservists were being called up to serve in the European Theater of Operations would be an understatement.
Biden said in his order last week that he determined “it is 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.” Mr. Biden’s order designates Operation Atlantic Resolve as a contingency operation for the first time.
However, the Biden administration’s explanation of what Reserve components were being activated or the MOS of the 450 Individual Ready Reservists being activated was obtuse to say the least.
The Pentagon said last year it increased the troop presence in Europe by about 20,000 troops as Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the invasion of Ukraine, bringing the total U.S. force in Europe to more than 100,000.
Now, "It's unlocking additional forces for use in support of this operation," the Pentagon's top spokesman, Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder, told reporters during a phone call reported by Military.com.
Lt. Gen. Douglas Sims, the Joint Staff director for operations who also briefed reporters, said, "These authorities will enable the department to better support and sustain its enhanced presence and level of operations" in Europe.
Sims stressed that "these are not additional forces."
"Over time, where we may have had someone from an active component organization doing something, that job now, under these authorities, may be something that a reserve component unit may be able to do," he said according to the Military.com report.
Gen. Sims also noted that the reservists who may be ordered to active duty “are not additional forces; these are forces that will augment what we already have there.”
So, “augmenting” does not mean “additional forces”, but Biden is “unlocking additional forces,” which is it?
This is head-snapping linguistic jujitsu even for the well-practiced liars at the Biden White House and Pentagon.
So, what’s the bottom line here?
Our friend Senator Mike Lee of Utah posited one unnerving possibility:
Senator Lee’s thread on the topic is a worthwhile read for defining the problems presented by Biden’s creeping escalation of the American involvement the Russia – Ukraine war, but it still doesn’t answer the question of why these 3,000 additional troops and why now?
The only way to get those answers is for hearings and a full debate on whether Biden’s Ukraine escalation violates the War Powers Act, or if congressional action authorizing the current American commitment is required.
Absent a clear statement from the White House as to what’s up with this new 3,000 “augmentation,” “addition,” or not-an-addition to the 100,000 US troops already in Europe, hearings are the only way to get answers and to confirm or refute Senator Lee’s observation about where Biden is taking us, and the 100,000+ troops we now have deployed in Europe.
Biden’s order turned a nearly decade-old mission called Operation Atlantic Resolve into a contingency operation akin to Operation Inherent Resolve in Afghanistan and Operation Iraqi Freedom in Iraq that were stood up in the wake of 9/11. If Atlantic Resolve is headed in the same direction as Operation Inherent Resolve in Afghanistan and Operation Iraqi Freedom in Iraq Americans need to know it and Congress needs to debate it and authorize it.
Article I, Section 8, Clause 11 of the U.S. Constitution grants Congress the power to declare war. Congress also passed the War Powers Resolution in 1973. The War Powers Resolution requires that the President communicate to Congress the committal of troops within 48 hours. Further, the statute requires the President to remove all troops after 60 days if Congress has not granted an extension.
The Capitol Switchboard is (202-224-3121), call today and tell your Senators and Representative that you demand Congress use its Article I war powers to force Biden to explain why Operation Atlantic Resolve has become a “contingency operation” and what the deployment of 3,000 additional troops to the European Theater means.
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