Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-IL) introduced a resolution on Sunday to use American armed forces in Ukraine if Russia fights with “chemical, biological, or nuclear weapons.”
The lawmaker’s proposed “Authorization for Use of Military Force [AUMF] to Defend America’s Allies Resolution of 2022” would grant President Joe Biden “authority and means to take the necessary actions” to counter Russian President Vladimir Putin, according to a statement from Kinzinger’s office.
“After World War II, America made our position clear — our commitment to freedom put autocrats on the defense and strengthened democracies around the world,” Kinzinger said. “In the last decade, we have seen this determination waver and tyrants, like Vladimir Putin, have exploited those vulnerabilities. Today, America has an opportunity to re-affirm our support to freedom-seeking people and firmly stand up to authoritarianism.”
“After speaking with Secretary Blinken and hearing his grave concerns over Putin’s use of chemical weapons, I’m confident that the United States will show the international community that we will not stand for senseless violence,” he continued. “My staff and I look forward to following up with Secretary Blinken to ensure Russia is held accountable for any and all violations to international law.”
Kinzinger called his AUMF — the same mechanism by which President George W. Bush was able to use the American military against those responsible for 9/11 — a “clear redline” in the Ukraine conflict.
Kinzinger’s resolution was proposed as other top American lawmakers visited Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in the capital city of Kyiv. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), who headlined the delegation, said that “additional American support is on the way” as Congress seeks to pass President Biden’s $33 billion aid package — of which $20 billion is meant for weapons, $8.5 billion for Zelensky’s government, and $3 billion for food and humanitarian purposes.
Pelosi and her colleagues also visited Poland, where they held “meetings with U.S. senior officials to be further briefed on the humanitarian tragedy caused by Putin” and met with Americans with the 82nd Airborne Division stationed in Poland. They further discussed “the importance of the U.S.-Polish partnership and the centrality of the NATO alliance in working to meet the urgent needs of Ukraine and to counter Russia’s unlawful aggression.”
The Biden administration is also sending over one hundred suicide drones to Ukraine as Russian military forces are reportedly exposed after regrouping in the eastern part of the country. The Phoenix Ghost — designed by the U.S. Air Force and manufactured by Aevex Aerospace — will quietly loiter over the skies of Ukraine looking for enemy units and will engage by flying directly into the target, detonating an explosive warhead.
John Kirby, chief spokesman for the Pentagon, said that the system was designed “largely, but not exclusively, to attack targets.”
“It can also be used to give you a site picture of what it is seeing, of course. But it’s principal focus is attack,” Kirby said. “Its purpose is akin to that of the Switchblade, which we have been talking about in the past, which is basically a one-way drone and attack drone. And that’s essentially what this is designed to do.”