His announcement to step up military involvement in Europe reflects his choice of war over peace.

By Stephen Kinzer Contributor,

Updated July 11, 2022, 3:00 a.m.

The United States is sinking its flag deeper into European soil. President Biden announced late last month that the American military will soon open a “permanent base” in Poland, deploy two squadrons of F-35 fighter jets to Britain, send more warships to our sprawling base in Spain, and increase our troop strength in Romania, Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia. Instead of promoting diplomacy that could lead to peace, he chose a course guaranteed to increase tensions with Russia at a moment when they are already approaching an all-time high. This brings us one step closer to direct confrontation with another nuclear-armed power.

Biden and other promoters of this policy — a group that includes virtually everyone in Washington — say it is necessary to counter Russian aggression in Ukraine. In fact, it will have little effect in Ukraine. The true purpose of this American buildup is to threaten and intimidate Russia.

For complex reasons that are as much psychological as political, many Americans have come to regard Russia as a font of evil. Many in Washington dream of destroying Russia utterly and forever — stripping it of all power and then perhaps breaking it up into smaller states that would submit to American influence.