Call it Tiger Team version 2. The New York Times reported on March 23 that the White House has assembled a team of national security officials to sketch out possible scenarios of how the U.S. and NATO should respond if an allegedly frustrated Vladimir Putin “unleashes his stockpiles of chemical, biological or nuclear weapons.” This tiger team is also examining what to do should Putin decide to attack NATO convoys in NATO territory bringing weapons into Ukraine. “Meeting three times a week, in classified sessions, the team is also looking at responses if Russia seeks to extend the war to neighboring nations, including Moldova and Georgia, and how to prepare European countries for the refugees flowing in on a scale not seen in decades,” the Times reports. Unnamed officials told the Times that National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan established the team in a memo he signed on Feb. 28, four days after the Russian special military operation began in Ukraine.
One major issue the Tiger Team is said to be looking at is the threshold that could prompt the alliance to use military force in Ukraine despite Biden’s stated reluctance to do so. “A second team of officials, also created by Sullivan’s Feb. 28 memo, is looking at long-term opportunities for the United States to improve its geopolitical position as a result of Mr. Putin’s invasion. Inside the White House,” the Times says, “it has become an article of faith that the Russian leader made a huge strategic error—one that will diminish Russia’s standing, cripple its economy and alienate potential allies for years. But it is early in the conflict, other officials caution, and that conclusion may prove premature.”
