Biden's Bluster

There are good people who think we should make Ukraine's fight for freedom America's war and go all in. There are good people who believe it is insane to protect Ukraine's borders when we won't even protect our own. Others don't believe Biden can be trusted to win the conflict, and Europe is barely able to defend itself. 

Those are all reasonable positions. But the position I have no respect for is the one Joe Biden has taken. 

He knows his unraveling began on the tarmac of the Kabul airport. That's when his poll numbers started collapsing. So, the White House's main concern is to look tough and appear to be in charge, hoping to restore the people's trust in Biden as a foreign policy expert, which he has never been.

But in spite of Biden's tough talk, the signals he's sending to Russia and to communist China are that there's nothing there. The Ukrainians are facing the tip of Russian bayonets, and Biden's response is the tip of his pen as he writes out sanctions.

But Biden didn't sanction Vladimir Putin. Because of corruption, Putin is one of the richest men in the world. He's also the thug who ordered this unprovoked attack and threatened the West with a nuclear holocaust. But no sanctions for Putin? That makes no sense.

By now everyone recognizes the role of energy in this conflict. Biden's stupidity allowed Europe to become even more dependent on Russian energy when he approved Putin's pipeline to Germany. But Biden is still not sanctioning Russian energy.

The most telling line in his press conference yesterday came when he was pressed by reporters as to when the sanctions will bite. Biden said they will take time. Well, the one thing Ukraine does not have is time.

I am reminded of the Vietnam war. Brave U.S. pilots took off from aircraft carriers for bombing runs against North Vietnamese targets. As they were in the air, they were dodging missiles supplied by the Russians to the North Vietnamese. 

The pilots who successfully completed their bombing runs and returned to their ships would later be on the deck of their carrier watching Russian ships sail by them on their way to deliver new missiles that would be fired at them the next time they flew over North Vietnam.

Anyone could look at that situation and realize we were unlikely to win the war because there was no political will. That scenario explains the growing reluctance of many Americans to use military force when we have leaders who don't have the will to win. 

The best way to restore confidence the next time we are in a war is to allow our brave men and women in uniform to actually win it.