sombear said:
J.B.Katz said:
MT_Bear said:
Booray said:
Jacques Strap said:
I thought we wanted a strong Europe able and willing to lead on issues that impact them the most? I also imagine that European leaders are comforted in knowing we have their back. Its sad that we live to criticize our own, no matter what.
Biden's response to this has not been perfect but it has been good to this point. Russia is the loser so far. What more do you want?
Yep. Biden's response has been fine - not perfect, but perfectly reasonable, measured, and effective without upping escalation too rapidly, and making sure that the US is not speaking for all of NATO (as has often felt the case before) but instead allowing each NATO nation to independently announce their own sanctions. For the love of god I wish Americans could just work together (thank god congress mostly is), rather than use such a tragic and potentially dangerous moment in history as just one more tool for division. This bull**** is why I affiliate with neither party.
Biden deserves praise on two fronts. First, he has demonstrated why we need alliances. Trump trashed all of our alliances, including the Trans-Pacific Partnership that would have set trade rules that hemmed in China's aggressive practices. Biden recognized their essential value.
Second, he has pulled our allies together in a very short time. Only someone with long experience in foreign policy -- someone who is well known by foreign leaders -- could have pulled that off.
I do criticize sitting presidents during war or related conflicts, and I will not criticize Biden. But, to give him credit for "pulling together" allies is laughable. He's been following them from behind. Think about it, famously passive European nations have been more aggressive than Biden. I'm not even saying he's doing a bad job. It's more open Europe stepping up like never before and actually leading. It's fantastic.
Mitt Romney after Ukraine/Russia Briefing: "The administration has done a really sound job in bringing together allies and friends from around the world and present a united front against a very evil, ambitious leader of Russia."
Max Boot, a neocon:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/03/01/biden-handling-ukraine-crisis-far-better-than-trump/I'm not a praying man, but if I were, I would be on my hands and knees thanking the Almighty that during the worst crisis in Europe since 1945, the United States is led by Joe Biden, not Donald Trump.Biden has been as masterful in his handling of the Ukraine war as he was ham-handed in his handling of the Afghanistan withdrawal. For months he has been warning that Russia would invade and predicting that this would trigger a "swift and severe" response. He even laid out details of Russian plans to stage false flag operations and to install a puppet regime in Kyiv.There was much skepticism on all counts, with Russia and its
apologists denying until the last moment that the invasion would occur. But Biden was dead right. This is the opposite of the Iraq War, when U.S. intelligence and leadership was discredited. American credibility has been enhanced by Biden's deft handling of this crisis. Today it is Moscow, not Washington, that is acting
based on bad intelligence: Russian dictator Vladimir Putin massively underestimated Ukrainian resistance.
While publicly calling out Putin, Biden and his aides were working furiously behind the scenes to unite the West behind an agenda meant to support Ukraine, punish the Kremlin and, implicitly, to deter China from an attack on Taiwan. Their efforts were more
successful than anyone could have imagined a few weeks ago, with Western countries uniting to evict some Russian banks from the SWIFT system of inter-bank transfers, to impose sanctions on the Russian central bank and to rush arms to Ukraine.
Admittedly, part of this mobilization is due to factors beyond Biden's control: Putin's reckless aggression has shocked the world, while Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's stout resistance has
inspired it. But there would not have been this degree of unity absent strong American leadership.
As my Post colleagues
reported, the Biden administration mounted "a months-long campaign … to share intelligence briefings, pressure powerful countries that they might need to make sacrifices, and coordinate among a disparate group of 27 E.U. member states." Some of those countries, e.g. Hungary, have been friendly to Russia, while others, e.g. Italy and Germany, have been fearful of breaking business ties. But ultimately, they went along with the kind of draconian sanctions that previously have been applied only to rogue regimes such as Venezuela, Syria, Iran and North Korea.
Biden has hardly been flawless. He should have sent more military equipment earlier to Ukraine, particularly Stinger missiles, without worrying about provoking Putin. But he has generally been sure-handed in this crisis, knowing just how far he can go and no further. The White House, for example, has rightly rejected calls for a
no-fly zone that would bring the United States into direct conflict with another nuclear-armed state. And, in the face of Putin's nuclear saber-rattling, Biden has wisely de-escalated by
not increasing U.S. alert levels. It is a great comfort in this dangerous time to know that, while Russia might be led by an unhinged egomaniac, the United States no longer is.
The one thing missing from Biden's response has been a prime-time address to explain the stakes to the American people. Biden's central flaw is that still thinks like the senator he was for so many decades, preferring behind-the-scenes persuasion to stirring oratory. But the State of the Union address on Tuesday night fills that gap.
Undoubtedly, Trump could read similar words from a teleprompter, but they would have no credibility because, despite his incessant lying, he has always been transparent about his true feelings. Even if he were still president, he undoubtedly would have called the Russian invasion an act of "
genius" and rhapsodized about how much he likes Putin.
Imagine what that would have done for Western unity. The Europeans are willing to stand up to Russia, notwithstanding their reliance on Russian energy and their fear of Russian military power, because they know that Washington has their backs. Without staunch U.S. support, the unprecedented Western resolve we now see would melt as quickly as the last snow of spring..
The Ukraine crisis further raises the stakes for 2024, when Trump is likely to attempt a comeback to assuage his bruised ego. If Trump returns to the White House no doubt with Russian help, as in 2016 Putin could yet find a lifeline to rescue him from the dire straits into which he has plunged his country and the world. If, however, Biden can win another term or even if he is defeated by an anti-Putin Republican then this could be a turning point. The misbegotten Ukraine war could well mark the beginning of the end of Putin's monstrous regime, and also, more generally, a reversal of fortune for the democratic world after
16 years of authoritarian expansion. If this is the beginning of an unexpected democratic resurgence, one can only regret the terrible price paid by the Ukrainian people.
Zelensky rightly earns international adulation for his courageous resistance to a Russian invasion that may yet cost him his life. But don't forget the critical role that Biden has played in supporting Zelensky and his embattled people. Biden isn't rushing to claim credit which he deserves because, unlike Trump, he knows it's not all about him.
