If President Biden is the leader of the free world – and I think that is disputable – he has been leading in the wrong direction. He made a lot of mistakes.
His first mistake was not doing anything as Vladimir Putin started amassing troops on the Ukraine border. Threatening sanctions as a means of deterring an invasion was never going to work. And Biden eventually admitted that sanctions alone are never a deterrence. So why the meaningless threats?
Biden’s second mistake was not sending tons of weaponry to Ukraine before the invasion started as a more meaningful deterrent. He should not have removed the American military presence that was stationed in Ukraine at the time. Another greenlight-concession to Putin’s planned invasion.
Biden’s third mistake was repeatedly assuring Putin that the United States and NATO would not respond to an invasion with a military response for any reason. There were no red lines indicated at the time. In previous commentaries, I called that putting down the welcome mat across Ukraine for Putin.
Biden’s fourth mistake was allowing Putin’s threat of using nuclear weapons to be a deterrence to any military action by the United States and NATO. Biden threatens ineffective sanctions that do not dissuade Putin — and then he takes Putin’s threats seriously enough to thwart an effective American and NATO response.
Biden’s fifth mistake was not supplying Ukraine with a lot more weaponry when the invasion commenced. And he is still holding back on critically needed arms – including the jet fighters, long range missiles and anti-ship weapons.
Biden’s sixth mistake was not drawing any lines in the sand. He often talked about responses based on escalation by Putin, but never specified what they would be – and did not respond effectively as Putin’s attacks ramped up. Even the horrible war crimes now so well documented have not proven to be a red line for Biden.
Biden’s seventh mistake was not establishing the no-fly zone. While Putin was launching shells from Russian locations, stopping his air force (and I believe it would have) would have been a huge benefit and saved thousands of lives on the ground.
The eighth mistake was not carrying out surreptitious cyber attacks on Russia – banks and military. Yes, it is the one area in which Putin could respond but every victory comes with costs.
Biden’s Nineth – and arguably biggest mistake – is not having a strategy to defeat Putin. In both demeanor and action, Biden broadcast pessimism about the ability of the Ukrainians to resist the Russian military in the long run. Driving the Russians out of every inch of Ukrainian territory should be the goal – and Biden should say so in the strongest possible terms.
In retrospect, we also see a tangential outcome of an earlier mistake. The Obama/Biden administration surrendered Syria to the despotic rule of Bashar al Asaad and Russian hegemony. And now, we see the prospect of Syrian troops being brought into the fight. That may eventually include reinforcements from Georgia and Chechnya – two other nations the west let fall to Putin.
The United States and NATO – and a number of other nations – should take up arms against Putin. The NATO excuse for not doing so has been Article Five – NATO’s mutual defense provision. But it is now being misused as a rationale for never coming to the aid of any nation that is not a member no matter what is happening. It should not be an excuse to NOT defend Ukraine – and NATO’s security interests that are involved.
Cowing to Putin because he has nuclear weapons is ass backwards. The free world should take down Putin BECAUSE he has nuclear weapons. And never mind his empty threats.
NATO should use its awesome air power to pound Russian assets throughout Ukraine – including any ship that fires on Ukraine for international waters. If that does not result in a surrender by Putin, the forces should then attack military assets inside of Russia that are actively attacking Ukraine. Putin either stops the attacks or NATO does.
But in reality, Putin would have only two options – surrender or escalate to an attack on NATO. And that would be the end of Putin. Virtually every military expert agrees that Russia cannot take on NATO – especially now that we have seen how poorly the Russian military has performed in Ukraine.
Attacking would not be an offensive war on Russia, but a defensive action to stop the invasion and the damage it is doing to the entire world. It is in NATO’s security interest to prevent Putin for having his military in Ukraine on the eastern border of the Alliance.
Once Putin calls off the invasion, sanctions and war crime investigations would pursue. Russian oil would be boycotted as much as possible – and currently essential purchases would be cut back and eliminated over time. No sanctions would be lifted at least until Russia pays reparations for the damage and loss of life in Ukraine. Any indicted war criminals would have to be turned over to the international court.
America and the world’s democracies cannot allow Biden to be the world leader if he is going to continue his strategy of leading toward appeasement, defeat and surrender. He has put Obama’s oxymoronic policy of leading from behind on steroids. And the Russian invasion into Ukraine is the consequence.
The only thing that will stop Putin’s expansionist ambitions – and successes – is a clear defeat.
So, there ‘tis.