
<p>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.</p>



<p>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?</p>



<p>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.</p>



<p>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.</p>



<p>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 &#8212; and then he takes Putin’s threats seriously enough to thwart an effective American and NATO response.</p>



<p>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.</p>



<p>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.</p>



<p>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.</p>



<p>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.</p>



<p>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.</p>



<p>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.</p>



<p>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.</p>



<p>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.</p>



<p>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.</p>



<p>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.</p>



<p>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. ; ;</p>



<p>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.</p>



<p>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.</p>



<p>The only thing that will stop Putin’s expansionist ambitions – and successes – is a clear defeat. ; ;</p>



<p>So, there ‘tis.</p>

Time for America and NATO to take on Putin
