Whose Side is Biden on?

 Supporting Putin's war with our oil money, negotiating to buy Venezuelan oil and thus help finance another dictatorship, joining Russia and China in a deal very favorable to Iran and its nuclear program, all while destroying American economy and culture – it sure looks like Biden has chosen to align with socialist dictatorships rather than democracy.

OIL

Let’s look at the oil aspect of this.  Under the previous administration (the one with the mean tweets that also actually did so much to make America and its economy great again) we were energy independent. 

As part of the numerous policy reversals that Biden took upon becoming President, actions seemingly simply taken out of spite and not based on thought or logical rationale, he halted pipelines, oil leases, and oil production in America.  We are no longer energy independent.

So, having made us dependent upon foreign oil, Biden has put this country in the position of funding Russia’s war against Ukraine.  This is a position that he could remove us from almost immediately simply by restarting American oil and gas production.  Not only would we once again be energy independent, we would be able to provide energy to European countries currently dependent on Russian oil.  We could cut off the supply of blood money to Russia.

That alone would be good.  The reopening of our internal energy production would provide jobs and income and would boost our economy.  It would help to fight Biden’s inflation including the daily price hikes at the gas pumps.

But Biden refuses to do this.  He does not want us to be energy independent.  He says we can help the Ukrainians by going green instead.  Do the environmental experts at the White House not understand that we cannot go green overnight? That just because we are not getting gas and oil from America does not mean that it is not being produced elsewhere, probably less cleanly than we do it here and with the additional environmental impact of transporting foreign oil to our country?

No, he apparently does not understand that (or chooses not to).  Instead, he is negotiating with Venezuela.  His secret oil meeting with Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro was a huge PR boost for the socialist regime, a regime with notoriously outrageous human rights abuses.  Biden may be willing to trade our giving blood money to Russia for our giving it to Venezuela, but he is not willing to simply bring the money back home and produce the oil here.

Biden is also negotiating with Saudi Arabia and who knows what other countries; negotiations that are unnecessary when he could simply open U.S. oil production again.  (I’m wondering if North Korea has oil, maybe we could give them some blood money too.)

What kind of president acts so callously and so disregards his country’s own people?  Only one who is senile or simply hates his own country so much that he would perhaps enjoy seeing it destroyed.

WAR

Everyone needs to recognize that Russia’s war on Ukraine is a complicated situation with a long history leading to this Russian invasion and there are many who merit some blame.  Let’s also acknowledge that Putin does not see the world as we do, and at the moment he has a very destructive focus that is likely to go well beyond Ukraine.

But did this war have to happen?  Perhaps, and perhaps not.  But certainly, the actions of President Biden leading up to the Russian invasion were not wise, did nothing to prevent the attack, and likely provided encouragement to Putin.

Beyond removing sanctions, including sanctions on oil, that the prior administration had in place, Biden also failed in other ways that served to encourage Putin. 

Biden completely failed in the Afghanistan withdrawal last fall, something of which the Putin administration surely took note of.  As Putin then began increasing troops at Ukraine’s border, Biden did little more than wring his hands.  What little more he did was not helpful. 

Biden issued warnings to Putin, but never followed through.  He said we would not commit troops, which was an assurance to Putin that he would not have to face American soldiers.  Biden told Putin that “small incursions” would not warrant serious retaliation.  

Biden stated he would use sanctions as a deterrent at the right time.  Note to Biden:  deterrent means something that discourages someone from doing something.  If you want sanctions to deter an invasion, you need to use them before the invasion occurs.

After the invasion which Biden did nothing to deter, he announced sanctions while stating that sanctions never work, and it would be months before they could take any effect.  Did he not notice the Russian troops piling up at Ukraine’s border on which maybe sanctions imposed earlier might have been able to have a deterring effect?  Or did he just choose to let Putin move forward?

And now, Russia has invaded.  Biden bemoans the damage and destruction to Ukraine and imposes sanctions that are likely to have no effect whatsoever on Putin’s decisions to move forward and continue his attacks on Ukraine.  And the one sanction that might actually have some effect – cutting the purchase of Russian oil – Biden refuses to impose.

Again, I ask, what kind of president acts so callously and so disregards his country’s own people, not to mention the people of Ukraine? What kind of President seeks out countries that would like to destroy us as business partners from whom we will buy products we could easily produce ourselves? Again, the answer seems to be only a president who is senile or simply hates his own country so much that he would perhaps enjoy seeing it destroyed.

CHINA

There is so much bending to China’s will, primarily because we need much of what China provides to us.  Again, I note, that President Biden, while saying words like “buy American”, does nothing to encourage making that a reality and hence ending some dependence on China. 

China is not our friend.  Nonetheless, Biden provided our intelligence about the war, how he would handle sanctions, etc., to China.  Was Biden the only one to whom it was not obvious that China would immediately provide all that information to Russia?

But perhaps worse is his overlooking of the Chinese genocide of the Uyghur Muslims.  Biden talks a good talk about his concern for human rights, both in our country and abroad, but he certainly does not walk the walk. 

Again, I ask, what American who appreciates democracy can ignore so much that is undemocratic?

IRAN

The new Iran deal will be finalized in the coming days.  Iran is our sworn enemy, yet Biden has continued to negotiate with Russia, China, and Iran, all enemies of the United States.  The agreement will restore nuclear capability to Iran and, in the words of a Russian diplomat taking part in the talks, “Tehran got much more than anyone expected.”

BIDEN

So, again, I ask, what the heck is our President doing?  Certainly not conscientiously fulfilling his oath of office.  Certainly not competently carrying out his duties.  Certainly not doing what is best for America.  But yes, acting in any number of ways that are benefiting our enemies and those who are the enemies of democracy.    For an American president this is simply unacceptable.

Putin is dropping bombs, Ukraine is dying, and Biden makes promises.

Putin is committing war crimes.  He is targeting civilians including children.  Ukraine is being destroyed. 

It did not have to come to this. 

Biden told us he has known what Putin would do all along, yet he failed to do anything until after the bombing began. 

Our President is funding Putin’s war effort.  Biden continues to buy oil (over 200,000 barrels per day) from Putin rather than let us reopen our oil production in this country (our capabilities would produce more than what we buy from Russia).  What is Biden waiting for?  How many more have to die? 

Meanwhile, Biden keeps taunting Putin who is becoming more and more erratic and more likely to be pushed to actually use the nuclear weapons as he has threatened.  I hope all Biden’s supporters remember that they told us that President Trump would get us into a nuclear war; the reality is that it seems that Biden is actually more likely to do so.

I am distraught over the horror and destruction in Ukraine.  I am more distraught watching our President pretend he has the situation under control.   Perhaps he is happy to sacrifice Ukraine so that he has an identifiable enemy to pontificate about.  Perhaps he really believes he can still have his “Cuban missile moment.”

It seems that Ukraine is nothing more than a pawn to Biden; one that he has no problem sacrificing while he uses its people as set pieces during his pathetic State of the Union speech. 

Biden said “buy American.”  If only we could buy American oil once again.  But his refusal to let us do so underscores his lie that he is “doing everything [he can] to stop Putin.”

Biden calls Putin evil.  Putin is clearly that, the evil actor killing innocents, their country, and their culture.  But I place Biden beside him as an accomplice.   Biden may not be dropping the bombs, but he, who told us and Ukraine he would not let this happen, left Putin with no other move to make in this chess game between two unstable leaders, neither of whom gives a damn about the real people involved.

Biden’s State of the Union speech last night was not that.  If it was, he would have told us that the state of the Union is a disaster.   But instead, he gave us lies, statements that contradicted one another, and a list of promises that will only further bankrupt our already bankrupt country. 

And the people in Ukraine are being murdered.  And Biden is lying when he says he is doing everything he can.  He is sidestepping until the only option will indeed be World War Three, perhaps (actually likely) a nuclear war. 

I sit here writing in frustration because what can one person do when so many in this country are willing to look the other way just so long as they don’t have to read mean tweets.  Anyone who, at this point, even attempts to justify this President’s behavior has the blood of the world on his hands.

Biden and Ukraine

Today President Biden gave a speech on Ukraine.  He called Russia’s recognition of two separatist republics a part of Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine, despite the fact that both these republics had requested recognition from Russia. He declared sanctions and additional defensive moves and support for Ukraine, authorizing U.S. forces and equipment already stationed in Europe to strengthen Baltic allies.  He declared he wanted to send an “unmistakable” message, one which included the promise to defend NATO territory.  (We should note that Ukraine is not part of NATO, nor is it NATO territory).  He also declared this would result in yet higher gas prices.  The conference began over an hour late, lasted only about 10 minutes and the President took no questions.

The passage below is translated from Russian news source Известия.

Earlier in the day, Biden signed a decree imposing sanctions on Donbas after Russia recognized the independence of the Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics (DNR and LNR). In addition to restrictions on investments in the regions, the American leader also banned the import of any technologies, services and goods from the Donbass republics into the United States. Also, persons who are involved in various activities in the DPR and LPR may be subject to sanctions, follows from the document.

In turn, in Donetsk , they reacted with sarcasm to the US statement on sanctions against the DPR. Vladislav Berdichevsky, a deputy of the People's Council of the Republic, joked that in this way the American president recognized the existence of the republic.

The second paragraph makes a logical point:  by sanctioning the new republics recognized by Russia but which we assert are still part of Ukraine, we are recognizing those areas as holding some form of independence.  This amusing irony reflects something far less amusing: that the President’s foreign policy is going blindly forward with what he wants but with no understanding of what he is doing or of the underlying history and people of the region.

While one view is certainly that Russia is setting up justifications for taking over Ukraine, the way to stop this is not just to accuse Russia but to understand not only what its goal may be, but why.  That requires some grasp of the Russian mind and Russian history.

Key Ukraine/Russia historical facts

Ukraine and Russia have a shared history for over 1,000 years.   Kiev, now the capitol of Ukraine, was the center of Kyivan Rus, the first Slavic state and the birthplace of both Ukraine and Russia.  Over the centuries, Ukraine was often fought over by competing powers.  After the communist revolution of 1917, Ukraine was, after a brutal battle, absorbed into the Soviet Union in 1922.

When the Soviet Union fell in 1991, Ukraine became an independent nation; however, the country has not been united.  Eastern Ukraine came under Russian rule much earlier than western Ukraine.  Thus, people in the east have stronger ties to Russia and have been more likely to support Russia and Russian-leaning leaders.  “The sense of Ukrainian nationalism is not as deep in the east as it is in west,” says former ambassador to Ukraine Steven Pifer.

The transition to democracy and capitalism was painful and chaotic, and many Ukrainians, especially in the east, longed for the relative stability of earlier eras and a return to Russian rule.  According to Ukraine expert Adrian Karatnycky, the biggest divide in Ukraine is between “those who view the Russian imperial and Soviet rule more sympathetically versus those who see them as a tragedy."

During the 2004 Orange Revolution thousands of Ukrainians marched to support greater integration with Europe.  In 2005 Russian President Vladimir Putin called the collapse of the Soviet empire “the greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the century.”  It is no secret that he would like to regain control of Ukraine and that many Russians believe that Ukraine is rightfully a part of Russia.

Crimea fought for autonomy from Ukraine and ultimately declared its independence.  It was then invaded, occupied and annexed by Russia in 2014, followed shortly after by a separatist uprising in the eastern Ukrainian region of Donbas that resulted in the declaration of the Russian-backed People’s Republics of Luhansk and Donetsk.  These are the two republics recognized Monday by the Russian Federation and on which Biden has now imposed sanctions.

Donetsk, Lugansk Celebrate Russian Recognition

The inhabitants of the separatist regions and now republics celebrated in the streets following their recognition by Russia.  Their leaders have agreed to host Russian troops within their borders, thus enabling Russian forces to move closer to Ukraine.

Today, Ukrainian, the official language of Ukraine, is the native language of about two thirds of Ukraine's population. Russian is the native language of about one third of Ukraine's population.  The two languages are closely related.

NATO

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) was founded shortly after WW2 to deter expansion of the then Soviet Union.  Since that time it has expanded eastward, bringing central and eastern European states into its ranks after the USSR collapsed.  Most recently there has been a push for Ukraine to be allowed to join NATO, a push to which Russia is firmly opposed at least in part because that would place NATO at Russia’s border.  NATO countries agree to support and protect one another and to support emerging democracies.

Because Ukraine is not currently a NATO member, NATO nations, including the U.S., have no obligation to protect or defend Ukraine. 

Facts & Narratives

Russia views the facts above one way, the US views them differently.   But what we must realize is that if we are going to successfully be involved in this situation, while we do not need to agree with the Russian interpretation, we must understand it. 

Russia interprets NATO and its push of eastward expansion as aggression and a threat to Russian sovereignty.  NATO, the West, and Biden assert they are simply supporting Ukraine as an emerging democracy.  Both interpretations are reasonable.

Russian Ambassador to the United States Anatoly Antonov asserts that they have a legitimate right to have their troops where they want on Russian territory or where they have been invited to be.  He analogizes to the US bases in numerous European and other countries and to NATO troops stationed in various regions.  Russia calls these a threat while the US and NATO see them as protective.   That the troops are stationed is fact, but the interpretation of the fact differs and results in different narratives being fed to each nation's people.  Ukraine, meanwhile, appears to accept Russian intimidation as a tolerable fact of life.

Diplomacy

Culture, geography, and history affect the way people think and approach life.  Russians think differently than Americans.

True diplomats have the ability to understand the views and thinking of those with whom they conduct diplomacy.  They must be able to assess the facts and distinguish those from different interpretations of those facts and also understand how those with different goals will use the same facts to support different ends.

While neither side will, nor should they, accept the other’s narrative, they need to be aware of it.  Diplomacy and peace, not unlike a chess game, require each side to understand the other’s thinking and how it differs from their own, so as to predict not only what they are likely to do but why – why it is important to them.  For the more important, the more aggressive they will be about achieving their goals.  The areas of less importance are where negotiation must begin.

Watching events in Ukraine unfold along with our government’s reactions it seems that this administration is either unwilling or unable to understand the Russian perspective.   I am not arguing that they should or must agree with that perspective, but it is imperative that they understand it.

According to Pavel Palazhchenko, the former interpreter to Gorbachev, the West has too long ignored Russia's security concerns, and hence failed to understand the mindset or the psychology of Russia.  "That does have an effect," he said. "We are all human beings. Russian leaders are human beings, and so when they, time and again, raise the NATO enlargement and the process relentlessly continues, it does cause resentment." 

He further stated “But the United States, for its part, having been caught flat-footed when Russia snatched Crimea in 2014, has made a strategic decision to try to call Russia out on transgressions before they happen. Time will tell if that has its intended effect or causes Russia to dig further in.”

Biden’s dangerous, erratic, and emotional policy

Biden told us today that he has known what Russia was planning to do every step of the way.  Yet, he has failed to do anything that has in any way stopped what he claims should have been stopped.  So now he imposes sanctions against the newly recognized republics.  Would anyone be surprised if Putin, evaluating Biden’s ongoing performance, would determine that he has nothing to fear from the U.S.?

It appears that Biden is going to dig us deeper into Ukraine.  Perhaps Biden’s hysteria about the Ukraine situation is, as I have previously suggested, part of a “wag the dog” strategy to divert attention from, and provide excuses for, the many disastrous crises, most of his own making, in this country.  Indeed, in his speech today he made it clear that gas prices would continue to rise due to the Ukraine situation (not mentioning that he has destroyed the U.S. energy independence that existed prior to his taking office and  that his own policies are responsible for our current record high inflation).

Perhaps Biden intends to get us into some sort of proxy war with Russia set in Ukraine (think Korean and Vietnam wars) believing that this will somehow prove his strength.  Biden does seem to think he has something to prove here.  MSNBC host Andrea Mitchell yesterday said that President Biden believes that he is going to emerge victorious from the facedown with Russian President Vladimir Putin and that he has "confidence" and "ego" in his foreign policy abilities, while adding that Biden feels "defensive" about criticism of his foreign policy performance.

That is not the context in which one wants to see foreign policy decisions being made, especially when they can potentially lead to serious loss to our own country.  It is not the sort of context that encourages listening and understanding.  It is a frightening place for our country to be. 

Biden’s hysteria for the past several weeks, daily telling us the Russian invasion is imminent, became quickly tiresome.  When the President of Ukraine repeatedly told Biden to stop the hysteria, that he is only making matters worse, one has to wonder why Biden kept it up.  He began looking like the kid on the playground goading the other to make a first move just so he could hit him.  Again, I point to “wag the dog” strategy.

Personally, I think that while we can lend advice, speak out against aggression, impose sanctions, even sell weaponry, we have no business as actual participants in the sense of boots on the ground in this conflict.  This is not a NATO obligation.  NATO may want Ukraine and Putin may be opposed to such NATO expansion, but Ukraine currently is not a part of NATO.   And ultimately this is Ukraine’s decision.

We have a crisis on our southern border.  Our Canadian neighbor to the north is, in dictator fashion, stomping out Canadian freedoms.  Rather than address the southern border or speak out against our northern neighbor’s threat to democracy (Canada is a NATO member and thus loss of their democracy and freedom is a legitimate NATO concern), Biden is choosing to involve us in a border dispute that is really better left to Ukraine, Russia, and their European neighbors. 

We have our own problems here, and it would be nice if our President would have the same level of hysterical concern about such things as our economy, crime, education, etc., as he does for Ukraine’s border.  But then, maybe he just wants a war.  Let’s just hope he doesn’t get us into WW3.