equals this
not this
Posted on 01/27/2022 6:30:42 AM PST by Kaslin
There are two gargantuan foreign policy misconceptions in the mainstream media today. The first is that former President Donald Trump was an isolationist, a throw-back to the pre-President Dwight Eisenhower days of Sen. Robert Taft when Republicans believed they could establish a fortress America and blithely let the world go to hell. The second is that President Joe Biden represents a return to the status quo of American foreign policy, with the commander-in-chief making responsible decisions about global matters that reassure our allies and resonate with our adversaries.
Nothing could be further from the truth. Trump was not an isolationist.
His voice and his actions were in remarkable synchronization as he pursued a policy that was neither isolationist nor committed to solving every global dispute. It’s America first with the recognition that sometimes America needed to exercise its military might beyond its own borders.
He was well aware that China was both a military and economic threat to the United States and he took bold action to curb Chinese power with tariffs and by telling the Chinese president that he had better not even think of invading Taiwan because the U.S. was prepared to defend the island. You did not see Chinese fighters doing flypasts over Taiwan during Trump’s presidency. Trump engaged with North Korea and tamed a corpulent communist madman.
What characterized Trump’s foreign policy was precision that avoided massive troop deployments yet still succeeded in advancing U.S. interests. Iran continued to be a threat to the U.S. and Israel so Trump ordered the killing of that country’s top terrorist general, Qasem Soleimani. It remains an enigma why there was any debate over that decision since it proved a resounding success – until Joe Biden entered the White House.
Joe Biden is pursuing a nonsensical foreign policy that might be defined as peace through weakness. Although he loves to embrace NATO, he is not lauding the NATO that was created in 1949 to deter and contain Soviet aggression in Europe by his predecessor President Harry Truman who believed in something called peace through strength. The people who created NATO could all remember that it was the policy of appeasement that empowered Hitler to bloodlessly carve up Europe until the Western democracies finally said enough.
Ironically, even though Biden likes to talk about NATO unity, it is hardly speaking with one voice. Germany is not interested in punishing Russia with any economic sanctions because it is heavily reliant upon the country for much of its oil and natural gas. Biden cannot promise to replace those resources because he has made them scarce in the U.S. by shutting down pipelines and curbing oil exploration.
Biden has pursued a policy of appeasement since becoming president. Afghanistan was a classic appeasement. Biden was either blissfully unaware or lying blissfully about the efficacy of the Taliban as he assured Americans that the terrorists were no where near Kabul and had no chance of getting there anytime soon. He surrendered an airport to them, he let them have billions of dollars in sophisticated armaments and finally he just handed over the country. Then he ordered those Americans he could find to leave the country while the getting was good.
Despite so many in the Biden administration insisting that they are being “clear” about their policy on Ukraine, none of them have come close to being clear. After Biden lost his talking points during his presser last week and admitted he really didn’t give a damn if the Russians just bit off a piece of Ukraine, his handlers rushed to the mics to explain exactly what he meant.
Unfortunately, they didn’t do much better.
Vice President Kamala Harris couldn’t clarify things even though she said it twice.
"I will repeat myself, and I’m vice president of the United States, and the president and I work closely together, and I know his position because he’s been consistent in that regard. If Vladimir Putin and Russia takes aggressive action, it will be met with a cost that will be severe," Harris told NBC’s “Today.”
How can you take Biden seriously about maintaining the sanctity of Ukraine’s borders when he talks about a “minor incursion” on one day while for the past year he has been turning a blind eye to mass illegal immigration at the southern border where there is an open border that he refuses to either seal or even acknowledge? Clearly, borders are not Biden’s strong point so why should Ukrainians rest easy or why should Russia feel threatened?
During President Trump’s senseless impeachment, Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) worked tirelessly for a daytime Emmy award by suggesting Ukraine represented the freedom of the world.
Joe Biden cares so much about Ukraine that he hasn’t even appointed an ambassador to the country and there hasn’t been a public complaint from Schiff about this oversight.
The worst foreign policy to have is no foreign policy. And that is precisely what Joe Biden has. After spending his entire life in government and occupying the some of the highest offices in the land and being a part of seminal domestic and foreign foreign decisions, Biden is seemingly incapable of articulating a coherent paragraph about what he envisions in this latest global crisis – anymore than he was in Afghanistan.
Chaos grows in the earth of indecision. Chaos is a catalyst for crisis and catastrophe.
Biden is the farmer and chemist producing both.
The deep state is salivating over the prospect of a war. Biden’s handlers know it would help his poll numbers.
Look out.
It appears that France and Germany have taken the lead on the Ukraine crisis and have secured a temporary cease fire as both side work things out. The US was not invited to the talks. Seems Russia has no confidence with the US and the WH right now.
With tensions spiraling in Eastern Europe, Ukraine and Russia held talks Wednesday at the Elysee Palace in Paris alongside representatives from Germany and France under the Normandy format.
It is the first time such talks — which took place in an advisory capacity — were held since 2019. It is also the first time since Moscow’s latest military build-up began on Ukraine’s border.
The move has stoked fears of a much wider incursion into Ukraine beyond the industrial eastern region known as Donbass, which is controlled by Russia-backed separatists.
Ahead of the talks, Andriy Yermak, an adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said that the meeting was a “strong signal of readiness for a peaceful settlement.
As the talks were underway in Paris, French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian told the French Senate, “We are taking all the necessary initiatives to trigger a de-escalation process.”
How did the talks conclude?
The meeting lasted for more the eight hours.
Kremlin envoy Dmitry Kozak said the talks were “not simple,” but there was one common ground. He said that “despite all the differences in interpretations, we agreed that the cease-fire (in eastern Ukraine) must be maintained by all the parties in line with the accords.”
Kozak was referring to the Minsk agreement, which was signed under the Normandy format, which got its name after representatives from the four nations met during the 2014 D-Day celebrations in Normandy, France.
The envoys “support unconditional respect for the cease-fire and full adherence to the cease-fire strengthening measures of July 22, 2020, regardless of differences on other issues relating to the implementation of the Minsk agreements,” the Elysee said.
Russia and Ukraine signed the Minsk agreements in 2014 and 2015. Although major combat came to an end after the agreement, some periodic clashes still occurred.
Over the years, both Russia and Ukraine have repeatedly accused the other of violating the cease-fire that sought to defuse conflict between Ukrainian forces and pro-Russian separatists.
The Elysee said the parties agreed to meet for further dialogue in two weeks in Berlin.
“We hope our colleagues have understood our arguments and that in two weeks we will achieve results,” Kozak said.
Gustav Gressel, a security policy expert from the European Council on Foreign Relations, told DW that it is unclear what impact the diplomatic process will have on the situation along the Russia-Ukraine border.
“The threats against Ukraine have been pretty consistent,” he told DW. “The willingness to use military force have been underlined by Putin himself, by [Russian Foreign Minister Sergey] Lavrov himself, with the same wording consistently over the last three months. I think we should take that seriously.”
Why was the meeting held?
Wednesday’s mid-day meeting was set to focus on humanitarian efforts and the possibility of formal talks on the status of the Donbass region. Russia-backed separatists control the territory, though Moscow denies any connection to the proxy forces.
Since last November, the US and Europe have publicly asserted there is intelligence concerning a Russian military build-up encircling Ukraine and a force that now amounts to over 100,000 troops stationed on the country’s borders.
Joe yesterday mumbled something about Russia’s invasion would be the largest since WW2, when in fact Desert Storm was the largest and the Iraq war would still be larger. The US has a history of invading countries many times since WW2. Joe has no idea what he is talking about half the time and Europe must be concerned that he could cause a nuclear war. So they took control.
We want to defend Ukraine’s borders (sovereignty) but not our own?
France and Germany are a joke. They have been talking with Russia for 8 years in the Normandy format, and still cannot get Putin to admit to being part of the conflict in southeastern Ukraine.
Yet they just stopped a war. Joe was taking the US on a crash course to a nuclear war and Europe saw it and stopped it. Joe would allow a nuclear war just to save face. He would kill millions just to show he was tough. More like an idiot who should have never been in charge of anything.
In March 2018, Trump approved the $47 million sale of 210 Javelin anti-tank missiles and 37 launchers to Ukraine. The missiles were the first lethal military assistance provided to Ukraine by the United States in its fight against Russian-supported separatists in eastern Ukraine since that fighting began in 2014
It is so too, too bad we cannot vomit on Biden and Kameltoes who are totally disregarding the danger they are putting Europe, the USA but not Canada (who is probably pretty marxist by now) and the rest of the world. Sociopaths are the only people I know who will do such an act with blithful abandon.
Exactly how did France and Germany stop the war? By promising to talk to Putin? Everyone is willing to talk.
Germany’s sending ‘helmets’ to help that SOB Biden protect Ukraine’s borders... that’s giving the finger to Biden.
No need for the “P” hat. The picture is just fine all by itself. That is definitely a picture worth a thousand words.
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