Talk about backing into a buzz saw, Biden’s Secretary of State – realizing Ukraine is gradually losing to Russia, draining US defense, adding half a trillion in debt to taxpayers, has an idea. He thinks, this July, Ukraine should be sucked into NATO – triggering Article 5, putting US troops in a sudden hot war with Russia, boots on the ground, nuclear exchange possible. Dumb, weird, crazy.
The history of Biden’s – and Blinken’s – obsession with Ukraine goes back to 2014 when Biden made a series of errors, which he continues to make bigger and bigger today.
First, he pushed – with Obama’s consent – to get Ukraine to break from Russia, then he helped flip a neutral Ukrainian government and pushed for Ukraine to be part of NATO, knowing this would infuriate the Russians, as Ukraine and Crimea go back a thousand years with Russia.
If this was premature, awkward, and generally unwise, it was also not what many Ukrainians were thinking. This seemed secondary, as Obama and Biden wanted to notch Ukraine as a Western ally, satisfy the Europeans, and lock Russia out, even before many Ukrainians were ready for that.
Second, Biden added fuel to this unnecessary fire by visiting Ukraine seven times, including in the spring of 2014, when he brought his son Hunter, who inked a multi-million dollar deal for nothing, except ties to his father. Rather than demonstrate corruption is wrong, Biden showed them how.
Third, two years later, after the Bidens had made more father-son fishing trips to Ukraine, his son was raking in millions for nothing, except introducing people for favors to his father, who met them.
Fourth, come March 2016, the elder Biden realized “Burisma,” a Ukrainian energy company for whom his son worked, was under investigation for crimes by a prosecutor in Ukraine, Viktor Shokin.
In front of the Council on Foreign Relations, in a stunning act of stupidity, Biden bragged how tough he was, and said he had threatened the prosecutor to drop the investigation or lose a billion dollars. In short, “The Big Guy” leveraged your tax dollars to put money in his son’s pockets.
Whatever other motives you might offer, like a “high integrity Biden” hoping for a cleaner Ukraine, they pale in comparison to this one, which stands regardless. The investigation was dropped, money got delivered, and Biden’s son continued to profit handsomely, for nothing.
Fifth comes the period in which Ukraine regains some sense of self, relations with Russia improve, and other parts of the world hold international attention. Then suddenly, Biden is back, president.
As Russia senses Biden is weak, they push him. Russia prepares to intimidate Ukraine into backing away from the West in 2021, right up to January 2022, when Joe Biden declares an invasion possible, and offers “It’s one thing if it’s a small incursion …” Putin moved on that green light.
With a track record of failed policies toward Ukraine, always more historically tied to Russia than the West, Biden just continued blundering. He pushes endless aid, as mid-war corruption abounds.
He pushes this non-NATO conflict over everything, China, Iran, other adversaries, US border. Today, 18 times as many illegals have entered the US under Biden than Russians entered Ukraine.
With his belligerent bully pulpit, pretending all depends on this non-NATO ally, Biden has spent hundreds of billions, eroded US inventory on key military assets, and then rejected peace overtures.
Now, facing horrific poll numbers, Mr. Biden seems intent on dragging the US into an awful, full-blown, potentially existential war with Russia, a nuclear-armed, saber-rattling, risk-taking country – and we have no ballistic missile defense, iron dome, or space-based “strategic defense initiative.”
What is he doing? Answer: He does not know, just covering his tracks. He and Blinken – coauthors of the worst military withdrawal in American history, 100,000 allies left to die at Taliban hands – are now blathering on about how Ukraine must quickly be made part of NATO.
Bull, to what end? Just another unforced error, big war over imperfect peace, trillions more in debt for a war no one wants. Why? Political election issues, personal pride, more money for the family, what?
For what reason should we entertain – an idea the Europeans love, as are NATO – the idea of Ukraine coming into NATO in July, trigger of Article 5, instant war, boots on the ground, hot war?
Arguments collapse into a heap of Biden failures. We do not need more cover, another big war, Americans dying for what is left of another Biden failure, burned out, half-Russian, corrupt regime.
Madness does not get better with more madness, incompetence with more folly, and wars that need not be fought should not be. Ukraine does not need NATO membership. That error would mean hot war, boots on the ground. Biden has lost it. Pulling Ukraine into NATO is plain nuts. Dumb, weird, crazy.
Robert Charles is a former Assistant Secretary of State under Colin Powell, former Reagan and Bush 41 White House staffer, attorney, and naval intelligence officer (USNR). He wrote “Narcotics and Terrorism” (2003), “Eagles and Evergreens” (2018), and is National Spokesman for AMAC.
