Biden’s Weakness
As I wrote yesterday, Russia smells weakness wafting from the White House, and Vladimir Putin thinks he sees an opening to install a Kremlin-friendly government in Ukraine without having to face much in the way of consequences. Russia has sent over 100,000 troops to the Ukrainian border, and has 140 warships and over 50 aircraft taking part in “naval exercises.” But President Biden held a conference call with NATO leaders, and he claims they’re in “total unanimity” about blocking Russian aggression.
What Does “Total Unanimity” Look Like?
Here’s my question: are they also in total unanimity about how to do that? Or do they just unanimously agree that the U.S. will do most of the heavy lifting to protect Europe?
This potential war could have been avoided if we had strong leadership in the White House. That alone would’ve been deterrent enough.
Biden has put 8,500 U.S. troops on “heightened alert” that they may be sent to Ukraine to deter Russia, and is reportedly considering sending up to 50,000 troops via the UN. But what is NATO sending? Denmark is sending one frigate and four F-16s to Lithuania. The Netherlands is sending two F-35s to Bulgaria. France is vaguely “ready to send forces” to Romania. Spain is sending some ships and “considering” sending jets to Bulgaria, and so on.
Meanwhile, Germany, which thanks to Biden is dependent on Russia for energy, is actively blocking weapons shipments to Ukraine.
Bumbling Us to the Brink
As the writer Bonchie at Redstate.com reminds us, Trump tried to force NATO members to step up and start providing more money, troops, and resources for their own defense. For that, he was excoriated by the same arrogant “smart diplomacy” crowd that’s now bumbled us to the brink of a military confrontation with Russia — one for which we will apparently be expected to provide most of the equipment and put our brave service members’ lives on the line.
By the way, those of us back home in the U.S. will also be paying dearly for Biden’s weakness and dumb policy decisions, not only by worrying about our loved ones in harm’s way, but also from the risk of Russian retaliatory cyberattacks.
And in the form of even higher oil prices. It’s been little reported, but after coming into office on day one and launching an attack on our domestic oil and gas industries, Biden ramped up the amount of oil the U.S. buys from Russia. As Nick Arama at Redstate.com reports, in May of 2021, Russian oil imports were increased by 23% to 844,000 barrels a day, or 10% of total oil imports for the month. Only Canada supplies us with more imported oil than Russia.
So if you thought it was crazy that we’ve allowed ourselves to become dependent on China for our medicines, what would you call being dependent for oil on a country that you’re threatening to go to war with?
An Absence of Leadership
This potential war could have been avoided if we had strong leadership in the White House. That alone would’ve been deterrent enough. Failing that, the President should at least be strong enough to tell NATO leaders that while they have our support, they need to fight their own battles to protect Europe. It’s odd that even as liberals are getting rid of cops in American cities, they still think it’s our duty to be the policeman to the world.
Mike Huckabee is the former governor of Arkansas and longtime conservative commentator on issues in culture and current events. A New York Times best-selling author, he hosts the weekly talk show Huckabee on TBN.
Originally published at MikeHuckabee.com. Reprinted with permission.
