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LINK Biden Just Destroyed Putin’s Last Hope

Biden Just Destroyed Putin’s Last Hope
Opinion by Eliot A. Cohen • Yesterday 9:29 AM

The long-range missiles matter. So do the super-accurate artillery shells, the surface-to-air missiles, and the winter weather gear; the training in the English countryside or the muddy Grafenwöhr maneuver grounds; and the intelligence provided from the eyes in space and the ears on airplanes that circle outside the battle zone.

President Joe Biden’s visit to Kyiv matters just as much as any of these.

Other heads of government preceded him, earning deserved credit. But it is an altogether different thing when the president of the United States—who is, indeed, the leader of the Free World—shows up. His words mattered. He pledged “our unwavering and unflagging commitment to Ukraine’s democracy, sovereignty, and territorial integrity.” And even more important, that the United States will stand with Ukraine “as long as it takes.”

Symbols matter: a Kennedy or a Reagan at the Berlin Wall, a Churchill with a cigar and a bowler, for that matter a green-clad Zelensky growling, “I need ammunition, not a ride.” Simply by taking the hazardous trip to Kyiv, Biden made a strategic move of cardinal importance.

While the president clearly intended to bolster the confidence of Ukraine, and the commitment of ambivalent Europeans and neo-isolationist Americans, his real audiences lay elsewhere, as his remarks about Western strength indicated. Russia has cycled through a series of theories of victory in Ukraine—that Kyiv’s leaders would flee, that Ukraine’s population would not fight, that its army would be crumpled up by a sudden blitz or by grinding assaults. It has been reduced to one last hope: that Vladimir Putin’s will is stronger than Joe Biden’s. And Biden just said, by deed as well as word, “Oh no it’s not.”

This is a gut punch to Russia’s leader. The Russians received word of the trip, we are informed—and presumably the threat, stated or implied, that they would get a violent and overwhelming response if they attempted to interfere with it. For a leader obsessed with strength, like Putin, that is a blow. His own people will quietly or openly ask, “Why could we not prevent this?” And the answer, unstated, will have to be, “Because we were afraid.”

The visual contrast between an American president with his signature aviator sunglasses walking in sunny downtown Kyiv with the pugnacious and eloquent president of Ukraine and a Russian president who has yet to visit the war zone is also striking. Not to mention the difference between an American president who mingles with others, shaking hands, hugging and slapping backs, and a Russian president who keeps his subordinates at a physical distance, and who has to be surrounded by flunkies and actors when he supposedly meets with normal people. No belligerent words from the Kremlin will change those visual images, which will be seen in Russia as well as around the world.

This was not a stunt, but rather an act of statesmanship. Biden’s visit comes at a moment when much hangs in the balance. The Chinese have begun making noises about arming Russia, according to the United States government, which would be a very great change in this war. The Western allies, including the democracies of Asia, have begun mobilizing their military industries. The Russian offensives that were supposed to produce large gains timed to the anniversary of the invasion have instead carpeted the Donbas with the bodies of thousands of men who learned too late that, as one French World War I general put it, “fire kills.” And meanwhile, Ukraine is building up a force to use in its own counteroffensive.

The Russia-Ukraine war is not merely a humanitarian calamity, a monstrous collection of crimes against humanity, a gross violation of solemn agreements and international law. It is also a watershed, in which much will be determined about the future of the international system. It could lead to a very dark place, not different in kind from that of the 1930s and 1940s, if the dictators get their way. But if the liberal democracies unite and display the resolve, enterprise, and military capacity that they have shown before, that outcome can still be avoided.

To that end, nothing matters more than American leadership, the recovery of the prestige and weight that have been wasted or diffused over the past few decades. We are not near the conclusion of this war, and there is much of a tangible nature that needs to be done to bring the conflict closer to its end. Words and gestures are critical, but only when accompanied by deeds. But for now, by taking a bold step, President Biden has made the future for Ukraine, for Europe, and for the cause of freedom under the law a great deal brighter.

HippieChick58 9 Feb 21
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7 comments

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As long as the US apposes an independent, UN investigation of Nord Stream, I must assume they do not care about international terrorism or environmental disasters and are most likely guilty. The German opposition have called for this independent investigation and vow it will be the end of NATO if the US had a hand in it.
Be just deserts for the US pro-war society. I hope they get isolated and if NATO falls, so will all other US defense deals like AUKUS.
Biden has done nothing to improve anyones future, besides pharma and defense industries of course.

puff Level 8 Feb 23, 2023
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What I simply don't understand is why don't world leaders learn from the mistakes of the past. It is well documented that Germany lost WWI due to having to fight on two fronts. When the U.S entered WWII it happened again even though Hitler welcomed the chance to fight us and again spreading the war to two fronts. Russia was losing to the Germans in WWII and without our help in the Lend Lease program they would have lost. One reason the soviet Union crumbled was because we helped finance the opposition side in Afghanistan and basically bankrupted the USSR. Now, the exact same mistakes, that have been made in the past, are happening again.

That old saying: those that don't study history are doomed to repeat it, and those of us who do study history are doomed to sit hopelessly by while those that don't study history repeat it.

Yeah thanks for Bin Laden. That was nice. Any means to an end aye?

@HippieChick58 Unfortunately, these sorts of things makes one wonder if conspiracy theories really are not true.

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The GQP are a shit-stain on the entire country.

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Wow, some of the finer propaganda I've seen in awhile. Wars aren't won by weapons or PR stunts, and when people start talking about superior willpower or leadership being the key, you know you're listening to pablum for the masses. Granted couldn't get much past Biden as "leader of the free world." In his dreams. Thanks for the chuckle.

As was said . . .

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Pure propaganda. Unbelievable that people could fall for all this BS.

The 2014 coup in Ukraine was backed by the USA, remember the recording of Victoria Nuland, selecting who would become the leaders, and saying "Fuck the EU"?

While the USA complains about Russia's putative illegal annexation of Ukraine, they themselves annexed the WHOLE COUNTRY of UKRAINE. THESE are the irrefutable facts:

From Der Spiegel, November 26, 2009 :
NATO's Eastward Expansion: Did the West Break Its Promise to Moscow?
What the US secretary of state said on Feb. 9, 1990 in the magnificent St. Catherine's Hall at the Kremlin is beyond dispute. There would be, in Baker's words, "no extension of NATO's jurisdiction for forces of NATO one inch to the east," provided the Soviets agreed to the NATO membership of a unified Germany. Moscow would think about it, Gorbachev said, but added: "any extension of the zone of NATO is unacceptable."
[spiegel.de]

Obama admitted his role in the US-supported coup in Ukraine. (First video link below).
Victoria Nuland, Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs at the United States Department of State, admits in the second video that the USA supported the Ukrainian coup with 5 billion dollars. Note the Chevron symbol in the background of the video. John McCain (Senator Lovewar himself) and Victoria Nuland were in Ukraine in December 2013 amid the mass anti-government protests. (The third video is of John McCain in Ukraine addressing protesters.) During the visit, McCain met with Ukrainian opposition leaders in the country’s capital of Kiev, voicing his support for the protests, adding that he saw Ukraine’s future with Europe.
Obama admits the US-sponsored coup:

Victoria Nuland . . . 5 Billion recently, with Chevron symbol behind her
John McCain in Ukraine addressing protesters
John McCain and Lindsey Graham in Ukraine, encouraging Ukrainian soldiers to take Donesk, contrary to the Minsk Agreements
Biden's youngest son, Hunter Biden was hired to the board of Burisma Holdings, Ukraine’s largest private gas producer. The proxy Ukraine war is all about profit. The Eastern part of Ukraine is the major oil and gas producing region of Ukraine accounting for approximately 90 per cent of Ukrainian production and according to EIA (The American Energy Information Administration) may have 42 tcf (trillion cubic feet) of shale gas resources technically recoverable from 197 tcf of risked shale gas in place.

Donbass after the US-sponsored coup: Anne-Laure Bonnel

German ex-Chancellor Angela Merkel admits that they were lying about the Minsk Agreements.
[english.almayadeen.net]

Three major corporations bought millions of acres of land in Ukraine immediately after the 2014 US-sponsored coup . . . . no planning there at all, right?
[oaklandinstitute.org]
This is the butt naked clown the USA government has such a hard on for, that they are sending Billions of our tax dollars to. .

How come you don't get the Russian troll BS like I do? Good post with links. Come on warmonger Democrats, where's your rebuttal?
😉

@puff Hell, I like it when they try that Russian troll crap . . . . I have the perfect response for that. Long time ago one person came at me with that accusation . . . . so my response . . . . "Well, I could deny that I am a Russian troll, but what would be the point? So maybe I AM a Russian troll . . . . and my favorite pastime is trolling for trolls, and look who fell into my trap!" End of story, never heard from the fucker again!

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I support Biden’s support of Ukraine as killing Russians is a good investment as they have been involved in killing Americans ever since the end of world war 2 dispite us giving them billions in aid during that war but not on much of anything else and I will never vote for any democrat. I do believe they need to be open to negotiations tho as Russia is a nuclear power and we need to avoid world war 3.

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