Has Biden painted his way into a corner on Ukraine?
Global calls for diplomacy and de-escalation.
Cold War is turning hotter, as we knew it would. Russia is unrelenting in its demand that NATO stay away from its borders. Biden and Blinken, facing mounting Republican pressure to “show strength” may have painted the US into a corner and don’t seem to know the way out. Hopefully, an emerging (global) anti-war movement will help them figure it out.
Veteran anti-war activist and CODEPINK co-founder, Medea Benjamin, asks a good question? Where is the Squad?
It’s sad to say, the same could also be asked of the entire Democratic Party and organized labor as well.
“There’s no military solution out of the Ukraine crisis,” warns Rep. Barbara Lee (D-California). She wants Biden to “stop posing” and focus on diplomacy.
You can always count on Lee to lead the way when it comes to speaking out against war though she’s often a voice in the congressional wilderness until thousands of bodybags start shipping home.
In 2001 she was the only House member to vote against the War Powers Act which Bush used to launch his “eternal war on terrorism.” She argued then, that the ACT, as written, granted the president overly broad powers to wage war at a time when the facts regarding the situation were not yet clear. She warned her colleagues to be “careful not to embark on an open-ended war with neither an exit strategy nor a focused target.”
Her warning more than two decades ago rings as true today as it did then. Lee, along with Progressive Caucus chair Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash) worries that US officials are sending messages that could undermine prospects for a peaceful resolution to the crisis.
“We have significant concerns that new troop deployments, sweeping and indiscriminate sanctions, and a flood of hundreds of millions of dollars in lethal weapons will only raise tensions and increase the chance of miscalculation,” said Jayapal and Lee in a statement issued Wednesday.
Send lawyers, meds, and helmets…
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky continues to call for de-escalation and a diplomatic resolution to the big-power conflict, even as the US continues to pour tons of “lethal aid” into his country and thousand of troops in neighboring countries.
As one keen observer pointed out Ukrainians might make better use of tunnel-digging tools, medicine, and an immigrant evacuation plan, rather than arms and munitions once the NATO and Russian missiles start flying.
“We don’t have any misunderstanding with the president, but I just deeply understand what is going on in my country, just as he understands what is going on in his country.” The drumbeats of war, he added, could contribute to domestic instability and economic troubles that would heighten the risk posed by Russia.
Zelensky, who’s pro-NATO, also took issue with decisions by the US and Britain to withdraw diplomatic staff from Ukraine, which he suggested set an unduly alarming tone. “I think it was a mistake,” he said, adding that “under these circumstances, everyone is essential.”
“I don’t think we have the Titanic here,” he said.
Germans aren’t happy campers
Germany, which has left its own wretched trail of European death and destruction, has been a wavering partner in Biden’s Ukraine adventure. Germany’s total dependence on Russian gas has left Europe short of options to sanction Moscow if war breaks out—and itself vulnerable should Russia stop gas exports to the West.
Berlin has refused to provide weapons to Ukraine, claiming it would only inflame the conflict, but offered on Wednesday to send 5,000 helmets instead. No joke.
You don’t need a weatherman…
I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry, or even believe this account by a senior Ukrainian official to CNN’s Matthew Chance on the phone call between Biden and Zelensky.
“A Russian invasion in February is now virtually certain once the ground freezes. . . . Kyiv could be ‘sacked, Russian forces may attempt to occupy it, ‘prepare for impact,’ Biden said, according to this official.”
What made me laugh was the image of Biden, aviator glasses on, holding forth, not only on Kyiv weather, but Russian war tactics to a Ukrainian who was born and raised there, and whose grandfather served in the Red Army. Biden was hectoring as if he knew exactly when and how the Russian invasion will take place based on the weather report. I’m sure Zelensky, a former comedian himself, didn’t snicker but listened attentively and politely.
He might do better with a call from Al Roker.