Is Joe Biden crazy as a fox or just crazy?
This is the question that is being asked around the world after the president said last week that the United States would respond militarily if China invades Taiwan.
The shocking comment in Tokyo came just two months after Biden, on a visit to Poland, insisted that Vladimir Putin “cannot remain in power” due to Russia’s brutal invasion of Ukraine.
The two bombs sent the White House to damage control of DEFCON, as aides made “clarifications” to insist there was no change in long-standing policies. They said the United States was still only committed to selling Taiwanese military equipment to defend itself, and said Biden was definitely not talking about “regime change” in Russia.
In both cases, their attempts were in vain, the president said what he said clearly. This sparked a series of accusations that unelected personnel were subverting the commander-in-chief and gave new impetus to questions about whether Biden actually runs the White House.
Given the numerous walks, cleanups, and clarifications during Biden’s brief era, these two incidents would be quite routine, and almost comical, except for the serious issues and the additional statements of the president himself.
For example, Tokyo’s statements were the third time since taking office that Biden said essentially the same thing about Taiwan’s military defense. Either he means it, or he has lost it.
Chinese President Xi Jinping delivers a video speech at the opening session of the BRICS Foreign Ministers’ Meeting on May 19, 2022. Li Xueren / Xinhua / Sipa USA
And on Russia, Biden later insisted that he wanted to say what he said about Putin, with this warning: “I am not walking backwards … I want to make it clear, I was not then, nor am I now, articulating a change of I was expressing the moral outrage I feel: I do not apologize for my personal feelings. ”
More than a feeling
Presidents are certainly entitled to their feelings, but they are supposed to reflect official policies, not conflict with them, as is the case here.
Unfortunately, it seems that our main opponents also have their personal feelings, and Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping expressed theirs in a forceful way. They conducted a joint military exercise where nuclear-powered bombers flew over the Sea of Japan while Biden was in Tokyo meeting with leaders from Australia, India and Japan. Its theme: counteracting China’s aggressive expansionism.
Military personnel prepare equipment for a joint military drill of the Chinese and Russian armies on August 5, 2021.CHINE NOUVELLE / SIPA / Shutterstock
In his book The Sleepwalkers, author Christopher Clark masterfully describes how World War I began even though no European leader wanted a war or thought it would happen. As the title suggests, each was engulfed in a false sense of security that produced one of the greatest calamities in history.
Are we about to enter World War III? No one says they want it, but a global conflict between the great powers is closer than ever since the Cuban Missile Crisis in October 1962.
Falconry and threats are commonplace, and nations, from Japan to Europe, are rapidly increasing their military spending.
Just considering the possibility is distressing, especially on Memorial Day weekend, but one cannot escape the concern now that the idea of nuclear war is a fairly common topic in the media and in international organizations. Putin has repeatedly stepped on his nuclear weapons, including putting his forces on high alert, as the West has rushed to help Ukraine. There is widespread speculation that one would not hesitate to use one if one feels cornered.
A new axis of evil
Similarly, China is rapidly expanding its nuclear reserves and has warned that the US will pay an “unbearable price” if it helps Taiwan militarily. Last summer, a video from the Chinese Communist Party was more explicit, warning Japan of a “large-scale war” with nuclear weapons if Japan interferes with Taiwan’s control of China.
Russia and China are clearly forming a new axis of evil, but Biden’s role is surprisingly provocative. While it is breaking with the habit of recent Democratic presidents of presenting a weak face to the world, there is a difference between securing peace by force and making a mistake at random in a major conflict with free conversation.
China’s nuclear-powered intercontinental ballistic missiles are seen during a military parade in Tiananmen Square in Beijing in 2019. GREG BAKER / AFP via Getty Images
Some advocates of Biden argue that it is deliberately creating “strategic ambiguity” about its intentions to keep China and Russia guessing, but at least there is the same possibility that its far-reaching script is a testament to the mental decline we see elsewhere. their behavior.
Others insist the ambiguity is valuable even though Biden did not want to say what he said about Putin and Taiwan. This makes no sense because Biden’s belligerent words could lead to an accidental Armageddon if Russia and China assume that the United States is preparing for war when it is not.
Biden’s recent aggression also contrasts with the positions he held recently. Despite months of Russian accumulation on the Ukrainian border, he did nothing but talk until the actual invasion in February. Even then, he was content with sanctions for wrist blows, openly afraid to provoke Putin.
After European leaders, embarrassed by the European public, began sending military and humanitarian aid, Biden vetoed a plan for Poland to send MiG fighters to Ukraine, saying it would be “climbing”.
A hawk’s turn
More recently, he changed his stance and did everything, sending an endless stream of billions of dollars and top-notch military equipment. And while he promised there would never be American boots on the ground, it is now rumored that he will send special forces to monitor the reopened embassy in Kyiv, a task normally assigned to Marines.
If these troops are attacked, U.S. forces could be fighting Russian forces quickly, the same situation Biden said for months should have been avoided.
Russian President Vladimir Putin congratulates military and civilian personnel and border guards on Border Guard Day on May 28. MIKHAIL METZEL / Sputnik / AFP via Getty Images
The president is following a similar trend in China. In a campaign in 2019, he mocked Donald Trump’s tough stance, saying, “Will China eat our lunch? Come on man. I mean, you know, they’re not bad.”
Now, however, it seems that we are ready to enter the war for Taiwan. I say this apparently because Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s main address on China last Thursday was more muscular than muscular.
So maybe our policy in China is to speak out loud and carry a cane.
Growing global tensions and doubts about the president’s ability to deal with them are reminiscent of Robert Gates’ infamous statement that Biden “has been wrong on almost every major foreign policy and national security issue for the past four decades.”
Gates made the poignant comment in a 2014 memoir and last year cited Biden’s chaotic and failed withdrawal from Afghanistan as current evidence.
This story, along with the rampant domestic disasters that define the term Biden, means that we are witnessing it at a later stage in life in a larger job making bigger and more dangerous mistakes.
Finally, it is fair, but not very comforting, to recall Barack Obama’s warning about his former vice president: “Don’t underestimate Joe’s ability to spoil things.”