Despite making all the right noises during his recent meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, Grandpa Joe Biden had apparently not read my last column in the Kyiv Post. He therefore missed the chance to provoke, with a single phrase, a major political crisis within the bunkers of the Kremlin.
On Sept. 22 I informed my readers that the Kursk incursion had garnered President Vladimir Putin a new, potentially much more hazardous enemy in the form of his own former base of support - the Z-patriot milblogging community. This group has not condemned Putin for starting his illicit war but for, in their view, beginning to lose it. They believe Putin is allowing the West to cross every one of his so-called red lines with impunity.
Whispers are growing louder within this community that “the Tsar is not authentic!” -accusations that should terrify any dictator. Putin has tried to tamp down these accusations with daily threats against NATO nations if they decide to make good on a promise to remove one of their more absurd red lines - the one preventing Ukraine from using Western weapons to conduct strikes on Russia's interior.
If Biden had told Zelensky when they met that NATO intended to do just that, Putin would have been forced to seriously disillusion his most ardent followers yet again as they finally realized that their president's constant rattling of the nuclear saber has been nothing more than a bluff. But the overly cautious Biden decided to hold off until after the election - a serious mistake as he has lost (or at the very least postponed) the chance to cripple the Putin regime from within.
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On the other hand, the administration made an adroit move in allowing the Democratic nominee for president, Vice-President Kamala Harris, to take the lead on the Russia-Ukraine war. Harris and Zelensky summarized the Ukrainian president's two-day visit to Washington at a joint press-conference, and she stepped into her new role in brilliant fashion:
“I've been proud to stand with Ukraine. I will continue to stand with Ukraine. And I will work to ensure Ukraine prevails in this war.
“The American people know full well the meaning of freedom, of independence, and the importance of the rule of law. These ideals are central to who we are as Americans. Each one of these principles is at stake in Ukraine. And that is why Ukraine's fight matters to the people of America. And some of the most important moments in our history have come when we stood up to aggressors like Putin, just as we must today.”
I looked at my television screen in amazement as our current Madam Vice-President uttered these words. I got the impression that Zelensky experienced a very similar emotion as he stood next to her on stage. Just where had this Churchillian style of speaking come from? And why had no American thought to say that which is truly obvious and yet equally profound:
The Russia-Ukraine war is likely to be one of the most pivotal events in American history. It is not merely a territorial dispute somewhere in Eastern Europe but something that will define us as Americans.
Kamala Harris's short speech revealed a great deal. We now know she has her own team of advisers and her own speechwriters. Their positions on Ukraine have nothing in common with some of the treasonous ideas put forth by the CIA’s William Burns and the National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan that have had such an influence on Biden.
Harris and her team have decided to make Ukraine a focus of their election campaign. They are doing this because this war truly is one of the most fundamental moments in history, and not just US history. It's also good politics when we consider her rival for the presidency. This former Los Angeles prosecutor went on to articulate what the career felon, Donald Trump, wants to do when it comes to Ukraine, saying:
“However, in candor, I share with you, Mr. President, there are some in my country who would instead force Ukraine to give up large parts of its sovereign territory, who would demand that Ukraine accept neutrality. These proposals are the same as those of Putin. And let us be clear, they are not proposals for peace. Instead, they are proposals for surrender, which is dangerous and unacceptable.”
The views expressed in this opinion article are the author’s and not necessarily those of Kyiv Post.
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