The status of current global affairs looks pretty grim. Russia appears ready to invade its neighbor Ukraine, potentially bringing about the worst European military conflict since World War II.
Communist China’s provocative bullying of Taiwan, including most recently unprecedented incursions of warplanes into Taiwanese airspace, has all the markings of a prelude to invasion. The mullahs in Iran seem bound and determined to develop nuclear weapons, and thus destabilize an already unstable Middle East. And it’s not bad enough that rogue state North Korea already has nuclear weapons, but they may soon be able to put them on hypersonic, unstoppable missiles, that even we don’t have.
Unfortunately, the Biden administration made all of this worse by its boneheaded decision to chaotically withdraw from Afghanistan, and send a message loudly and clearly to the world’s worst actors, that this administration is weak, and can be pushed around with impunity. We’re now reaping what Joe Biden has sown.
As for the Russia/Ukraine flashpoint, Biden’s irresponsible fingerprints are all over it. One of his very first acts after being sworn in as president was to cancel the Keystone XL pipeline from Canada into the United States. This pipeline was an important part of American strategy towards energy independence, and less dependence on unreliable sources like Russia, Venezuela, and the Middle East. And while Biden cut off supply from a US-friendly Canada, he gave the green light to the Nord Stream II pipeline from Russia into Germany.
Stupid, stupid, stupid. Germany and much of Western Europe is becoming far too dependent on Russian energy, as they continue their mad rush to address CLIMATE CHANGE. Germany, for example, has shut down all their nuclear power plants, which arguably are about the lowest carbon emitters there are. But mindless opposition to nuclear energy has been a part of lefty ideology since Bernie Sanders was honeymooning in Moscow. That’s why Germany, supposedly a key NATO player, has been a hindrance to standing up to Russia, rather than a champion. Not only have they refused to help arm Ukraine, but they’ve dissuaded other countries from doing so.
So is Putin going to invade Ukraine? As a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, I’ve attended a number of top-secret classified briefings, and by law, I cannot disclose any of the military particulars. But suffice it to say, I am very concerned.
In my opinion, this administration, and previous administrations for that matter, have been too slow in providing lethal weaponry to the Ukrainians, so they could adequately defend themselves against Russian aggression. And I believe that much tougher sanctions should have been imposed on Russia, as soon as there were any signs that they were building up forces on Ukraine’s border, and that was months and months ago.
At this point, rushing sophisticated weapons to the Ukrainians, and considering the time it would take to train their military personnel to use them, might very well mean they just end up in Russian hands.
As for the sanctions, the most devastatingly effective sanction would be completely cutting off Russia from our banking system and the dollar, as well as terminating the Nord Stream II pipeline, and we should let them know unequivocally that these sanctions will occur immediately if they invade.
Will these things deter Putin? No one knows for sure, but I would act now.