HomeGaffe or not, Biden's remark reflected accurate instincts: "Mr. Putin must go"

Gaffe or not, Biden’s remark reflected accurate instincts: “Mr. Putin must go”

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US president Joe Biden may be a negative for some, but he remembers the Cold War

It is already the sixth week of Russia’s all-out assault on Ukraine. In the last few days, Vladimir Putin has changed his tone on his country’s objectives.

There must always be concrete evidence of a Russian retreat or shift in attitude, given how often the Kremlin lies about everything.

Nonetheless, it appears that battlefield observations have been confirmed: the Russian army has been foiled in its principal objectives, and will now attempt to salvage a disastrous military endeavor through effective talks, writes Garry Kasparov chairman of the Renew Democracy Initiative in his article for WSJ.

“If your opponent offers you a draw, try to work out why he thinks he’s worse off,” former world championship challenger Nigel Short once stated about peace offerings.

It would also match Mr. Putin’s normal strategy of seizing territory by force and then securing his gains by diplomacy. Whether it’s a feint or a falsehood, Ukraine and its allies must continue to put pressure on Russia. Mr. Putin’s gutted ruins in Aleppo and Grozny have now been replicated in Kharkiv and Mariupol. The United States and other members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization are still holding back the weaponry Ukraine needs to stop long-range artillery, missile strikes, and aerial bombing.

That should be the focus of attention, not the debate about President Biden’s statement that Mr. Putin “cannot remain in power.” No free-world leader should be afraid to say out loud that the world would be a vastly better place if Mr. Putin were no longer in power in Russia, and that saying is one method to help make that happen. The greatest approach to undermining Mr. Putin’s popularity among elites, military commanders, and ordinary Russians is to make it apparent that Russia will be a pariah until he is gone.

The problem, according to the author, arose when the White House attempted to retract the comment, claiming that it was an ad lib that did not reflect US policy on “regime change” in Russia.

“This retreat added fuel to my concerns about an internal split in the White House between those who sense the opportunity to toss Mr. Putin into the dust bin of history and those who are afraid of any change in the status quo and who would rather deal with the devil they know,” says the author.

The latter would be a rerun of President George H.W. Bush’s infamous “Chicken Kyiv” speech, which was purportedly written by Condoleezza Rice and warned Ukraine against rushing to freedom from the Soviet Union in 1991. Ukraine defied the advise and declared independence three weeks later. The Soviet Union fell apart in a matter of months.

The new 2022 plan calls for keeping Mr. Putin at the bargaining table for the Iran nuclear deal and not providing Ukraine with the jets and other offensive weaponry it requires to win the war.

“Everything I hear from other NATO members is that the U.S. has become the obstacle, and an explanation is required. Allowing Mr. Putin to keep an inch of Ukrainian soil after bombing civilians should be unimaginable.”

According to the author, “Conceding large areas of eastern Ukraine to the invader in exchange for a cease-fire would only give Mr. Putin time to consolidate and rearm for next time—and there will always be a next time. No peace deal should weaken the strong sanctions that have finally arrived, eight years late.”

The loss of moral clarity offered by an obvious and present evil was the sole disadvantage of the end of the Cold War. Even Ronald Reagan’s detractors, with the exception of a few fellow travelers and useful idiots, couldn’t deny that his designation of the Soviet Union as “an evil empire” in a 1983 address was accurate, as surprising as it was to hear a politician speak so simply in moral terms.

“It was also a tonic for those of us inside the Soviet Union to hear what we knew to be true said aloud by the leader of the free world.”

Mr. Biden’s age may be viewed as a disadvantage by some, but he is familiar with the Cold War. Whether it was a gaffe or not, his remark represented sound judgment: “Mr. Putin must go”. However, the conflict in Ukraine serves as a diversion from his stumbling domestic agenda. It’s difficult to discuss economic and social issues in the United States while a real war dominates the news every night.

So, who is in charge of Ukraine in Washington? If the Biden administration wants Ukraine to succeed, someone in the White House should say so and do all in their power to make it happen.

“If the U.S. is offering deals to Mr. Putin or pressuring Ukraine to accept anything less than sovereignty over 100% of its territory, we should know. Tactical ambiguity can be useful, but a lack of strategic and moral unity and consistency leads to catastrophe.”

“Mr. Putin’s Russia is a bankrupt gas station run by a mafia that prefers to spend its time and money in London and New York. Offering any carrots to these war criminals would set the stage for a return to the appeasement and corruption that brought us to this deadly phase. It would also shake the foundation of collective defense in the region.”

For better or worse, the outcome in Ukraine will establish a new world order. Taiwan and China are keeping a careful eye on the situation. After the free world’s outpouring of solidarity for Ukraine, Xi Jinping’s natural relationship with his fellow dictator is becoming less appealing. The United States can either reclaim its place as the world’s leader in the free world, or it can lead from behind as democracy continues to lose ground.

“The West fell asleep when the Cold War ended. Ukrainians are sacrificing everything to shake President Biden, the White House and the world awake,” the author ends.

Image Credit: Getty

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