Biden Wants the War in Ukraine. Convince Me Otherwise.

 

There’s an interesting piece on National Review today. I have repeatedly argued on Ricochet that Mr. Biden is responsible for, and set up, the Ukraine war.

  1. Mr. Putin invaded former Soviet Socialist Republics under Mssrs. Clinton, W., and Obama, but not during Mr. Trump’s term.
  2. Mr. Biden’s destruction of American energy production enriched Mr. Putin and improved his international leverage.
  3. Mr. Biden’s fecklessness in Afghanistan proved us a paper tiger.
  4. Mr. Biden said out loud to an international audience that we would not respond to “a limited incursion” in Ukraine. I heard it myself.

Mr. Zubrin takes my analysis further and shows how post-invasion US policy has benefited Russia while giving Mr. Biden cover.

So, I say it again.  Mr. Biden wanted this war, likely to cover up his crimes in Ukraine, and he has taken every possible action to allow it to happen and to prevent a Ukrainian victory. Every drop of blood shed in Ukraine is on his hands.

Talk me out of it.

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  1. DonG (CAGW is a Hoax) Coolidge
    DonG (CAGW is a Hoax)
    @DonG

    MDHahn (View Comment):
    Again, I have lots of criticisms of Biden’s foreign policy and think that we should have given more aid to Ukraine earlier and imposed sanctions on Russia earlier. But I think it’s ridiculous to say that he wants the war. To what end? How does Biden benefit from this war?

    Once Ukraine cut off the water supply to Crimea, the only paths were war or settlement.  Nobody was working on a settlement. 

    • #31
  2. Zafar Member
    Zafar
    @Zafar

    DonG (CAGW is a Hoax) (View Comment):

    MDHahn (View Comment):
    Again, I have lots of criticisms of Biden’s foreign policy and think that we should have given more aid to Ukraine earlier and imposed sanctions on Russia earlier. But I think it’s ridiculous to say that he wants the war. To what end? How does Biden benefit from this war?

    Once Ukraine cut off the water supply to Crimea, the only paths were war or settlement. Nobody was working on a settlement.

    Biden gets to be a war president. Which might help him at the polls.  Look what happened to Bush’s popularity immediately after 9/11. 

    • #32
  3. James Lileks Contributor
    James Lileks
    @jameslileks

    Joe Biden: basement-dwelling confused old pawn who gets lost on stage and fumbles through TelePrompter speeches

    Also Joe Biden: Machiavellian statecraft architect

    Through arrogance, indifference, and incompetence, the Administration created a set of conditions that emboldened Putin to do what he wanted to do. Also, the idea that Biden did this to keep his Cries from coming to light is hilarious.

    Some righties’ view of MSM: We will protect all D politicians to preserve the progressive endeavor

    Also some righties’ view of MSM: If there was Biden involvement in Uke corruption we would have no choice but to cover the stories coming out from OAN and Fox and some well-sourced blogs

    • #33
  4. James Lileks Contributor
    James Lileks
    @jameslileks

    cdor (View Comment):

    The article cited is by Robert Zubrin. I believe he is the same man who had a short stint here at Ricochet. Nearly everything he wrote here was excoriating trash talk against President Trump

    I have to say this (I wish Mr. Zubrin were here to read it) but Russia has attacked its former satellite “colonies” under 3 of the last 4 U.S. Presidents. Trump is the only one of the last 4 Presidents under whose term Russia behaved passively. I wonder why.

    Because he was unpredictabl,  didn’t reflexively nod to the international order that excused Putin’s aggression in the name of “stability” (read: free flow of energy)  and presided over an expansion of the American energy sector that would assist Europe in the long run but would symbolically forestall conversion to “green” options? I mean, it’s possible.

    • #34
  5. James Lileks Contributor
    James Lileks
    @jameslileks

    Unsk (View Comment):
    We are talking now about sending Jets to the Ukraine again and have okey’d Ukraine shelling Crimea with the latest missiles we have given them, a territory which Russia has held for 8 eight years and which considers now  their territory, because of the many Russian Etnics there

    Eight years! Practically forever. When you consider how many Mexican Etnics live in Texas, and how long we’ve had that territory, you wonder if the pro-Russian voices would cheer a Mexican invasion. 

    We are pushing for a nuclear WWIII, but why? Why are Biden and his puppet masters so hell bent on destroying us all. 

    All of the nuclear war rhetoric is coming from one side, and it isn’t the West. 

     

    • #35
  6. Vince Guerra Inactive
    Vince Guerra
    @VinceGuerra

    James Lileks (View Comment):
    All of the nuclear war rhetoric is coming from one side, and it isn’t the West. 

    He didn’t specify nuclear. There are plenty in the West cheering for war, including 99% of Congress, and plenty of people on this site. 

    • #36
  7. Front Seat Cat Member
    Front Seat Cat
    @FrontSeatCat

    MarciN (View Comment):

    It’s amazing that the ridiculous impeachment proceedings against Trump based on his phone call with Zelenskyy, as insane as those proceedings were, didn’t create inadvertently a rich source of information as to what the heck happened between Putin and Joe and Hunter.

     

    They were drumming something up weekly………

    • #37
  8. I Walton Member
    I Walton
    @IWalton

    Agree with the article and most of the comments.  We have a good  question above doubting the assertion;  “So Joe Biden convinced Putin to destroy his military in a long slog of a war?”  Putin may have overestimated Russia’s military capacity and underestimated the Ukraine’s, but he’s safe from Biden and obviously thought it served his interests and it probably still does.  It focuses us on weak Russia rather than powerful and rapidly expanding China, a real, current, dangerous existential threat.   As such it also serves’ Biden’s interests as the Chinese own him.

    • #38
  9. Bishop Wash Member
    Bishop Wash
    @BishopWash

    James Lileks (View Comment):

    Unsk (View Comment):
    We are talking now about sending Jets to the Ukraine again and have okey’d Ukraine shelling Crimea with the latest missiles we have given them, a territory which Russia has held for 8 eight years and which considers now their territory, because of the many Russian Etnics there

    Eight years! Practically forever. When you consider how many Mexican Etnics live in Texas, and how long we’ve had that territory, you wonder if the pro-Russian voices would cheer a Mexican invasion.

    Who are the pro-Russian voices? Those not sufficiently Slava Bandwagon?

    • #39
  10. The Reticulator Member
    The Reticulator
    @TheReticulator

    DonG (CAGW is a Hoax) (View Comment):

    MDHahn (View Comment):
    Again, I have lots of criticisms of Biden’s foreign policy and think that we should have given more aid to Ukraine earlier and imposed sanctions on Russia earlier. But I think it’s ridiculous to say that he wants the war. To what end? How does Biden benefit from this war?

    Once Ukraine cut off the water supply to Crimea, the only paths were war or settlement. Nobody was working on a settlement.

    Obama and Biden were working on a settlement that would have sold Ukraine down the river. I’m not so sure they’re not still doing it. 

    • #40
  11. DrewInWisconsin, Unapologetic Oaf Member
    DrewInWisconsin, Unapologetic Oaf
    @DrewInWisconsin

    Bishop Wash (View Comment):

    Who are the pro-Russian voices? Those not sufficiently Slava Bandwagon?

    Apparently. Unless you’re all gung ho for American involvement in another quagmire, you’re a Putin lover. Neocons are going to try to shame conservatives into World War III.

    The sad thing is, it’ll work.

    #Resist

    • #41
  12. The Reticulator Member
    The Reticulator
    @TheReticulator

    DrewInWisconsin, Unapologetic … (View Comment):
    Apparently. Unless you’re all gung ho for American involvement in another quagmire, you’re a Putin lover.

    I call fake. You need some really special glasses, and maybe recreational drugs, for that to be apparent.

    • #42
  13. Steven Seward Member
    Steven Seward
    @StevenSeward

    MDHahn (View Comment):

    I really just don’t understand this type of thinking. So Joe Biden convinced Putin to destroy his military in a long slog of a war?

    I’m with you on Biden’s incompetence and his disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan. That made the world less safe and certainly gave the impression that the West would not stand up to Putin’s aggression.

    But what should Biden have done? What weapons systems and material should the US provide? Or do you want the Ukrainians to simply surrender and cede a fifth of its land to Russia?

    Again, I have lots of criticisms of Biden’s foreign policy and think that we should have given more aid to Ukraine earlier and imposed sanctions on Russia earlier. But I think it’s ridiculous to say that he wants the war. To what end? How does Biden benefit from this war?

    I agree with Hahn.  The post and some comments assume that Biden is so cunning and astute that he could orchestrate a Russian invasion of Ukraine all by himself.  One commenter even suggested that Biden could have stopped the war all by himself.  This reeks of the “he is playing ten-dimensional chess” theory.  But the guy can’t find his own seat at press conferences so they give him notes to tell him where and when to sit down.

    The fact that there are opinions on this post that vary by 180 degrees (Biden is on Russia’s side vs. Biden has been totally against Russia) shows that people are just throwing ideas up against the wall to see if they will stick.  Biden is certainly an Alzheimer’s addled doddering old fool, and he was never much better than that before the onset of his Dementia.  It is pretty obvious that world leaders know this and Russia took full advantage of it to attack Ukraine during his presidency. 

    Brandon tried desperately to cover for his being asleep at the wheel by giving Ukraine weapons and $40 Billion.  If he was actually rooting for Russia, he never would have signed such a profligate foreign aid package and he never would have let slip the phrase “For God’s sake, this man cannot remain in power.”  That was one of those few times that Biden went off script to angrily vent his true feelings.

    • #43
  14. DrewInWisconsin, Unapologetic Oaf Member
    DrewInWisconsin, Unapologetic Oaf
    @DrewInWisconsin

    The Reticulator (View Comment):

    DrewInWisconsin, Unapologetic … (View Comment):
    Apparently. Unless you’re all gung ho for American involvement in another quagmire, you’re a Putin lover.

    I call fake. You need some really special glasses, and maybe recreational drugs, for that to be apparent.

    Sorry, man. I’ve had that slander thrown at me multiple times here on Ricochet. Stick to your recreational drugs.

    • #44
  15. DrewInWisconsin, Unapologetic Oaf Member
    DrewInWisconsin, Unapologetic Oaf
    @DrewInWisconsin

    Steven Seward (View Comment):
    . . . he never would have let slip the phrase “For God’s sake, this man cannot remain in power.”  That was one of those few times that Biden went off script to angrily vent his true feelings.

    I assumed that was self-referential. In that sense, I agreed with him.

    • #45
  16. Steven Seward Member
    Steven Seward
    @StevenSeward

    DrewInWisconsin, Unapologetic … (View Comment):

    Well, and money. Lots and lots of money. Zelenskyy is demanding a LOT of money from the West. And given Ukraine’s position as the world’s money laundromat, you can see why the oligarchs of the west are eager to comply.

    Nobody knows what’s happening to the weaponry being sent there, and the people who dare to ask quickly become persona non grata. I’m certain much of it is being sold on Europe’s black markets.

    Even NPR has started asking uncomfortable questions.

    I know I’ve given you grief in the past about your opposition to helping Ukraine, but I do agree that the $40 Billion package that Congress and the Pres sent was done haphazardly with little regard for oversight and accountability.  It was typical of the Democrat strategy to “just throw money.”

    • #46
  17. Steven Seward Member
    Steven Seward
    @StevenSeward

    Unsk (View Comment):

    I really just don’t understand this type of thinking. So Joe Biden convinced Putin to destroy his military in a long slog of a war?

    Putin has clearly not destroyed his military. They are fighting the way the Russians have always fought. If he has destroyed his military why is Russia still routing Ukraine / NATO in Ukraine?

    Russia is “routing Ukraine/NATO? ”  This is big news that I must have missed.

    Why is Putin still gobbling up any territory he wants?

    More news that I must have missed.  I thought I saw a gigantic siege of Kyiv with a forty-mile long convoy of tanks in which the Russians went retreating in disgrace.  If he is gobbling up all the territory he wants, why is the vast majority of Ukraine still in Ukrainian hands?

    Russia as a result of this war is perhaps stronger financially and geopolitically than ever in it’s history and Putin’s approval ratings by some sources are close to 80% at home. Don’t be deluded by the Mainstream Media Propaganda.

    Your admonition to not be deluded by mainstream media is quite ironic, since you believe Russian news sources touting Putin’s approval rating.

    • #47
  18. The Reticulator Member
    The Reticulator
    @TheReticulator

    DrewInWisconsin, Unapologetic … (View Comment):

    The Reticulator (View Comment):

    DrewInWisconsin, Unapologetic … (View Comment):
    Apparently. Unless you’re all gung ho for American involvement in another quagmire, you’re a Putin lover.

    I call fake. You need some really special glasses, and maybe recreational drugs, for that to be apparent.

    Sorry, man. I’ve had that slander thrown at me multiple times here on Ricochet. Stick to your recreational drugs.

    That’s your excuse for slandering others?  

    • #48
  19. Steven Seward Member
    Steven Seward
    @StevenSeward

    Zafar (View Comment):

    DonG (CAGW is a Hoax) (View Comment):

    MDHahn (View Comment):
    Again, I have lots of criticisms of Biden’s foreign policy and think that we should have given more aid to Ukraine earlier and imposed sanctions on Russia earlier. But I think it’s ridiculous to say that he wants the war. To what end? How does Biden benefit from this war?

    Once Ukraine cut off the water supply to Crimea, the only paths were war or settlement. Nobody was working on a settlement.

    Biden gets to be a war president. Which might help him at the polls. Look what happened to Bush’s popularity immediately after 9/11.

    Sending money to Ukraine doesn’t qualify Biden as a “War President.”  If that were true, then all presidents would be considered “War Presidents.”

    • #49
  20. Bob Thompson Member
    Bob Thompson
    @BobThompson

    Steven Seward (View Comment):

    MDHahn (View Comment):

    I really just don’t understand this type of thinking. So Joe Biden convinced Putin to destroy his military in a long slog of a war?

    I’m with you on Biden’s incompetence and his disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan. That made the world less safe and certainly gave the impression that the West would not stand up to Putin’s aggression.

    But what should Biden have done? What weapons systems and material should the US provide? Or do you want the Ukrainians to simply surrender and cede a fifth of its land to Russia?

    Again, I have lots of criticisms of Biden’s foreign policy and think that we should have given more aid to Ukraine earlier and imposed sanctions on Russia earlier. But I think it’s ridiculous to say that he wants the war. To what end? How does Biden benefit from this war?

    I agree with Hahn. The post and some comments assume that Biden is so cunning and astute that he could orchestrate a Russian invasion of Ukraine all by himself. One commenter even suggested that Biden could have stopped the war all by himself. This reeks of the “he is playing ten-dimensional chess” theory. But the guy can’t find his own seat at press conferences so they give him notes to tell him where and when to sit down.

    The fact that there are opinions on this post that vary by 180 degrees (Biden is on Russia’s side vs. Biden has been totally against Russia) shows that people are just throwing ideas up against the wall to see if they will stick. Biden is certainly an Alzheimer’s addled doddering old fool, and he was never much better than that before the onset of his Dementia. It is pretty obvious that world leaders know this and Russia took full advantage of it to attack Ukraine during his presidency.

    Brandon tried desperately to cover for his being asleep at the wheel by giving Ukraine weapons and $40 Billion. If he was actually rooting for Russia, he never would have signed such a profligate foreign aid package and he never would have let slip the phrase “For God’s sake, this man cannot remain in power.” That was one of those few times that Biden went off script to angrily vent his true feelings.

    Both of you have written your comments as if Biden is orchestrating these actions. Is that what you think?

    • #50
  21. Vince Guerra Inactive
    Vince Guerra
    @VinceGuerra

    Steven Seward (View Comment):
    Brandon tried desperately to cover for his being asleep at the wheel by giving Ukraine weapons and $40 Billion.  If he was actually rooting for Russia, he never would have signed such a profligate foreign aid package and he never would have let slip the phrase “For God’s sake, this man cannot remain in power.”  That was one of those few times that Biden went off script to angrily vent his true feelings.

    First, Brandon isn’t in control of anything, not even his own bladder.

    Second, everyone in power benefits from war and hardly any of them care about sides. War allows them to create more debt. War allows them to sell products. War allows them to redraw the map and decide up the resource allocation, both sides benefit.

    Other than their dirty laundry, nobody in D.C. gives a rat’s ___ about Ukraine. They want a war because war is good for them and their friends. Kosovo, Afghanistan, Yemen, Ukraine…any country will do.

    • #51
  22. The Reticulator Member
    The Reticulator
    @TheReticulator

    Vince Guerra (View Comment):
    Nobody in D.C. gives a rat’s ___ about Ukraine. They want a war because war is good for them and their friends. Kosovo, Afghanistan, Yemen, Ukraine…any country will do. 

    So which is it that Americans are supposed to care about:  Ukraine or America’s national interest?  

    • #52
  23. DrewInWisconsin, Unapologetic Oaf Member
    DrewInWisconsin, Unapologetic Oaf
    @DrewInWisconsin

    The Reticulator (View Comment):

    DrewInWisconsin, Unapologetic … (View Comment):

    The Reticulator (View Comment):

    DrewInWisconsin, Unapologetic … (View Comment):
    Apparently. Unless you’re all gung ho for American involvement in another quagmire, you’re a Putin lover.

    I call fake. You need some really special glasses, and maybe recreational drugs, for that to be apparent.

    Sorry, man. I’ve had that slander thrown at me multiple times here on Ricochet. Stick to your recreational drugs.

    That’s your excuse for slandering others?

    Didn’t you just suggest I was on drugs? 🤨 Face With Raised Eyebrow Emoji | Skeptic Emoji

    • #53
  24. Zafar Member
    Zafar
    @Zafar

    Whoever is on drugs should share.  Just saying.

    • #54
  25. Steven Seward Member
    Steven Seward
    @StevenSeward

    Vince Guerra (View Comment):

    James Lileks (View Comment):
    All of the nuclear war rhetoric is coming from one side, and it isn’t the West.

    He didn’t specify nuclear.

    Oh,yes he did!

    While speaking to graduates of Russia’s military academies,he told them:

    “The Sarmat heavy intercontinental ballistic missile was successfully tested.  It is planned that by the end of this year, the first such complex will be put on combat duty.”

    Deputy Chairman of the Russian Parliament’s Defense Committee also said:

    “If the United States threatens our state, it’s good: Here is the Sarmat [Satan-2 missile] for you, and there will be nuclear ashes from you if you think that Russia should not exist, and Finland says that it is at one with the USA. Well, get in line.”

    https://nypost.com/2022/06/22/vladimir-putin-warns-satan-2-nuclear-missiles-could-be-deployed-in-months/

     

    • #55
  26. The Reticulator Member
    The Reticulator
    @TheReticulator

    DrewInWisconsin, Unapologetic … (View Comment):

    The Reticulator (View Comment):

    DrewInWisconsin, Unapologetic … (View Comment):

    The Reticulator (View Comment):

    DrewInWisconsin, Unapologetic … (View Comment):
    Apparently. Unless you’re all gung ho for American involvement in another quagmire, you’re a Putin lover.

    I call fake. You need some really special glasses, and maybe recreational drugs, for that to be apparent.

    Sorry, man. I’ve had that slander thrown at me multiple times here on Ricochet. Stick to your recreational drugs.

    That’s your excuse for slandering others?

    Didn’t you just suggest I was on drugs? 🤨 Face With Raised Eyebrow Emoji | Skeptic Emoji

    No, I suggested that you aren’t telling the truth about what is apparent.   But I was trying to be gentle about it. 

    • #56
  27. Saint Augustine Member
    Saint Augustine
    @SaintAugustine

    Zafar (View Comment):

    Whoever is on drugs should share. Just saying.

    Dude, it’s just tea. It’s great, but it’s nothing special. You get your own.

    If you want to try the really good stuff, try to buy yourself some Tanganda. Your local Zimbabs may be able to hook you up.

    • #57
  28. DrewInWisconsin, Unapologetic Oaf Member
    DrewInWisconsin, Unapologetic Oaf
    @DrewInWisconsin

    The Reticulator (View Comment):

    DrewInWisconsin, Unapologetic … (View Comment):

    The Reticulator (View Comment):

    DrewInWisconsin, Unapologetic … (View Comment):

    The Reticulator (View Comment):

    DrewInWisconsin, Unapologetic … (View Comment):
    Apparently. Unless you’re all gung ho for American involvement in another quagmire, you’re a Putin lover.

    I call fake. You need some really special glasses, and maybe recreational drugs, for that to be apparent.

    Sorry, man. I’ve had that slander thrown at me multiple times here on Ricochet. Stick to your recreational drugs.

    That’s your excuse for slandering others?

    Didn’t you just suggest I was on drugs? 🤨 Face With Raised Eyebrow Emoji | Skeptic Emoji

    No, I suggested that you aren’t telling the truth about what is apparent. But I was trying to be gentle about it.

    Oh, I understand calling someone a liar gets you put in the naughty seat on Ricochet.

    Or maybe it’s just certain people who are protected.

    • #58
  29. The Reticulator Member
    The Reticulator
    @TheReticulator

    DrewInWisconsin, Unapologetic … (View Comment):

    The Reticulator (View Comment):

    DrewInWisconsin, Unapologetic … (View Comment):

    The Reticulator (View Comment):

    DrewInWisconsin, Unapologetic … (View Comment):

    The Reticulator (View Comment):

    DrewInWisconsin, Unapologetic … (View Comment):
    Apparently. Unless you’re all gung ho for American involvement in another quagmire, you’re a Putin lover.

    I call fake. You need some really special glasses, and maybe recreational drugs, for that to be apparent.

    Sorry, man. I’ve had that slander thrown at me multiple times here on Ricochet. Stick to your recreational drugs.

    That’s your excuse for slandering others?

    Didn’t you just suggest I was on drugs? 🤨 Face With Raised Eyebrow Emoji | Skeptic Emoji

    No, I suggested that you aren’t telling the truth about what is apparent. But I was trying to be gentle about it.

    Oh, I understand calling someone a liar gets you put in the naughty seat on Ricochet.

    Or maybe it’s just certain people who are protected.

    It’s good to give people who are making false statements a chance to correct themselves rather than just come out with the “liar, liar” accusation.  

    • #59
  30. Doctor Robert Member
    Doctor Robert
    @DoctorRobert

     

    I say it again.  Mr Biden wants this war, benefits from it, and encouraged it to happen. 

    No one has made an argument that makes me believe the contrary.

    • #60
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