In another self-destructive gaffe, 79-year-old President Joe Biden calls Russia’s war in Ukraine genocide, echoing previous statements that Russian President Vladimir Putin was a “war criminal,” raising new concerns about Biden escalating U.S. involvement. Over Ukraine’s objections, Biden has insisted that the U.S. will not put boots on the ground in Ukraine, fearing it could escalate in WW III, especially if the Pentagon honored Ukraine’s 44-year-old President’s Volodymyr Zelensky’s request for a no-fly-zone. Mentioning “genocide” was the same thing former President Bill Clinton did before bombing Serbia in 1998 over reports of ethnic cleansing in Bosnia. Biden’s gaffe mirrors the statement of Zelensky, insisting that Russian President Vladimir Putin wants to erase Ukraine’s identity, making them as a people non-existent. Biden seems to mirror Zelesnky’s remarks.
Zelensky has said many things about the Russian invasion, including that Putin’s real ambition is to re-instate the old Soviet Union, taking back all the satellite countries once in the Iron Curtain. Zelensky told the Israeli Knesset [parliament] that Putin was engaged in genocide against Ukraine, something met by Israeli MPs in disbelief. Zelensky also told the U.S. Congress and European Commission that Ukraine was fighting to preserve Western Democracy, now threatened by Putin’s invasion. But Biden’s comments about Russian genocide were especially egregious to members of the European Union, seeking to bring the conflict to an end. Even Biden’s closest staff, including 59-year-old Secretary of State Antony Blinken and 45-year-old National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan had to walk back Biden’s incendiary remarks finding them unacceptable.
When are Congress and Biden’s closest staff going to recognize Biden is not fit for duty as president or commander-in-chief? French President Emmanuel Macron found Biden’s “genocide” remarks counterproductive, especially in seeking to resolve the Ukraine War diplomatically in Istanbul. Macron called the “escalation in rhetoric” harmful to the peace process, something Macron has been involved in with direct conversations with Putin. “Calling things by their name is essential to stand up to evil,” said Zelensky, happy that Biden parroted his words against Putin. Biden and Zelensky show no interest in peace, despite complaining daily about Russian war crimes prosecuting the war. If Biden and Zelensky were really concerned about collateral damage and destruction of Ukraine’s infrastructure, they would take the Istanbul peace process more seriously.
Biden and Zelensky can continue their war of words with Putin but won’t find a diplomatic way out of the current crisis. Sending more weapons to Ukraine doesn’t stop the war, it perpetuates it, getting to the bottom of U.S. and Ukrainian intent to topple Russian President Vladimir Putin. Biden’s last whopping gaffe occurred March 26, telling a Warsaw audience that Putin cannot be allowed to continue in power. After everyone gasped, Blinken and Sullivan walked backed Biden’s remarks, saying there’s no change in U.S. policy.with respect to regime change. But the real issue concerns Biden and Zelensky marching full stream ahead to battle the Russian Federation, regardless of real sentiment in the European Union. Macron reflects the more dovish sentiment of everything done to preserve peace on the European Continent, in contrast with EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
Von der Leyen said April 8 that she would do everything possible to expedite Ukraine membership for Ukraine. How Putin takes that is anyone’s guess. But Putin was very concerned about Ukraine joining NATO, something he said prompted the current invasion. Putin had asked Biden back in November to work on new security arrangement for Ukraine and Eastern Europe, saying that NATO expansion had encroached on Russian national security. Biden told Putin that his ideas were “non-starters,” saying the NATO could not change its open door policy. On Dec. 24, 2021, Putin warned Biden that if new security arrangement were not worked out, he would be forced to take “military-technical measures” to deal with the threat to Russian national security. When the war started Feb. 24, Biden said the war as “unprovoked and unjustified,” knowing Putin’s many requests.
Biden’s heated rhetoric is exactly what’s gotten the U.S. into hot war, currently spending over $16 billion in Ukraine to fund a Ukrainian proxy war against the Russian Federation. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, 72, Putin’s right-hand man, said yesterday that Russia believes it’s fighting against the U.S. in Ukraine. “French President Emmanuel Macro’s unwillingness to recognize the genocide of Ukrainians after all the outspoken statements of Russian leadership and criminal actions of Russian military is disappointing,” said Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry Spokesman Oleg Nikolenko. Zelensky wants to identify Putin’s war as “genocide” to trigger the U.N. Charter and pressure the U.S. and NATO to put boots on the ground in Ukraine. It worked for Bill Clinton in Bosnia in 1998, why not Ukraine in 2022? Biden’s gaffes continue to endanger U.S. national security.
About the Author
John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He’s editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.
