OPINION:
President Biden in a recent press conference said he makes “no apologies” about Afghanistan — though felt sorry for those who were “blown up” at the airport, due to America’s ill-planned departure. Then he assured he pressed hard in November at China’s President Xi Jinping about the origins of the coronavirus, but added that nobody knew he pressed hard ‘cause he did it behind closed doors. Secret like.
Then he said it’s “not time to give up” on a revived nuclear deal with Iran — the country that regularly chants “death to America,” “death to Israel,” and other wonderfully diplomatic phrases that seemingly, inexplicably, nonetheless scream to this White House, “trust us!” Then he went on to tamp down Russia’s military assemblage against Ukraine, assuring the world that a “minor” attack is hardly worrisome — the logic being that only major military attacks bring cause for concern. What’s the difference between a “minor” versus “major” incursion into Ukraine?
Anybody’s guess.
Maybe there’s a headcount of KIA that separates the categories. Biden’s cluster-you-know-what pullout from Afghanistan resulted in the bombing death of 13 U.S. service members working in Kabul — and given the sorry, not sorry response of this administration, would therefore seem to qualify for the “minor” attack classification. Would 15 have been major? Thirty? Three hundred? And how does standard translate to Russia-slash-Ukraine and any American response to incursion?
Again: anybody’s guess.
“Seriously?” tweeted Republican Rep. Steve Scalise, post-Biden’s Latest Blunder. “No apology to the families of the 13 troops killed? To the Americans still stuck [in Afghanistan]? To the women and girls now living under Taliban rule? For handing our military equipment to terrorists?”
Nope. No apologies. Nary a one.
This is what a feckless, weak, blundering, blustering, bumbling, mentally unfit president of the United States brings to the world. Uncertainty. Instability. Chaos. And emboldened enemies.
“There are no minor incursions,” Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy clarified in a tweet. “Just as there are no minor casualties and little grief from the loss of loved ones.”
Good reminder.
Seems obvious.
But somebody tell Biden.
Because now Biden’s blunders have created a situation where Russia seems to have been handed a green light to attack Ukraine.
The White House, on the heels of realizing the mess Biden has caused with his rhetoric, issued a clarification — which seemed mostly aimed at blaming those who took his words at face value instead of spinning them to mean something he didn’t mean at all.
“I can assure you,” Press Secretary Jen Psaki said, when asked why Biden was so careless with his words, “allies and partners know exactly what the president’s position is.”
Great.
So maybe Americans should ask them?
Truthfully, Biden’s foreign policy positions seem to be — anybody’s guess. And that’s why America’s enemies are rejoicing at his presidency.
• Cheryl Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com or on Twitter, @ckchumley. Listen to her podcast “Bold and Blunt” by clicking HERE. And never miss her column; subscribe to her newsletter by clicking HERE. Her latest book, “Socialists Don’t Sleep: Christians Must Rise Or America Will Fall,” is available by clicking HERE.
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