As if to add insult to injury, President Obama has sent the Vice President to Eastern Europe to "reassure our allies."
These allies are former Soviet-bloc nations--Poland, Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania--that have experienced Russian aggression first-hand. They have been increasingly concerned about Cold War era rhetoric and actions for years--since Russia began deploying its naval power "permanently" around the globe and intermittently cutting off natural gas to Ukraine and the other countries when it didn't get its way.
So in comes Joe Biden to "reassure." First stop: Poland. This is the same Joe Biden who confused Poland with Portugal on a trip to Europe in 2013. The same Joe Biden who lambasted candidate Mitt Romney in 2012 for seeing the world "through a cold war prism." And the same Joe Biden who insisted, in a 2012 "major foreign policy address," that "this President has a big stick. . . . I promise you."
And what does the administration promise in this "reassurance" trip? Not much. According to the Washington Post, he is promising "only modest assistance to help Poland modernize its army and explore how to lessen its dependence on Russian natural gas."
Will the Administration reconsider its foolhardy efforts to extend good will to Russian, decide to and reestablish missile defense in Poland and the Czech Republic? No. They're sticking with reset.
The Washington Post's Scott Wilson reports that "some allies, including in Europe, have watched with worry as Obama has in their view emphasized reaching out to antagonists at the expense of longtime friends."
Wilson goes on:
“Administration officials strongly disagree, arguing that new relationships with such countries as Iran, China and Russia benefit America’s allies in Europe.”
If we have "new relationships" with Iran, China and Russia--all three are thumbing their noses at the United States--perhaps we should go back to the old ones, and truly reassure our allies.
In 1936, Winston Churchill said :
“There is no greater mistake than to suppose that platitudes, smooth words and timid policies offer a path to safety.”
And there is no better modern-day example of "platitudes, smooth words and timid policies" than those of Barack Obama's administration. Our allies around the world would perhaps find much greater reassurance from a demonstration of genuine American strength (no, freezing US assets of 11 of Putin's friend before the State Department even knows if they have US assets does not count) than a Joe Biden road trip. How about, for starters, restore the plan for a US missile defense system on land, arm the Ukraine and seriously help Poland modernize its army, and place genuine sanctions on Russia--ones that it will actually experience.
Enough of being a laughingstock. Time to get serious. Will this President? Absolutely. Not.
