With or without war, Ukraine gives Biden a new lease on leadership

[LetMyPeopleVote]

I have been impressed with how President Joe Biden has handled Putin and this crisis. Joe Biden is a real leader and has a limited number of cards that can be played. The good news is that Joe has rebuilt NATO and organized the world against Putin

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Six months ago, the transatlantic alliance was on shaky ground, with President Biden’s promise of a reinvigorated NATO under U.S. leadership severely undermined by the Afghanistan debacle and a foreign policy that seemed unready for prime time.

Today, Biden and his team have redeemed themselves in the eyes of many NATO allies, with a tough stance on Ukraine and the successful wrangling of the often-fractious alliance to support it......

However the crisis ends, many observers believe Putin has already lost. He has pushed NATO toward greater unity, sparked Ukrainian nationalism and even greater anti-Russian feeling, and ended up with more NATO forces near and on Russia’s borders than when the troop buildup started......

There is little doubt that the Ukraine crisis has given NATO renewed unity and purpose, turning its attention from the last two decades dominated by Afghanistan and terrorism, where many were uncomfortable, to its original purpose and much more familiar focus of fending off Russia. Over the long term, however, if the administration continues to stress that the greatest threat to the post World War II order comes from China and East Asia, it may not be so easy to bring the alliance along.

[PortTack]

1. The leader we need!

[Lucinda]

2. ❤️ ✿❧🌿❧✿ ❤️

[LetMyPeopleVote]

3. Biden Administration and Intel Community for their willingness to declassify has been effective

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[flamingdem]

4. Joe Biden is showing his passion for international politics

and we're so lucky he's calling the shots!

[LetMyPeopleVote]

5. Statement from Press Secretary Jan Psaki

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[Skittles]

6. the last "president" kissed Putin's ass

anything is an improvement on that

[WhiskeyGrinder]

7. Oh, well then.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

8. whatever Putin decides, Biden and NATO allies have made Russia stop and think

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Fiona Hill doesn't know whether President Joe Biden can lead Western allies to ward off Russia's threat to Ukraine. But unlike his predecessor, he's trying.

Hill has a special vantage point on this slow-rolling crisis that US officials say could bring war in Europe at any moment. As a White House national security aide, she advised then-President Donald Trump on Russia and Ukraine -- and became a star witness in impeachment proceedings that resulted from his conduct......

"There's no Team America for Trump," Hill recalled. "Not once did I see him do anything to put America first. Not once. Not for a single second."

It showed in Trump's praise for the authoritarian leader of Russia, an American adversary that had boosted his finances as a business executive. It showed in his reluctance to embrace America's mutual defense commitments to European allies, which for decades have constrained Russian behavior; instead, Trump treated NATO as what Hill called a "protection racket."

Most notoriously, it showed in Trump's attempt to squeeze Ukraine's President for manufactured dirt on Biden to help his 2020 election campaign. He held up American military aid as a political lever as Ukraine faced the long-running Russian military threat that now has the entire world on edge.

[Ex Lurker]

9. If he csan corral the SEATO members to do the same thing

he will go a long way toward containing China.

[former9thward]

10. Who is the "world" that has been organized?

The two biggest countries, China and India are Russian allies. The Saudis are allied with Russia as well as Brazil.

[Hekate]

11. Thanks, Joe

[BlueIdaho]

12. President Biden puts American leadership front and center

Compare Biden’s ability to rally Europe’s democracies to TFG’s ass licking of the worlds tyrants. I can’t tell you how proud I am of the President’s wisdom and judgement. He, along with the world’s other great leaders, is pouring cold water on Putin’s tantrum.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

13. President Biden is handling this situation expertly and in coordination with our NATO Allies

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[TomSlick]

14. Perhaps, but only if President Biden follows through on the promised economic sanctions.

[SleeplessinSoCal]

15. The talk I heard today is that Putin has no intention to abandon his plan to retake Ukraine.

Comparisons to Hitler in the late 30's, seemingly championed by the well to do right wingers here at home, have us on the brink and sick at heart. We had plenty of FDR haters and fascists during WW2. I dread the news. But will do my best to find helpful sources.

https://imrussia.org/en/opinions/3316-putin%E2%80%99s-article-as-a-manifesto-against-ukraine%E2%80%99s-sovereignty

A noteworthy ukraine journalist Mykola Vorobiiv, bio:
https://archive.transatlanticrelations.org/fellows/mykola-vorobiov/

[SleeplessinSoCal]

16. Tweet from Mykola Vorobiov ..

Link to tweet

[TomSlick]

17. It's not just "well to do right wingers here at home"

that see the similarities to Hitler's invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1939. Left wingers who have studied world history know where this is necessarily headed.

At this point, the appropriate response from the west is the promised economic sanctions. If the west repeats the errors of 1939, Putin will eventually move on a NATO nation and war will be inevitable.

If Russian forces actually cross the border, the choice is to either stand-up for peace or accept inevitable war.

[SleeplessinSoCal]

18. Guess my comma didn't make my thoughts clear.

My intention was to say the very highly paid right wing media voices seem to welcome an authoritarian style government everywhere. It's mind boggling how quickly we fell backwards from 2016. Then again liars and cheaters, to the contrary of the adage, do seem to prosper.