In February, 2022 Russia initially attacked Ukraine, and Joe Biden decided to embark on a proxy-war. This war has been going on ever since.
Way back before the fighting actually began, I opined that Biden should do something to try to avoid war. To my way of thinking in a matchup of Biden vs Putin, Putin would always win. The only way to avoid the upcoming embarrassment to Biden (USA), was to do the utmost to avoid war. Back then there were some of my readers who thought that I was much too harsh on Biden, but let’s look at what we have after eighteen months.
The devastation has been enormous as has been the cost.
From the Council of Foreign Relations, the cost to the U.S thus far has been $7.71 billion …humanitarian = $3.9B, financial = $26.4 B, military = $46.8 B.
But more important has been the devastation that has been wrought on the people of Ukraine.
From Reuters · Updated 7 days ago
Deaths
At least 62,295 people
Non-fatal injuries
At least 61,000 people
Missing
At least 15,000 people
Displaced
Approximately 17M people
Buildings destroyed
At least 140,000
Property damage
Approximately $411B
And these stats do not include what has happened to the children of Ukraine. How many orphaned? How many displaced? How many homeless?
As was succinctly stated in a recent opine from the Washington Times:
“You have to give President Biden credit for consistency. Unfortunately, he has been consistently wrong. As Robert Gates, former defense secretary in the Obama administration, once put it, Biden has ‘been wrong on nearly every major foreign policy and national security issue over the past four decades.’”
At this point one might ask, “What is the after? How does this Ukraine debacle end?
Apparently, many many months ago there was the potential for a peaceful resolution, but rumor has it that Joe Biden said no to the peace proposal, and kept his foreign policy streak intact!
As best I can tell there is no end in site.
Mea culpa! There may actually be an end on site, as there is an upcoming election, and while Joe Biden is far from a foreign policy guru, he and his handlers are first and foremost politicians. Going into an election with a seemingly non-ending war is not a winning strategy.
8/24/23