Post-WWI: Dem US President Woodrow Wilson and the Treaty of Versailles. Crippled Germany and just made them mad.
Post -WWII: Dem US President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Handed over Eastern Europe to Russia, created the Eastern Bloc and subsequent Cold War.
Cuban Missile Crisis: Dem US President John F. Kennedy. The US placed ballistic missiles in Italy and Turkey, and the USSR responded by threatening to place missiles in Cuba. After days of drama, the US agreed to withdraw its missiles from Italy and Turkey, and the USSR agreed to not place missiles in Cuba. (US media reported this as the USSR backing down, but in fact, the US agreed to withdraw its own missiles first.)
Today: Dem US President Joe Biden. Russia threatens to invade its former satellite state of Ukraine. Biden threatens to send 8,000 (!) troops to Ukraine in response to the 125,000 Russian troops massed on the Russia/Ukraine border. Per the above "Cuban Missile Crisis": Russia doesn't want the bordering Ukraine as part of NATO, which it's been threatening to become. (Just as Khrushchev didn't want Italy and Turkey to have missiles aimed at the Soviet Union.) If smart, the US will say: "OK, Ukraine won't be part of NATO"---and Russia will withdraw its troops from the border. If dumb (which Biden decidedly is), the US will really send troops to a part of the world that we have absolutely no military interest in.
p.s. Germany: Why are you still in NATO? Your current business/energy deals with Russia should completely preclude you from a NATO alliance and any US defense aid (the initial post-WWII purpose of NATO being defense against Russia). BUT: Do you REALLY want to throw in your lot with the Russians rather than with the West? I'd think twice about that.
No comments:
Post a Comment