Tag Archives: NATO

national news

The impossible is now — gulp! — possible

What once was deemed in my own mind to be an impossible occurrence has dramatically become possible … even remotely so.

I mention this only because what I once thought would never occur very well could happen in about 10 months, when we have our 2024 presidential election.

The idiot whom President Biden defeated in 2020 just might reverse that outcome when they count the ballots at the end of this year’s campaign.

All of this begs a question that has been tearing at my gut for the past little bit: How in the world is the president of the United States going to respond to the formalities associated with handing over the keys to the White House to the president-elect?

Joe Biden is steeped in tradition. He knows what he’s supposed to do, in that he knows to extend an invitation to the man that defeated him to meet in the White House. Again, though, how does the president do so when the invitee is an individual who:

  • Never acknowledged losing the 2020 election.
  • Savaged the current president during his entire term in office.
  • Has vowed to run the country like a dictatorship if only for a day.
  • Cozies up to the very dictator against whom this nation has been aiding Ukraine in its fight against Russian aggression.
  • Has told Russia he would bless any effort for that rogue nation to do “whatever the hell they want” against any NATO nation that doesn’t pay its fair share of dues?

Joe Biden vowed to seek to save the “soul of this nation” when he declared his 2020 presidential candidacy. By my reckoning, he has largely succeeded in that mission. Now, though, he just might have to surrender to the nitwit who preceded him as our commander in chief and head of state.

So help me, it pains me to acknowledge what might occur when they count the ballots on Nov. 5. Just try for a moment to put yourself in Joe Biden’s shoes as he ponders what well could be stirring in his own mind.

International news, military news, national news

Attack NATO allies? Seriously?

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The former POTUS continues to spew garbage from his overfed pie hole. Consider this little gem.

He was campaigning the other day and said out loud that he would encourage Russian despot/dictator/dipshit Vladimir Putin to attack our NATO allies … namely those of them that haven’t been paying their “fair share” to protect Europe against Russian aggression.

Think of this for just a moment — that’s all it’ll take — to ponder the effect of such an action. It would trigger World War III, pure and simple. There’s a clause in the NATO treaty that declares that an attack on one NATO member is an attack on all the nations. It would require a military response.

Is there any more reason to realize how utterly unfit for office this idiot is? That he must never again be allowed near the Oval Office?

This is a dangerous man who continues to reap support among most Republican Party primary voters. He and those who endorse his rants are certifiable lunatics.

International news, military news

We cannot hold Ukraine aid hostage

The United States has gone all in on aid to Ukraine as it defends itself against Russian aggression. Therefore, it is imperative that congressional Republicans stop holding our aid to Ukraine hostage to security issues relating to our own border.

They are jeopardizing our standing as the world’s leading defender of democracy as it seeks in Ukraine to fend off the advances of the autocracy run by Vladimir Putin in the Kremlin.

Of course, that seems to matter little to the MAGA crowd that calls the cadence for Republicans to follow. The MAGA cultists have swallowed the poison blathered by Donald Trump who continues to extol the “virtues” of Putin’s alleged toughness.

What’s at stake is the possible involvement of NATO nations in a ground war with Russia if Putin decides to extend his territorial land grab to nations that belong to NATO. Were that to happen, then, well … all hell is going to break loose in eastern Europe.

Do we really want that to happen? Do we really want to send U.S. forces into battle with Russians, which would appear to be imperative if Russia attacks a NATO nation? We have that clause in the treaty that declares that an attack on one NATO state is an attack on the entire organization.

We cannot possibly in good conscience turn away from helping Ukraine defend its sovereignty against a foreign aggressor, which attacked Ukraine without provocation more than a year ago.

Putin is an evil despot whose misadventure in Ukraine must be stopped. Period!

That the GOP would seek to hold our assistance hostage to an unrelated issue is unconscionable on its face.

International news

Don’t ignore Ukraine … OK?

Pssst … here’s a secret. OK, it’s not really a secret but it just seems like one.

It is that while the world worries how the Israel-Hamas war plays out, another conflict continues to rage on and on and on.

In February 2022, Russian troops, tanks and artillery invaded Ukraine in an attempt to take over a sovereign nation. The Russians were met with ferocious resistance aided by the steadfast support of the United States, NATO and the European Union.

Ukrainian forces have beaten back the invaders. U.S. aid continues to pour into Ukraine, despite resistance to that aid from the MAGA caucus within the congressional Republican conference.

We cannot predict when this war will end. It has become a stalemate, according to sources in the field. Still, the Ukrainian resistance to the supposedly vaunted Russian military machine has been awe-inspiring. The world has witnessed that Russia in fact is a third- or fourth-rate conventional military power. Yes, the Russians have those nuclear weapons. However, they dare not deploy them!

It appears difficult at times for the world to concentrate on multiple crises as they are erupting in real time. The Israeli offensive against Hamas is the real thing and it requires the world’s attention.

So, though, does the Ukrainian effort to defend its sovereignty against a foreign aggressor. Vladimir Putin has delusions of grandeur that he sought to play out against a sovereign nation; he concocted bogus threats against Russia from a country that posed no threat at all. Putin’s adventurism is delivering a heavy price that the Kremlin appears unable to pay.

President Biden’s steadfast resistance to Putin’s aggression has brought NATO and EU together to stand firm against Russia.

Let us not forget what’s at stake in Ukraine. It is the future of a democratic republic that is fighting for its survival.

International news

Putin commits No. 1 blunder

In the annals of strategic blunders, it appears to me that an all-time mess-up might have been committed by Russian dictator/tyrant/goon Vladimir Putin.

He invaded Ukraine in February 2022 thinking the war would be brief, that he would install a puppet government in Kyiv, he could bring his troops home, he could force NATO to fall apart and could have his way in that part of Europe.

Wrong!

President Joe Biden declared this week on his trip to Lithuania and then to Helsinki, Finland, that Putin already has “lost the war” in Ukraine.

His military is third-rate at best; Ukraine has shown itself to be more than capable; NATO not only has held together, it has grown; Finland’s inclusion in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization effectively doubles the size of territory bordering Russia.

Oh, and the alliance has held because of Biden’s expertise in foreign policy and his steady leadership as president of the world’s pre-eminent military and economic superpower.

My sense now is that it might be time to start pressuring Putin to begin negotiating a way out of this war. We have supplied Ukraine with plenty of arms, ordnance, various supplies and training to handle the supposedly vaunted Russian military. The Russians have demonstrated time and again a level of battlefield incompetence that no one saw coming.

President Biden is not overstating what looks to be more obvious all the time … that Russia has already “lost” the Ukraine War.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

International news, military news

First things first in Ukraine

President Biden has laid it out there: Ukraine, he said, “isn’t yet ready” to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

Hmm. That is code, of course, for the obvious reason why it’s premature for Ukraine to consider joining NATO.

Ukraine is the middle of a war with Russia. NATO happens to have a clause in its constitution that says, in effect, that an attack on one member nation is an attack on the entire organization. Translation: That means the United States goes to war with Russia, too!

Accordingly, Joe Biden is absolutely correct in asserting that Ukraine shouldn’t become a NATO member until the war with Russia ends.

The president is displaying his foreign-policy chops handsomely during his visit to Lithuania, which is playing host to NATO member nations. Ukraine has launched a long-anticipated counteroffensive against the Russian aggressors, seeking to take back territory the Russians seized when they launched the unprovoked, illegal and immoral war against a sovereign state.

Russian goon/strongman Vladimir Putin has been accused by the world court of committing war crimes against Ukrainian civilians, giving Ukraine more incentive to take the fight to the Russians.

This fight isn’t over. Our sincere hope ought to be that there can be a negotiated settlement found and that the Russians can end their bloody misadventure in due course.

NATO, meanwhile, remains strong and united in its effort to persuade Russia of the tragic mistake it is making. I will credit the president of the United States for keeping his cool and for assuring NATO remains strong and united in this fight to preserve democracy.

Once the fight ends, then we can talk about Ukraine’s future as a member of the alliance formed after World War II — let us never forget — to protect the continent against Russian aggression.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

military news

But … we’re doing that, Mr. VPOTUS!

While listening the other day to former Vice President Mike Pence declare his 2024 presidential candidacy, I was struck by a theme he kept harping on.

We need to do all we can to support democratic nations, such as Ukraine, he said. The United States must take the lead in helping Ukraine fend off the illegal and immoral invasion by Russian forces, he added. We need to stand for democracy in Europe, Pence said.

But … wait!

We’re already doing that, aren’t we? President Biden has not just said all of that but has persuaded Congress to spend a lot of money to arm the Ukrainians, to train them in using the equipment we’re providing them. He has imposed punishing economic sanctions on Russia, persuading our NATO and EU allies to go along.

The Ukrainians are — as near as many experts can tell — winning the fight in the field against a demoralized, under-qualified Russian invading force.

How is that? Because the United States has stepped up as the world’s pre-eminent champion for democracy!

What does Mike Pence think we should do differently than what we have done already?

For my money? Not a damn thing!

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

military news

Happy anniversary, Vlad!

This is an “anniversary” that Russian goon/strongman Vladmir Putin likely never presumed he would commemorate.

It’s been one year since the Russian tyrant launched his illegal and immoral war against Ukraine. He sought to bring the former Soviet republic to its knees in days. It didn’t happen.

What Putin is now realizing, even if he doesn’t admit it, is that people whose sovereignty is threatened by an evil aggressor will fight to the death to protect themselves and their nation.

Ukraine has done that … and then some!

Yes, the Ukrainians have had help. It has come from President Biden, whose leadership has melded the North Atlantic Treaty Organization into a cohesive alliance hell-bent on ensuring the Russians do not attack NATO. Doing so would doom the Russians.

Putin’s cakewalk into Kyiv has turned into a stumble-bum quagmire.

May the Russians continue to suffer the shame they have earned by their conduct on the battlefield. May they also be denied a second “anniversary” of this disgraceful episode.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

International news

Yes, Putin is a war criminal

Emanuel Macron is sounding every bit like the world leader many observers contend he has become. I heard a demonstration of his forthrightness and strength the other day in a “60 Minutes” interview.

The French president said in response to a direct question about whether Russian tyrant Vladimir Putin is a “war criminal.” Without flinching, blinking or pausing, Macron said “yes, he is a war criminal.” Putin’s crime, according to Macron? Putin is ordering the bombing of civilian targets in Ukraine.

There. Done deal. Putin, who launched the illegal invasion of Ukraine in February, has demonstrated beyond a doubt that he needs to go on trial for war crimes, said Macron.

Indeed, the French president is emerging as Europe’s most formidable leader. He took over that role when German Chancellor Angela Merkel vacated her office this year.

It’s no small feat that the European Union has held together stronger than ever in opposition to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Or that the North Atlantic Treaty Organization stands as one against any threats that Russia might pose to any of its members.

I credit two people for that solidarity. One is President Joe Biden, who has summoned NATO to be firm against the Russians. Another is Emanuel Macron, who speaks with strength and resolve in condemning the Russian tyrant.

We need a strong Europe to stand against the Russian aggressors. Europe needs a strong United States to lend its own resolve to this fight.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

economic news, Joe Biden, national news

Are we better off … ?

The Republican leader of the U.S. House of Representatives sought to make some political hay by asking if we are “better off today than we were two years ago.”

Well, Kevin McCarthy of California, your effort to denigrate Joe Biden’s presidency deserves a look. So … here goes:

  • On Biden’s watch, Congress approved a bipartisan bill — the first in 30-something years — that seeks to stem gun violence.
  • When Russia invaded Ukraine this past February, President Biden was able to present a unified NATO and European Union front in response to the illegal and criminal act of war.
  • The president was able to shepherd through Congress a massive infrastructure improvement bill that seeks to repair our nation’s roads, bridges and airports.
  • Joe Biden nominated and then welcomed the nation’s first Black woman to the U.S. Supreme Court — Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson.
  • We have turned the corner on the international pandemic.
  • Fuel prices, which skyrocketed and led the inflationary surge of recent months, have retreated dramatically.
  • The United States has created more private-sector jobs in the first two years of President Biden’s term than at any similar time in its history.
  • Unemployment currently stands at 3.5%.
  • Congressional Democrats — fighting unanimous Republican opposition — managed to pass the nation’s first-ever meaningful law dealing with climate change; it also seeks to curb health costs and reduce inflation.
  • We have cut by roughly half the nation’s annual budget deficit.

So, taken together, I think I have an answer to Leader McCarthy’s question.

Yes. We are better off than we were when President Joseph R. Biden Jr. took office.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com