Has Biden’s rejection of MiG-29 fighter jets lost the war against Russia?
If we do not want Russia eternally threatening its neighbors with war, and the rest of the world with its nuclear arsenal, then we have to stop Vladimir Putin at the earliest opportunity
Sean O'Grady
1 hour ago
It is a depressing thought that such a golden opportunity is being tossed away
(AP)
Is this the moment when Joe Biden lost the war against Russia? The moment when Poland’s MiG-29 fighter jets, delivered indirectly via the US to gallant Ukraine, could have made the vital though marginal difference between peace and war, between subjugation and freedom in Ukraine?
It is a depressing thought that such a golden opportunity is being tossed away because… well, because it might upset the Russians and cause a third world war? But it wouldn’t, because the Russians know they’d lose, and for that reason a third world war wouldn’t happen.
It is the seemingly forgotten doctrine of collective security and nuclear deterrence that has kept the west safe since the end of the Second World War. President Biden, a dedicated Atlanticist, seems to have mislaid his old Cold War instincts.
If we do not want Russia eternally threatening its neighbors with war, and the rest of the world (and the planet itself) with its nuclear arsenal, then we have to stop Vladimir Putin at the earliest opportunity. We cannot just say “you can have Ukraine, but not another inch” – because he knows we don’t mean it.
If America won’t lead the west in this resistance, and fight for Ukraine, why would they fight for Estonia, Poland… or Germany even? The answer that they are all Nato members means nothing if the calculus is that America doesn’t wish to be involved in foreign wars and has turned isolationist. If Putin miscalculates, and America really is willing to fight for Poland, then we will end up with a third world war anyway.
https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/biden-mig29-fighter-jets-russia-b2031886.html
If we do not want Russia eternally threatening its neighbors with war, and the rest of the world with its nuclear arsenal, then we have to stop Vladimir Putin at the earliest opportunity
Sean O'Grady
1 hour ago
It is a depressing thought that such a golden opportunity is being tossed away
(AP)
Is this the moment when Joe Biden lost the war against Russia? The moment when Poland’s MiG-29 fighter jets, delivered indirectly via the US to gallant Ukraine, could have made the vital though marginal difference between peace and war, between subjugation and freedom in Ukraine?
It is a depressing thought that such a golden opportunity is being tossed away because… well, because it might upset the Russians and cause a third world war? But it wouldn’t, because the Russians know they’d lose, and for that reason a third world war wouldn’t happen.
It is the seemingly forgotten doctrine of collective security and nuclear deterrence that has kept the west safe since the end of the Second World War. President Biden, a dedicated Atlanticist, seems to have mislaid his old Cold War instincts.
If we do not want Russia eternally threatening its neighbors with war, and the rest of the world (and the planet itself) with its nuclear arsenal, then we have to stop Vladimir Putin at the earliest opportunity. We cannot just say “you can have Ukraine, but not another inch” – because he knows we don’t mean it.
If America won’t lead the west in this resistance, and fight for Ukraine, why would they fight for Estonia, Poland… or Germany even? The answer that they are all Nato members means nothing if the calculus is that America doesn’t wish to be involved in foreign wars and has turned isolationist. If Putin miscalculates, and America really is willing to fight for Poland, then we will end up with a third world war anyway.
https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/biden-mig29-fighter-jets-russia-b2031886.html