Column By Mike Bibb
President Joe Biden informed the national media during a nearly two-hour press conference on Jan 19, that if 100,000 Russian troops were to suddenly invade the country of Ukraine, he might have to do something in response if the attack was considered more than “a minor incursion.”
He neglected to mention what that response would be, or what he considers a minor incursion.
What is universally recognized is minor incursions have a tendency of evolving into major incursions. A small slap on the wrist could easily become full-blown, knock-down-drag-out lasting years.
We’ve seen this scenario play out multiple times over the past 50 years, often with costly and disappointing results. Our nation’s blood and treasure have been expended in numerous conflicts around the globe, yet our success at resolving these disputes hasn’t been very good.
Speaking from personal experience, I was military draft age in the mid-1960s. A small, far-off country in Southeast Asia no one had heard of called South Vietnam, was in danger of being overrun by its equally small neighbor, North Vietnam.
We were told by our Washington leaders if we didn’t militarily react to restrain communist North Vietnam’s aggressive ambitions, South Vietnam would collapse and cause a “domino effect” – a newly fabricated term meaning other diminutive countries in the vicinity would also be in peril of falling under communist domination.
So, the United States plunged pell-mell into the fracas, ultimately deploying more than 2.7 million military personnel, resulting in 58,000 fatalities and several hundred-thousand maimed and wounded.
The “police action” (no Declaration of War was ever issued) lasted more than a decade and managed to consume approximately $175 billion. Probably about a trillion dollars in today’s money.
We won most of the battles but lost the war. In the end, North Vietnam absorbed South Vietnam and everyone went home. U.S. veterans were not generally a welcomed commodity.
I completed my USMC enlistment and became eligible for the G.I. Bill. Another added benefit, my name, along with hundreds of other county residents, was later chiseled into the large stone war memorials in front of the Graham County Court House in downtown Safford.
Time had resuscitated the public’s previous military disenchantment, realizing soldiers sailors, airmen/women, and Marines only fight the wars, they don’t decide how or why they’re fought.
There are at least two other observations realized – wars are started for reasons we are not always made aware of and the press often omits or misrepresents critical facts of a story.
President Biden is reminding us we could become entangled in another dispute if Russia decides to march into Ukraine. Remember, this is the same Commander-in-Chief who spectacularly botched our Afghanistan withdrawal six months ago. Now, he’s threatening to lead us back onto the fields of battle?
Really? Are we in urgent need of a reality check, or has a tsunami of irrationality completely engulfed the White House?
I’m not sure what Joe’s reasoning is, or why we should be overly concerned with another Russia-Ukraine border quarrel. Each government is as corrupt as the other. Why not let them resolve their differences and leave us out of it?
Probably because there’s money to be made. Doesn’t matter if it’s U.S. dollars, Russian rubles, or Ukrainian hryvnia – it all spends.
It’s equally bewildering why the liberal mainstream media would promote our involvement in a land war in Eastern Europe. How would it benefit us and what would we hope to gain? Various European countries have tangled with one another for centuries, long before there was the United States of America, NATO, or United Nations.
Of course, thereweren’t any mechanized armies, ICBM’s, hypersonic aircraft, or stockpiles of nuclear weapons then but they had their equivalents – just not as lethal or destructive.
Death advanced more slowly; clashing forces could actually see it coming. Today, splitting the atom and miniaturized electronics changed our world and warfare forever.
If Joe is determined to protect a nation’s border, why doesn’t he simply begin by protecting our own? It’s not as far away as Ukraine, has no Russian Army to contend with, and is a lot easier to get to.
Within the past year-and-a-half, there have been nearly two million unlawful entries wade across our southern border with Mexico. Inexplicably, Joe doesn’t seem overly concerned or bothered enough to find the time to visit the area that’s home to millions of U.S. citizens.
Undoubtedly, many of them will be voting this fall.
Yet, he has plenty of time to spend nearly every weekend and holiday at his home in Delaware, often playing fetch with his dog on the beach.
Maybe, I’m reading too much into this. Perhaps Joe considers multiple caravans of thousands of illegal migrants just a “minor incursion” into our heartland.
I desperately need to study up on my politically-correct/socialist lingo if I’m going to figure out what Joe is talking about. He’s had fifty years to practice his trade, so I’m at a slight disadvantage.
From what I can see – in obvious contrast to his campaign promise of being the great “uniter” – it’s looking like Joe had no intention of maintaining that pledge from his very first day in office when he opened our southern border to anyone who wanted to walk over.
He further affirmed his motives when he put Kamala Harris in charge.
Zero + zero = two zeros. Still does, even using woke math.
The opinions in this editorial are those of the author.
