CONLEY COMMENTARY (WSAU) – I would have thought the Biden White House would have negotiated a more serious proposal.
Instead the unrealistic border proposal that the Senate unveiled on Sunday is a double-win for Donald Trump. Win number one: Everyone prefers Trump’s border policies to Biden’s. And Trump’s policies came through existing law and executive orders. In other words, Biden has all the tools at his disposal right now to quell one of his biggest political liabilities. He might even gain votes from the squishy middle-ground independents if he were to say something like, “this is one of the few things my opponent got right. We’re going back to those policies.” That would be praised as an act of political courage.
Instead the current bill, which may not get 60 votes in the Senate, is certain not to even come up for a vote in the House of Representatives. And with it, no funding for Ukraine.
There was a little noticed report in RealClearMilitary last week that looked at the preparedness of our NATO allies. Remember that Donald Trump called out the nations that are part of the alliance that don’t spend 10-percent of their GDP on their military. Those who don’t are depending on the United States to shoulder their burden. Well, Ukraine, which is on Europe’s doorstep, is about to become a European-only funded operation. And the cupboard is bare.
Germany, the European Union’s largest economy, has given as much hardware as it can to Ukraine. RealClearMilitary reports the Germans have an ammunition shortage; they don’t have enough live rounds to train their own troops. Several of our allies have let their militaries shrink so small that they would not be able to fend off an invasion. England’s military is down to 75,000, tiny for a nation of 64-million people. A general in Belgium said if Russia invaded, his country’s soldiers are so under-supplied that they might have to resort to throwing rocks.
If Ukraine falls, the Biden campaign will try to spin it as Republican obstructionism. That might work if Biden had other foreign policy successes. But from Iran to China to Afghanistan, he doesn’t.
You might think I’d be happy. The events of the past few days make it more likely that Joe Biden will lose this fall’s election. But I find it difficult to cheer this level of the naked incompetence that’s on full display.
Chris Conley
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