US President Joe Biden’s Donkey Hop to Kiev

The POTUS Joe Biden perhaps felt he was James Bond secretly flying to Warsaw (Poland) in Air Force C-32 (not Air Force One), followed by a 10-hour train journey for a 5-hour visit to Kiev. The White House showed Biden had not moved out of Washington DC. Whether Biden kept snorting through the journey to hold his nerves or whether the medical staff carried diapers is not known, but mobiles of the accompanying journalists were confiscated to prevent them photographing Joe clutching the cross and praying for his own safety all the way.   

Forever America’s geopolitical prostitute Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stood wagging his tail in servility to Ukraine’s Supreme Commander Joe Biden as he signed another $500 million aid to Ukraine. The visit is seen by some to ward off criticism at home not only for allowing the Chinese spy balloon over US airspace for many days and then shooting it down before Biden’s State of The Union Address, but also public opinion rising against him.

Speaking at a public rally, Jimmy Dore, American conspiracy theorist and political commentator said, “What’s happening right here at this rally is what actually scares the hell out of the establishment: everybody from the left, everybody from the right, everybody from the middle coming together to realize that we have more in common than divides us, and we share a common enemy. That enemy is the military-industrial complex and the oligarchy. The same oligarchies that did a controlled demolition of our economy, and then they want me to hate my neighbor for the pain I’m feeling because they wouldn’t take the vaccine that didn’t work the way they said it did in the first f*cking place. Well, I’m not gonna hate my neighbor; I’m gonna love my neighbor.”

But for Biden to take the 10-hour train journey to Kiev the real reason is the anxiety and concern to keep the European flock tethered in Washington’s kennel amid the rising dissent to America fueling the war and profiting at the expense of Europe. Germans are revolting against the escalation of hostilities in Ukraine by the West; some 30,000 protested in Munich against arms supplies to Kiev and holding the security conference in the city. Sloganeering included “we want peace’, as the protestors said to stop the conflict it is necessary to stop the endless supply of weapons. Zelenskyy says France’s Macron is “wasting time” by recommending talks with Moscow.

But German Chancellor Olaf Scholz nudged other European countries to move faster in weapon supplies to Ukraine at the Munich Security Conference (MSC). At the same time, Germany plans to beef up its military with a more than $100 billion fund. Washington’s underdog NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg sounded a possible Russian victory, saying, “Some worry that our support to Ukraine risks triggering escalation. Let me be clear: there are no risk-free options, but the biggest risk of all is if Putin wins….. we must step up our support to Ukraine….. we need to strengthen the resilience of our societies.” Stoltenberg’s sole interest apparently is to lick his way through to another extension.  

Zelensky had already secured a pledge for fighter jet training from the UK and the Ukrainian delegation at the MSC went all out demanding NATO countries for F-16 fighter jets and other lethal long-range armament. Concurrently, Zelenskyy has formally asked for Dutch F-16s since the Netherlands is purchasing F-35 fighter jets. Biden’s buddy and Delaware Senator Chris Coons demands Ukraine to be supplied with “NATO’s standard modern, cutting edge equipment that will include F-16s.” Chris Cavoli heading the US European Command and Supreme Allied Commander Europe also supports supply of long-range weapons and F-16s to Ukraine.

Biden’s poster-boy and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has stated after meeting Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on the sidelines of the MSC, “The concern that we have now is based on information we have that they’re considering providing lethal support, and we’ve made very clear to them that that would cause a serious problem for us and in our relationship.” Interestingly, the Clowns of Capitol Hill (CCH) perceive Beijing would not realize that after Russia, the West plans the same treatment for China. The crowning idiocy is while the entire West is arming and assisting Ukraine, why should China not help Moscow?  

Biden perhaps realizes that posterity will brand him the donkey who carried the tombstone of Europe’s downfall, as he dances to the music of the arms lobby, plus lessening the ‘dollar hold’ on global trade even though the dollar is not linked to America’s gold holdings. But the fallouts of Biden’s donkey hop to Kiev apparently are likely to be more serious. In a scathing attack on the West Russian President Vladimir Putin, in his address to the Russian Federal Assembly and  the Russian Military spoke of West’s diabolical plan of war using Ukraine, NATO expansion, existential threat to Russia, ignoring Russian efforts for peace, sanctions to damage Russian economy and the like.   

Of more concern to the Biden Administration would be Wang Yi visiting Moscow, especially since the classified portion of the discussions would remain unknown. Meanwhile, Biden’s glee over shooting down the Chinese spy balloon using the F-22 Raptors is dampened with John Chipman, director-general and chief executive of UK’s International Institute of Strategic Studies (IISS), London telling reporters at the online launch of The Military Balance 2023 that China’s aircraft inventory has transformed over the last five years and that China’s current holdings of 150 J-20A aircraft are set to overtake US Air Force F-22 Raptors within this year – 2023.

Following the legacy of UK’s blind support to Washington in everything, no matter how foul, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is going out of his way to support and please Zelenskyy. Not to be left behind, King Charles III went and met Ukrainian troops under training in Britain lest voices be raised against expenses on the monarchy, his coronation included, in these tight economic times.   

In the US, gun violence registered 73 mass shooting in 2023 so far but Biden can do little other than lowering the flag when the number killed are large. Elsewhere, North Korea is cocking a snook at the US by firing away ICBMs, the IAEA says Iran has enriched Uranium to 84 percent grade which Iran denies, Blinken took earthquake aid to Turkiye hoping Erdogan would stop blocking Sweden’s entry into NATO, and on Biden’s nod the UN Security Council has denounced Israel’s plan to expand settlements on occupied Palestinian territory.

Putin’s call for step by step resolution of the war is unlikely to be heeded with a bloated Zelenskyy ruling out talks altogether. According to CIA Director Bill Burns, there is “no higher priority” for the CIA than gathering information on Chinese leaders’ planning and intentions. Yet there may be surprises which may go beyond Biden’s surprise sabotage of the Russian Nord Stream pipelines.

By all indications, the US-NATO Anglo Saxon Front will keep upping the war in Ukraine, not realizing before it is too late. The Biden Administration feels the US is too distant to get hurt and Europe (the designated ‘Shikhandi’) and Ukraine will face the brunt. But an old Indian proverb says: Jab geedar ki maut aati hai toh who shahar ki taraf bhagta hai.

The author is an Indian Army veteran. Views expressed are personal.