By The Federalist. Not every war is unnecessary or avoidable, but history might well judge the Russo-Ukrainian war as both, not least because the United States and its European allies could have prevented it, but didn’t.

The decision to go to war was Russia’s, and Russia bears ultimate responsibility for what happens now. But that does not absolve the West of its strategic incompetence and complacency, and it does not mean the United States and its allies are guiltless in all of this.

At multiple points leading up to the current crisis, there were ways for the United States and Europe to create off-ramps for both Moscow and Kyiv, to shepherd a negotiated settlement so that both sides got a minimum of what they needed, and some of what they wanted.

What might that have looked like? For Moscow, a recognition of its strategic claim on Crimea and the port of Sevastopol as the home of its Black Sea Fleet. For Kyiv, the promise of political independence and greater integration with Europe in exchange for territorial concessions.

The West should have also considered the folly and recklessness of floating the idea of NATO membership for Ukraine, something no serious person ever thought Russia would accept without going to war to prevent it. And yet as far back as 2008, the United States openly discussed the possibility of Ukraine’s membership in NATO, even as Kyiv still claimed sovereignty over Russia’s most important naval base in Sevastopol. Under these conditions, the idea of Ukraine joining NATO was preposterous. (Read more from “The West Could Have Prevented the Russo-Ukrainian War, but Chose Not To” HERE)

____________________________________________________

Biden’s Approval Sinks Further as Russia-Ukraine Crisis Heightens

By The Federalist. New polling indicates that only 39 percent of Americans approve of President Joe Biden’s job as president as the Russia-Ukraine crisis heightens.

According to a new NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist poll, 56 percent of Americans think Biden’s first year in office was a failure. Among those unimpressed with the president’s track record of rising gas prices, a botched withdrawal from Afghanistan, and a growing crisis on the Southern border, are 66 percent of independents who will likely take their frustrations out at the polls in the upcoming 2022 midterms. Even 15 percent of Democrats admit that Biden’s tenure in the White House thus far has been a failure.

While nearly 40 percent of Americans think inflation should be Biden’s top priority, only 36 percent of them still support how the president is handling the country’s financial circumstances which are plagued with record-high inflation. (Read more from “Biden’s Approval Sinks Further as Russia-Ukraine Crisis Heightens” HERE)

Delete Facebook, Delete Twitter, Follow Restoring Liberty and Joe Miller at gab HERE.