When Joe Biden became president, he declared that “America is back.” But all he has done since taking office is embolden authoritarians and terrorists.
Intelligence analysts told Biden that Russian President Vladimir Putin felt the United States was “chastened by the humiliating” withdrawal from Afghanistan, according to the Washington Post. This was one of the factors that contributed to Putin’s decision to invade Ukraine.
Biden had already strengthened Russia by freezing arms sales to Ukraine and opposing sanctions against the Nord Stream 2 pipeline. These moves by Biden strengthened Russia’s hand in Europe. Combine that with Biden’s abandonment of American allies (and even American citizens) in Afghanistan to the Taliban, and it’s no wonder Putin felt that he could simply waltz into Ukraine on Biden’s watch and receive little more than a stern letter in response.
The rushed, chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan left the security of Americans fleeing Kabul in the hands of the Taliban. As a result, a suicide bomber killed 13 U.S. service members. Biden boldly retaliated by droning a humanitarian aid worker the administration falsely believed was involved in the attack. Biden’s drone strike killed seven children and two other civilians as well.
Is it any wonder that Putin doubted the competence and conviction of U.S. leadership?
Biden’s weakness also emboldened the Taliban, who immediately began killing members of the previous Afghan government. The Taliban didn’t even receive a stern letter for violating the promises they were never going to keep, as Biden’s State Department simply repeated how “concerned” it was with the Taliban’s actions and how the international community was very disappointed with them.
Biden hasn’t fared much better with other authoritarian regimes. He has been soft on China for his entire political career, and his administration has prioritized climate change policy over the human rights abuses of China’s genocidal regime. Biden has lifted restrictions on Cuba’s communist regime and has begun easing sanctions on Venezuela’s socialist government to ease gas prices.
Biden treats diplomacy not as a tool but as the end goal, which only emboldens bad actors. When one sees what Biden allows them to get away with, others take note. During Biden’s presidency, authoritarian regimes like Russia and China have only grown stronger and bolder, while “America’s back” has been turned to our friends and allies.
