With echoes of FDR & Reagan, President Biden reminds Americans of our obligation to protect freedom
He told us, and he told the whole world, that America is not afraid of bullies, no matter how cruel, and that America will not back down in the face of their aggression.
President Biden spoke to the country from the Oval Office this week, saying we are at “an inflection point in history. One of those moments where the decisions we make today are going to determine the future for decades to come.”
It was a speech unlike any young Americans have ever heard. Older Americans were reminded of Ronald Reagan. Really older Americans heard echoes of FDR. The world is dangerous, these Presidents all told us. Autocratic powers seek to destroy neighboring democracies, to erase their histories. Their brutality is a crime against our common humanity. These Presidents told us something else too. That freedom is not just our birthright, it is our responsibility.
“American leadership is what holds the world together,” President Biden said. “American alliances are what keep us, America, safe. American values are what make us a partner that other nations want to work with.” He told us, and he told the whole world, that America is not afraid of bullies, no matter how cruel, and that America will not back down in the face of their aggression.
At the same time, Mr. Biden spoke with deep humanity about the suffering of those caught in conflict. In Bucha, and in Gaza. He gave comfort to a deeply wounded Israel, and he gave them counsel to seek peace even as they remove the terrorist threat on their border.
President Biden’s Oval Office address followed a week of unprecedented diplomacy and deployment. The stakes go well beyond the horror we’ve seen in Israel and in Ukraine. In both places war has the potential to expand uncontrollably. What if a Russian missile hits a NATO ally or an American missile fired by Ukraine lands in Russia? What if Iran encourages Hezbollah to launch an attack on Israel from the north while Israel’s army is south along the border with Gaza? What if Israel’s actions in Gaza further inflame Arab populations around the world? The risks are as real as the consequences are unimaginable.
This week an American destroyer in the Red Sea shot down cruise missiles fired from Yemen by Houthi rebels. Yemen is yet another the humanitarian disaster as it is ground zero in the Saudi - Iranian proxy war. Could shooting down Iranian funded Houthi missiles be part of the diplomatic effort to engage the Saudi leadership in a constructive future for the region? You bet it is.
President Biden has ordered two aircraft carrier groups to the eastern Mediterranean. This show of force is meant to deter Iran and Hezbollah from widening the war. With those carrier groups now in place within striking range of Hezbollah in Lebanon, do you think shooting down those Houthi cruise missiles 900 miles away was also meant to send a message to Iran? You bet is was.
This is complicated, layered, and brilliant diplomacy.
This week Hamas released two American hostages. This followed American efforts to enlist Qatar in the negotiations. Qatar is home to the Al Udeid Air Base- home of US Central Command. It is also a nation with ties to Hamas and to Iran- ties that led the Saudis to lead a blockade of Qatar in 2017. As I said, it’s complicated.
Just this morning Egypt opened the border with Gaza for the first convoy of much needed aid. This follows American efforts to gain Egypt’s assistance and American efforts to assure the safety of the aid convoy.
It should be clear that President Biden’s vision of strong and essential American role in the world, his energetic diplomacy, and his diplomatic use of military capabilities, stand between terrible tragedy and a globally disastrous war.
He has asked Congress to fund these efforts. Of course, right now, there is no Congress as the majority party, the GOP, has broken the institution. Years of chaos, of using that sacred assembly as a stage set so its members could get their angry moment on FOX TV have led, inevitably, to this moment. The House cannot conduct business because the constitutional office of Speaker is vacant. It is as disgraceful as it is dangerous.
President Biden, by words and deeds is not only making us safer, he is also reminding us of our obligations. He is not pretending we are perfect, or that we haven’t grave challenges of our own. He is, instead, seeing those challenges and showing us we have the character to overcome them. His is a vision of America that makes us proud.