By Michael P. Riccards

In her new book, Susan Eisenhower tells the story of her going to elementary school and her teacher criticizing the president for not sending American troops to save the Hungarians from the Soviet army in 1956.

So she went home and asked the then president, Grandpa Dwight Eisenhower, about why he did not respond. The wise old man said simply “World War III.”

She should have told Biden who thinks that he is the new FDR fighting the Soviet Union what grandpa said. It is true that Putin acts like a Stalin with French cuffs, but we must examine how to extricate all parties out of this dilemma.

It was a mistake to consider these mini-partners to join the original NATO group. After the cold war, Gorbachev warned Clinton not to increase NATO with countries that bordered on Russia. But we went ahead in a moment of exuberance. And now we have a weird group which includes countries that do not share the democratic values of Western Europe. Who in his right mind did not understand the history of Hungary? Is it a Western democracy?

As for the main partners, we should look askance at them. 

The president of France wants to talk about sending Western troops to the conflict. This is from a guy who could barely reform their pension system. Napoleon is dead — as the French army proved ignominiously in World War II and later in Algeria and Indochina: it is not a real  fighting force. 

The Conservative Party has nearly destroyed Great Britain by exiting the Common Market. That once proud island has a lower standard of living than Italy. And in Italy, the hopeless people have elected a government that is philosophically akin to the old Mussolinia Fascist order Germany has left the care of the previous leader only to have a prime minister who is witless about what his country’s role should be — as pro-Nazi sentiment is growing. And how much military strength do Norway, Sweden and the Netherlands bring to the table?

Biden flew over to the snares of Zelenskyy to make believe he was FDR going to Casablanca. How much more can the United States contribute to NATO, and how much more to the wars in the Balkans and now the Mideast? He flew there to  save the corrupt and cynical Israeli prime minister, and we see the gratitude from that individual. 

These over-reactions will end up costing Biden the election. The American people are tired of war. We have been involved in wars since the surrender of Tokyo in 1945. And we have lost or pulled a draw in a series of conflicts. Our exit from Afghanistan was a national disgrace. These are not our finest hours.

What can we do in Ukraine?

First we should recognize the legitimate request for the Russians to have a neutral buffer on the Ukraine and Russia borders, some 20 miles that should be filled not with weapons and drones, but with wheat fields and churches. 

Second, the United States should veto any desire by Ukraine to join the NATO alliance. 

Third, the NATO nations should sign a nonaggression treaty with Russia. Let us get out of the mode of encouraging tensions. Let us make clear that we will not tolerate any talk by Putin and his neo-Stalinists to arm themselves with tactical weapons on the borders. 

We should make it be known that we have strategic weapons and that we are aware that this Russian army is not the Red Army that defeated the Nazis and won the war. No sane ruler would use nuclear weapons of any type and let the airs that blow east carry nuclear radioactive materials across Mother Russia. 

Yes, Putin is an evil man, and the West is planning his funeral with glee. But let us stop the carnage in Ukraine, let us stop the deaths of gallant Ukrainians, let us stop the deaths of reluctant Russian boys. It is time for a settlement.  

Michael P. Riccards, a former college president, is the author of 30 books, including “A Republic If You Can Keep it.”

Categories: Jandoli Institute, Michael Riccards, Politics, Uncategorized