Biden's foreign policy is marginally better than Trump's

First of all, every president since at least 2001 has been a war criminal, and Biden is no different. So what I'm talking about is just the degree of war criminal.

That being said, let's look at recent policy changes, starting with Afghanistan.

United States troops and their NATO allies intend to be out of Afghanistan by early to mid-July, well ahead of President Biden’s Sept. 11 withdrawal deadline, military officials said, in what has turned into an accelerated ending to America’s longest war.

We are almost at a no return point. Granted, the Afghanistan army is already beginning to collapse, but after 20 years what would be different if we stayed another decade?
You can rightly point out that Trump wanted to get out of Afghanistan, but he failed to fight strongly for it. Yes, he signed a peace agreement with the Taliban, but he also dramatically increased the bombing of Afghanistan too.

Trump also wanted to end our illegal occupation of Syria, but failed to fight for it. Biden seems to want out too. What Trump wanted even more than pulling out of Syria was stealing their oil.

The Biden administration has decided it will not renew a waiver that allowed a politically connected U.S. oil company to operate in northeast Syria under President Donald Trump’s pledge to “keep the oil” produced in the region, according to a U.S. official familiar with the decision.

Treasury Department rules prohibit most U.S. companies from doing business in Syria. The waiver for Delta Crescent Energy was issued in April 2020, months after Trump announced that he wanted to keep some U.S. troops in the oil-rich region to maintain control of the oil profits.

Trump’s “keep the oil” message was no longer U.S. foreign policy under the Biden administration, and using the U.S. military to facilitate Syrian oil production was deemed inappropriate, according to the official, who was not authorized to publicly discuss the decision and spoke on condition of anonymity.

This is, of course, a very tiny improvement, but it is an improvement.

Finally, I want to bring up a very underappreciated policy change just a few days ago.

President Biden said that he lifted sanctions on the Russia-to-Germany pipeline Nord Stream 2 "because it’s almost completely finished."

"It’s not like I can allow Germany to do something or not," Biden continued.

"I’ve been opposed to Nord Stream from the beginning … they know how I feel," he said. Biden added that imposing sanctions now would be "counterproductive" since the project is almost completed.

So it's a policy change, not because it's the right thing to do, but because the anti-Russian coalition was defeated.

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TheOtherMaven's picture

Either way, you're gonna be very, very sorry.

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There is no justice. There can be no peace.

Libya

The United States is wading back into Libya, with the Biden administration launching a fresh diplomatic bid to pull the country out of a violent spiral and making plans to reopen the U.S. Embassy in Tripoli seven years after it was closed.

Last week, the highest-ranking U.S. diplomat to visit the country since 2014 arrived in Tripoli, and the administration has deployed a team there to work out the daunting logistics of reopening the embassy, two sources familiar with the matter said.

The moves are a contrast to the hands-off approach of the Trump administration, which chose not to impose pressure on governments — including U.S. allies — that have supported proxies in Libya's civil war in blatant violation of a U.N. arms embargo

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I do however agree with this part.

First of all, every president since at least 2001 has been a war criminal, and Biden is no different. So what I'm talking about is just the degree of war criminal.

Biden's decisions are a mixed bag. He has filled his cabinet with (neocons) Obama retreads.

Not much has changed with regards to Venezuela, Cuba, Columbia, Syria and Ukraine.

There is some hope on Iran if it passes the Israel test and Blinken seems to be trying to make Pompeo to be an second rate amateur.

All in all it is far too early to figure out Biden.

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The mercenaries leave Afghanistan too.
If the withdrawal isn't just to free things up for an attack on Iran.
If his Ukranian Nazi friends don't start WW3.
Or the Israelis.
Or the Navy over Taiwan.
Or Venezuela.
Or Cuba.
Or Ruritania.

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On to Biden since 1973

I think that we will learn more about the Blinken administration at the coming summit on Jun 16. Many of these issues will be on the table, certainly Ukraine and Syria. Also past and future treaties will be discussed. The US had pulled out of the Open Skies treaty and, with no hope of resurrection, Russia just voted to dump it. We are left with only one treaty, New Start.
On one hand I'm slightly hopeful because Blinken's hostility to Russia has been slightly less than Trump's, at least in action. There are some issues that can be easily resolved, like restoring consulates' staff levels, properties and privileges. Russia wants the US out of Syria and to respect Russia's interests in Ukraine and most of all to pressure the administration in Kiev to implement the Minsk Accords as signed. But I am not that hopeful about this summit as there has been no detailed preparation necessary for any substantial agreements. I could believe that this is just theater to allow Biden to criticize Russia and show that he is a tough guy. This will backfire even worse than Blinken's meeting with his Chinese equivalent in Alaska. What the US does not understand is that Russia strongly disagrees with every single negative claim about her from the West. The US and the UK have been massive irritants and there is no room for compromise in this.

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Capitalism has always been the rule of the people by the oligarchs. You only have two choices, eliminate them or restrict their power.

The Liberal Moonbat's picture

Absolutely it and its putative occupants matter (otherwise, why fight so dirty to keep even the mildest true reformer out of it?), but we're letting celebrity gossip and a succession of emperor-cults (And Remember, Kidz: Maltheism counts as a form of worship!) overshadow and obfuscate the War Industry. We've forgotten the single most important part of How To Be American: The President Is NOT A King.

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In the Land of the Blind, the One-Eyed Man is declared mentally ill for describing colors.

Yes Virginia, there is a Global Banking Conspiracy!