Four Russian warships are currently within 100 miles of Florida, visiting communist Cuba, but the Biden administration says there’s “nothing to see here.”
“This is not a surprise. We have seen them make such port visits before and this is a routine naval visit that we have seen under successive administrations,” Sabrina Singh, assistant defence ministry spokesperson, told reporters on Wednesday.
National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan reiterated that “we’ve seen this before and we expect it to happen again.”
The Biden team’s indifference is as hollow as Kamala Harris’ speech. After blunders in Afghanistan and Ukraine that have reignited conflict in the Middle East, the last thing the team of President Joe Biden needs is another Cuban Missile Crisis during his term. (Related article: Disappointing Act: Biden’s Gaza aid plan faces another major setback)
In fact, the US has been through this before: in 1962, tensions between the USSR and the US nearly triggered World War III during a 13-day standoff. Fortunately, President John F. Kennedy ignored calls from his military and intelligence officials to invade Cuba. Instead, the young US president made a secret deal with Nikita Khrushchev that remained secret for 30 years, and Kennedy withdrew the US offensive. Jupiter Missile He cut off military aid to Cuba from Turkey and pledged not to invade Cuba in return for the Soviet Union removing its medium- and intermediate-range ballistic nuclear missiles (MRBMs and IRBMs) from a small island off the American coast.
Unfortunately, the Joe Biden of old is no Jack Kennedy.
Kennedy issued a direct warning to the American people. Television broadcast The president warned of the Cuban threat, including the horror of nuclear war, which would “reduce even the fruits of victory to ashes.” He described Soviet weapons in Cuba and outlined seven steps to defuse the crisis. The president’s words surprised the public, but at least they recognized the risks associated with the policy steps he was taking.
Few Americans currently understand how close the Biden administration has come to all-out war with the world’s largest nuclear power. Biden’s national security team continues to secretly expand U.S. involvement in Ukraine while publicly downplaying the risks.
Earlier this month, it was reported that President Biden had quietly approved allowing Ukraine to use American offensive weapons to strike deep into Russian territory. Yet despite this momentous strategic decision, President Biden has continued to carry out business as usual, freezing and licking ice cream at a Juneteenth concert. There has been no policy speech from the president, no outline of seven steps to victory, and no warning to the American people of the risks involved.
And there is a big risk.
On June 7, Russian President Putin issued two stern warnings from St. Petersburg in response to President Biden’s recent escalation of tensions. In the first, he asserted that if the US and NATO are able to supply offensive weapons to small countries on our southern border and “attack our territory and cause us problems, then why don’t we have the right to supply some parts of the world with the same type of weapons that can be used to attack sensitive facilities of countries that launch attacks against Russia?”
As promised, President Putin sent a Russian fleet to Cuba, including the frigate Admiral Gorshkov, equipped with Russia’s Zircon hypersonic cruise missiles.
Putin’s second warning was to point reporters to Russia’s nuclear policy: “See what it says there? We believe that if anyone’s actions threaten our sovereignty and territorial integrity, we may use all available means.”
The average Russian knows what “by all means” means. 54% of Russians say they live in “constant fear” of nuclear war. Unlike Americans, Russians understand that they are at war not only with Ukraine, but also with the United States and the West.
So don’t believe National Security Council spokesman John Kirby when he says, “Frankly, we don’t expect any imminent threat or any threat at all.” The threat is clear and present, and the risks are not only high, but immense.
In today’s political environment, neoconservatives are quick to label any kind of negotiation as “appeasement,” while to war hawks, any deal is the Munich Agreement of 1938.
Talking is not appeasement. Attempting a negotiated solution is not appeasement. It is worth noting that it was the Kremlin that opened the door to de-escalation during the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962. Khrushchev wrote Kennedy: “Let us not only loosen the tension at the end of the rope, but take steps to untie the knot.”
History repeats itself: At the same meeting last week, Putin said he had written Biden a letter offering to end the war if the U.S. would stop supplying weapons to Ukraine.
Would our Commander in Chief take up this offer to end a conflict that has killed hundreds of thousands and squandered billions of dollars?
Perhaps Biden should listen to a wiser, younger president from his own party. As Kennedy told the American people, “The greatest danger is doing nothing.”
Morgan Murphy is a former Pentagon spokesman, National Security Advisor to the U.S. Senate, and Afghanistan veteran.
The views and opinions expressed in this commentary are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official position of the Daily Caller News Foundation.
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