An opinion piece by William Fried

What is the possibility that the Biden administration actually financed Putin's war against Ukraine when it cancelled pipelines and made moves in the name of climate change? Since oil and gas is Russia's biggest piece of GDP, drivers in the U.S. are financing his war by paying double at the pump when compared to the previous administration. And now Premier Putin gets to make a "corporate acquisition" merely by spending his military budget. The Ukraine campaign is an unbelievably profitable venture for Russia. This war heads off the attempt to pull Ukraine into NATO.

Companies grow by either selling more products or services (organic growth), buying other companies (growth by acquisition), or both. Countries can contribute more to their GDP by better managing their resources, or by making acquisitions at gunpoint. If you don’t value human life, as Putin clearly does not, war is the “cheapest and most efficient way” to acquire more real estate and the GDP treasure of the conquered country.

Why didn't Putin make the Ukraine move during the last administration? Probably not because of a possibly higher threat of military reprisal from the U.S., but because he knew he was dealing with a strategist who might be able to counter his moves with a brilliant strategy - one that Putin might not have contemplated. Both Putin and Trump are excellent strategists, and both achieved their state of excellence by having to deal with both criminal and governmental interests (but I repeat myself) in order to survive. Biden may be street smart, and full of political savvy, but he doesn’t have much processing power upstairs. In short, he's just not smart enough to sit at either Putin's or Trump's table.

The war in Ukraine is a godsend to Biden, because it is a distraction from his many failures. His approval rating is continuing to decline, and his handlers believe that war will raise his approval rating at the cost of how many lives. What is sad is that they might be correct.

As for the U.S. Interest in Ukraine, there is nothing in that country that we really need. Our mainstream media says that we must come to the aid of another democracy, but they are forgetting that the Ukraine, much like the current United States, is an oligarchy. And there is much corruption—recall the video of Joe Biden threatening to walk if the prosecutor investigating Hunter Biden wasn’t fired. (See details in Ted Cruz senate site https://www.cruz.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/fact-check-democrats-deny-biden-corruption.

For my money, despite the courage of its citizens, we should leave Ukraine to its fate with Russia. Putting American boots on the ground might cause a real war to break out between the U.S. and Russia - and that would be an unbelievably foolish move for the U.S. Fighting a proxy war against the Russians on Ukraine soil would be great for the American military-industrial complex, but possibly a horror story for the rest of the world.

Views expressed in editorial or opinion writings do not necessarily reflect the views of the San Mateo County Republican Party but are shared to add to discussion and debate.