President Joe Biden's surprise trip to war-torn Ukraine was a diplomatic coup of the highest order-- [View all]
President Joe Biden's surprise trip to war-torn Ukraine was a diplomatic coup of the highest order—and that means Republicans are absolutely furious over it
By Hunter, Daily Kos Staff
https://m.dailykos.com/stories/2023/2/20/2154017/-President-Biden-s-Kyiv-trip-was-a-diplomatic-masterstroke-so-of-course-Republicans-are-fuming
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Among the conservative voices who are not, well, whatever Hawley and DeSantis are trying to be, there is another critique: Joe Biden is being too damn gutsy here.
Conservative correspondent Byron York tweeted: "This is reckless. Bush, Obama visited war zones where US had huge military presence to protect president, deter attack. Some allowed reporting only after president left. Here, reason to be very nervous until Biden leaves Ukraine via 'hourslong train ride.'"
It's more than that, though. Biden didn't just drop himself into Ukraine as means of showing the United States' deep ongoing commitment to defending the country. The Biden administration told Putin's government he was going, and all but dared them to do something about it. Multiple outlets have reported that the United States "notified" Putin's government of Biden's trip shortly before his departure for "deconfliction purposes"—that is, to give Russian military forces warning of Biden's arrival and to put the onus on Russia to avoid attacks on Kyiv during that time period.
That's not "reckless," that's an assertion of complete military control over the situation. The Biden administration made sure the Russian military knew full well where Biden would be so that if Russian airstrikes or other military actions did occur anywhere near the U.S. delegation, the United States would presume it to be an intentional assassination attempt.
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