For the first time since George Washington was elected the United States' first president on April 20, 1789, the mass of land sandwiched between Canada and Mexico is absent a head of state. After forty-six consecutive presidencies, we are missing a fearless leader, a Chief Executive Officer, and Commander of our military. We are missing our top diplomat, our anchor of the past, and our warrior to uphold our hopes and dreams of the future. Six weeks after announcing he will not run for a second term, President Joe Biden disintegrated into thin air in the ocean breeze on the beach near his home Delaware. Long since forgotten, the president vowed to select a woman of color who has her eyes on the White House, just a few months before election day. He is as lame duck a president that one can be, and it began the day he was elected four years ago.
To be fair, American influence began waning under President George W. Bush. After the September 11th attacks in New York City, Bush declared a global war on terror and subsequently led a multinational invasion of Afghanistan in search of Osama bin Laden and the Taliban as well as Al-Qaeda leaders in 2001. Although bin Laden was killed in 2011 in Pakistan by US Forces, the U.S. remained in Afghanistan to 'nation-build' for an additional ten years, resulting in the longest war in American history.
The U.S.-led invasion of Iraq with Britain, Australia, and Poland in 2003 was meant "to disarm Iraq of weapons of mass destruction [WMD], to end Saddam Hussein's support for terrorism, and to free the Iraqi people." On February 5 of that year, U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell, a critic of starting a war in the Middle East, sat in front of members of the UN Security Council and stated, "My colleagues, every statement I make today is backed up by sources — solid sources. These are not assertions. What we're giving you are facts and conclusions based on solid intelligence." He continued, "Saddam Hussein has chemical weapons. Saddam Hussein has used such weapons. And Saddam Hussein has no compunction about using them again — against his neighbors, and against his own people."
Less than two months later, President Bush ordered airstrikes on Baghdad, which resulted in over two decades of occupation of Iraq by U.S. soldiers, and the monstrous expense paid by U.S. taxpayers. More importantly, it was later discovered that Saddam Hussein and his military had no weapons of mass destruction. In fact, they were struggling to keep their people fed, keep the lights on, and supply potable drinking water to their citizens. Before I deployed to the southern Iraqi desert in 2014 with the U.S. Foreign Service to guard the sole western flag standing in the blazing heat in Basra, my Arabic language instructor told me living in Iraq wasn't bad at all. Saddam did his best to ensure Iraqis were well-nourished, enjoyed safety, and lived peacefully with Iran. Unfortunately, the world believed the likeable Colin Powell, and most nations backed the overthrow of Saddam's government by the Americans. After it came to light that Iraq was not storing WMD, respect for the United States plummeted.
Fast-forward to 2020 when President Trump made an effort to negotiate the withdraw of U.S. troops, who were still in Afghanistan. Negotiations of the withdraw stumbled, but not before half our military had already left. When Biden took over as President, he was intent on pulling out the remaining troops, regardless of whether the Afghan government could stay in control of their own country, and not lose it to the Taliban. Biden made the decision to hastily withdrawal from Afghanistan, which led to thirteen service members and 170 U.S.-loyal Afghans being killed during a Taliban attack at the Kabul airport as the last coalition plane departed. Thousands who worked for or on behalf of the United States and its allies were left behind to fend for themselves after years of service. The White House invaded and occupied an ally, then withdrew militarily to let the country fall into the hands of a terrorist organization. The chaotic withdrawal futher damaged America's influence and leadership in the region and around the globe. It is considered the largest military disaster in the history of the United States, and a permanent black eye on US diplomacy.
America's popularity as a global power has been waning at a meteoric rate ever since. Notwithstanding the withdraw of troops from Afghanistan, Biden has been unable to negotiate with Russian President Vladimir Putin, China's President Xi Jinping, nor Israel's Benjamin Netanyahu. First it was Putin, who invaded Ukraine under Biden's watch. The 2022 invasion is the largest in Europe since WWII and has caused hundreds of thousands of military casualties an a 20% occupation of Ukraine by the Russians. In December 2021 during one of Biden's most crucial foreign policy tests of his presidency, he warned Putin about invading Ukraine by assuring Vladimir that United States "will respond decisively and impose swift and severe costs." Putin called his bluff and sent troops across the border anyway. Biden's response? Nothing. Another black eye on U.S. foreign policy.
President Xi watched intently as President Putin continued his attempted takeover of the Eastern European country and flaunted his own military power and naval autonomy by sending warships to and around the small island nation of Taiwan, ready to seize the breakaway province once and for all. Meanwhile, China blamed Biden for the Russian dilemma, resulting in a stern message from the Biden Administration to President Xi, "We strongly urge Beijing to act with restraint." But was that message firm enough? Beijing would have none of it. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang dismissed U.S. calls for China to exercise restraint in relation to the latest naval drills near Taiwan. The United States "is in no position to make such irresponsible remarks," Wang said. It seems Biden, or Kamala Harris, are neither feared nor respected in Russian or in China.
Israel's war in Gaza is another litmus test in foreign policy Biden has failed to pass. His support for Netanyahu's war in Gaza has further implicated the United States in war mongering and exposed his double standard ideology.
"He literally embraced Netanyahu, fueling the war with ammunition, bombs, using U.S. vetoes in the Security Council, and by basically providing operational intelligence for Israel," Fawaz Gerges from the London School of Economics told The New Arab. "Joe Biden will always be remembered for the catastrophe in Gaza."
Biden's Vice President, Kamala Harris, has little diplomacy experience, as she has mainly been focused on domestic issues and immigration. It is too early to predict whether she would be able to advance U.S. interests because no one really knows what her stance is. Since Biden stepped out of office and away from the media, Harris has refused to debate former President Donald J. Trump and has not held a press conference, aside from being selected as the democratic nominee at the Democratic National Convention in August. During the convention, she tried to convince those listening that she has plenty of foreign policy experience and was Biden's right hand when making major decisions and deciding whom to support. "Five days before Russia attacked Ukraine, I met with President Zelensky to warn him about Russia's plan to invade," she said. "I helped mobilize a global response of over 50 countries to defend against Putin's aggression," as if to tell Zelensky something he did not already know.
On a recent trip to South America, I spoke to a member of a President's cabinet who summed up the Biden Administration and current American influence. "What we see is an America that we laugh at, tell jokes about, and try to avoid at all costs. I won't even take phone calls from the Embassy anymore. Foreign policy? What foreign policy?"
