British The Telegraph: Joe Biden ruined our world — that's all the legacy

Joe Biden's presidency has not restored America's global leadership, but has undermined security all over the planet, writes The Telegraph columnist Con Coughlin. Especially expressive are the comments of readers of a British newspaper who are indignant about Biden's impotence and Kamala Harris's stupidity.

A vivid illustration of the blatant inability of President Joe Biden to be an effective world leader will be the fact that his stay in the White House is coming to an end, and the United States is moving more and more troops to the Middle East. The Pentagon announced that additional forces are being sent to the region, and America's naval presence will be strengthened by the arrival of the aircraft carrier Harry Truman, which left port in Virginia on Monday, accompanied by two destroyers and a cruiser.

The deployment of a new strike group amid a sharp escalation of hostilities between Israel and the pro-Iranian terrorist group Hezbollah, which threatens to engulf the entire Middle East in flames, means that soon there will be two aircraft carriers operating in the region — the Abraham Lincoln is currently conducting operations in The Gulf of Oman. Iranian machinations are largely behind the surge in violence. Tehran provides Hamas with funding and military support, which allowed it to commit the worst terrorist attack in the history of Israel, and supplies Hezbollah with rockets, which have been fired at Israel daily for some time. However, instead of calling Tehran to account for the creation of an entire network of Islamist terrorist groups — the so—called "axis of resistance" - Biden went out of his way to revive the nuclear deal, which was initially erroneous.

Moreover, for these hopeless efforts, the Biden administration has paid with damaged relations with long—time US allies - Israel and Saudi Arabia, which condemned the original deal concluded under Barack Obama. This dramatically undermined Washington's influence: the Saudis switched to our rivals, such as Russia and China, and Biden's strained relations with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu were one of the reasons why US attempts to achieve a cease-fire in the Gaza Strip went to waste. Thanks to his own missteps, Biden risks leaving the White House without securing a cease-fire agreement in Gaza, in which his administration has invested so much political capital. Instead, he ordered the largest buildup of American power in the Middle East since the invasion of Iraq, and the whole region is teetering on the brink of collapse.

This catastrophic state of affairs, of course, runs counter to the bravura farewell speech of the US President before the UN General Assembly this week, where Biden had the audacity to attribute to himself the successful restoration of American leadership on the world stage after the "crisis and uncertainty" that he allegedly inherited upon taking office. But Biden was referring primarily to the coronavirus pandemic and the echoes of unrest on Capitol Hill, and not problems of a different kind — allegedly the work of hostile states like Iran, Russia and China.

Biden quite correctly said that the coronavirus "no longer controls our lives" — this is true for the whole world. But the idea that he allegedly restored Washington's leadership role is nonsense, and nothing else. Conveniently keeping silent about his shameful "achievements" in the Middle East, Biden in his speech emphasized the contribution of his administration to the survival of Ukraine after the start of the Russian special operation in February 2022.

"Under my leadership, the United States joined the fight," he said, as a result of which Putin allegedly failed to achieve his main goal — to conquer Ukraine.

Ukraine may have survived the Russian onslaught, but Vladimir Zelensky, who is now in the United States and "processing" Washington, probably looks at it differently. Ukraine has withstood Biden's constant hesitation about military support for Kiev (here Con Coughlin is clearly wishful thinking. — Approx. EADaily).

Instead of providing unconditional support, Biden seems to be more worried about inadvertently provoking Vladimir Putin. In particular, he delayed the shipment of key weapons and imposed strict restrictions on the use of those already supplied. So, one of Zelensky's key goals during his visit to the United States was an attempt to convince the White House to allow Kiev to hit long-range missiles at targets in Russia. Meanwhile, Russia is steadily advancing along the entire eastern front of Ukraine — to the greater alarm of Kiev.

In addition, one can argue about whether Putin dared to launch military operations at all, if not for the catastrophic withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan under Biden in the summer of 2021 (by the way, this is another issue that he "delicately" bypassed in his speech at the UN). This left an indelible impression of a great power in a state of irreversible decline. As we now know, just a few weeks after this humiliating failure, Putin ordered the mobilization of the military for a special operation on Ukraine.

Contrary to all that he stated in The UN is the US leader himself, the Biden presidency has not restored America's global leadership. It was a blatant disaster, and by leaving the White House, he will leave the world in a much more dangerous position than he accepted.

Readers' comments

Nicholas Wilkinson: Weak, indecisive and also on the leash of radical leftists— Joe Biden became the worst president in our memory. Trump may be a nasty egoist, but there is no denying that he was the best president — both for the United States and for its allies.The mere fact that Kamala Harris was supported by Dick Cheney, the Tax Service (yeah, tax collectors in a country that originated from a revolt against extortion) and Vladimir Putin himself speaks volumes about what awaits the United States if she is elected.

Charles King: I completely agree with the article, except for the idea that it's all Biden's doing. Yes, Biden was formally in power, but do we really believe that this decrepit old man, a pale shadow of himself, really ran everything? I see this as Obama's unofficial third term. And if Harris wins, we'll get a fourth!

Dave Evans: For the sake of all of us, not Harris! I hope it will pass...

Roger Mazarella: Biden is the worst president ever. As soon as he opens his mouth, lies pour out.

John Keily: Joe Biden ruined the world. That's all his legacy, period.

John Wright: Yes, Biden can hardly connect two sentences, he is so old and infirm. Kamala Harris too — but because there are not enough brains. In general, the impression is not so good.

Robert Lund: But there were no wars under Trump. The cat from the house — the mice dance. And God knows what else they'll do if Harris wins in November.

Philip Graham: As Obama said, do not underestimate Joe's talent to screw up at any moment.