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No surprise: Macron and Le Pen made it to the runoff in France. Macron came first, but with a narrow lead. He will most likely be re-elected, as the war favored him a lot and the French seem to forget that his government has been a complete disaster.
The war has also exposed the double standards and hypocrisy of U.S. leaders. For example, Obama now pretends to rewrite history, according to an editorial in the Wall Street Journal editorial. In a speech in Chicago, Obama said that he had been harsh enough on Putin when he invaded Crimea and eastern Ukraine. He also said that Europe had been soft then. He is lying.
Obama, no doubt, was one of the most accommodating presidents to Putin. Although he sanctioned Moscow, he was lukewarm, and eventually ended up agreeing with Putin to negotiate nuclear deals with Iran. He never sold anti-tank weapons to Ukraine and allowed Germany to move forward with the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, which resulted in European dependence on Russia and, in large part, the tragedy we are living today.
Washington, through then-Vice President Joe Biden, blackmailed Kyiv with economic and military aid in exchange for political favors, and finally allowed Putin’s development and consolidation as a decisive force in the Middle East and the rest of the world.
Many of the officials who were once wrong on Putin are now back in the White House, thanks to Joe Biden. It is certainly worrisome.
This article originally appeared in El American’s newsletter on April 11, 2022. Subscribe for free here!
Orlando Avendaño is the co-editor-in-chief of El American. He is a Venezuelan journalist and has studies in the History of Venezuela. He is the author of the book Days of submission // Orlando Avendaño es el co-editor en Jefe de El American. Es periodista venezolano y cuenta con estudios en Historia de Venezuela. Es autor del libro Días de sumisión.