Biden sent to soothe Europe on Russia overtures

[Chris_]

Biden sent to soothe Europe on Russia overtures

WARSAW | Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. arrived here Tuesday on the first leg of a delicate diplomatic repair mission that follows the Obama administration's abrupt reversal on missile defense, a decision that rekindled deep-seated unease in a region where the U.S. is seen as the only reliable counterweight to a potentially menacing Russian neighbor.

By visiting with top Polish, Czech and Romanian officials this week, the vice president is hoping to reassure the three NATO allies that the United States remains deeply committed to their security. And, he intends his visit to serve as an important marker, coming 20 years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, in the evolution of American relations with the former Eastern Bloc nations.

It is expected that Mr. Biden will be welcomed warmly. But in a series of private meetings with presidents, prime ministers and opposition leaders in all three countries, he also will be reminded of the historic tensions that have turned recent American overtures to Russia into a topic of broad suspicion. Mr. Biden hopes to settle those nerves.

*snip*

"He's doing damage control, plain and simple," said Damon Wilson, who served as senior director for European Affairs at the National Security Council under President George W. Bush.

"The vice president understands this is much less about missile defense than it is about an erosion of trust," said Mr. Wilson, who now serves as the director of the International Security Program at the Atlantic Council of the United States. "And it's a problem that has been building and building and building."

Remember all that  during O's campaign...about rebuilding foreign trust and our reputation abroad?  Now "plugs" Biden is off to do damage control because Ooooobama has screwed over our allies.  Can it get any worse?

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[JohnnyReb]

on the first leg of a delicate diplomatic repair mission = Bull in China shop.

They should feel real safe after his visit.........my advice, "Buy more guns".

[franksolich]

They should feel real safe after his visit.........my advice, "Buy more guns".

They are probably doing exactly that.

I'd be the last person in the world to be surprised if Poland is surreptitiously and clandestinely trying to buy nuclear know-how and weapons from some nuclear power that isn't Russia or the United States.

[Odin's Hand]

There we go...send the most awkward, bumblef*ck in the upper echelons of the admin. to smooth over national security issues with a very recently jilted group of allies...

[zeitgeist]

Just in case anyone missed this excellent article from across the pond on Slo Joe..

Joe Biden's overseas expertise amounted to having spent a long time as chairman of the Senate foreign affairs committee Photo: EPA


Want to know how to deal with a momentous issue of war or grand strategy? You could do a lot worse than check out what Vice-President Joe Biden thinks – and plump for the opposite.

Mr Biden was chosen as Barack Obama's running mate last August because he was old, white and supposedly knew a lot about foreign policy. I say "supposedly" because really Mr Biden's overseas expertise amounted to having spent a long time as chairman of the Senate foreign affairs committee, knowing the names of lots of world leaders, and being able to josh around amiably with them during congressional junkets across the globe.
{snip}

LINK:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/barackobama/6359034/Joe-Biden-the-worrying-rise-of-Barack-Obamas-Mr-Wrong.html

My personal belief is that Slo Joe was selected to prevent a coup, violent or otherwise, he is the cure far worse than the disease!