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Biden drops sanctions -- and another war happens

By Monica Showalter

It's getting to be as predictable as sunrise.

Joe Biden drops sanctions on some rogue regime to get hold of its oil -- and then another country gets war rained down on it, attacked and invaded.

Anything but drill our own.

It seems to be happening for a third time during this Biden administration, this time with Guyana the victim.

The timelines for all of these incidents are remarkably precise. Start with the first one, from Europe, via CNN, dated July 21, 2021:

WashingtonCNN —

The US announced Wednesday that it has reached a deal with Germany that would allow completion of the controversial Nord Stream 2 pipeline opposed by the Biden administration as a “malign influence project” that Russia could use to gain leverage over European allies.

“While we remain opposed to the pipeline, we reached the judgment that sanctions would not stop its construction and risked undermining a critical alliance with Germany, as well as with the EU and other European allies,” a senior State Department official said Wednesday.

The announcement is unlikely to end bitter divides over the pipeline, with US lawmakers condemning the agreement, Ukrainian officials immediately weighing in to say they are lodging diplomatic protests and even the US acknowledging their opposition to the project remains firm.
“I would just say emphatically that we still oppose Nord Stream 2, we still believe it’s a Russian geopolitical malign influence project, none of that has changed,” the senior official said.

Net beneficiary? Russia, which was subject of the opposition.

Less than a year later, via Wikipedia, we got this:

On 24 February 2022, Russia launched a military invasion of Ukraine in a steep escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War. The campaign had been preceded by a Russian military buildup since early 2021 and numerous Russian demands for security measures and legal prohibitions against Ukraine joining NATO.

Cause, effect. Too bad about Ukraine.

Here's more from the timeline from CBS News, in a story dated Sept. 11, 2023:

Washington — The Biden administration has cleared the way for the eventual release of five American citizens detained in Iran by issuing a waiver for international banks to transfer $6 billion in frozen Iranian money from South Korea to Qatar without fear of U.S. sanctions. In addition, as part of the deal, the administration has agreed to release five Iranian citizens held in the United States.

What happened next?

According to the Associated Press, in a piece dated Oct, 7, 2023:

JERUSALEM (AP) — Backed by a barrage of rockets, Hamas militants stormed from the blockaded Gaza Strip into nearby Israeli towns, killing dozens and abducting others in an unprecedented surprise attack during a major Jewish holiday Saturday. A stunned Israel launched airstrikes in Gaza, with its prime minister saying the country is now at war with Hamas and vowing to inflict an “unprecedented price.”

In an assault of startling breadth, Hamas gunmen rolled into as many as 22 locations outside the Gaza Strip, including towns and other communities as far as 15 miles (24 kilometers) from the Gaza border. In some places they gunned down civilians and soldiers as Israel’s military scrambled to muster a response.

Gunbattles continued well after nightfall, and militants held hostages in standoffs in two towns. Militants occupied a police station in a third town, where Israeli forces struggled until Sunday morning to finally reclaim the building.

Hamas is Iran's well-financed proxy, and with Iran flush with cash from Biden, the terrorist group launched its horrific atrocity attack against America's ally Israel, murdering 1,400 Israelis and others, and taking dozens hostages, including around 10 Americans that they are still holding, in horrific conditions. Everyone could see the connection between Biden's sanctions drop -- which put more Iranian oil on the world markets and money in the ruling mullahs' pockets -- and the sudden price for Israel from this Biden folly.

Now we have this in this timeline, from Reuters, in a piece dated October 18:

WASHINGTON, Oct 18 (Reuters) - The Biden administration on Wednesday broadly eased sanctions on Venezuela's oil sector in response to a deal reached between the government and opposition parties for the 2024 election - the most extensive rollback of Trump-era restrictions on Caracas.

Biden dropped sanctions on Venezuela in an oil-for-democracy deal, and now Guyana gets invaded.

The latest news from that country, confirmed by its officials, is that it is missing one of its military helicopters, just as the Maduro regime advances on the border.

Here is what the Los Angeles Times is reporting today:

GEORGETOWN, Guyana —

A military helicopter carrying seven people vanished Wednesday near Guyana’s border with Venezuela, with authorities saying that there was bad weather in the area and stressing that there was no indication it may have been hit by hostile fire as tensions escalate between the countries.

Two crew members aboard the helicopter were taking five senior officers on an inspection of troops guarding a border area that Venezuela claims as its own, according to Guyanese Army Chief Brig. Gen. Omar Khan.

Venezuelan troops with heavy equipment and machinery have been massing on the border in recent weeks, leading to speculation of an imminent invasion. Guyanese President Irfaan Ali told the Associated Press earlier Wednesday that he was taking all necessary steps to defend his country.

A shootdown? We don't know yet, but that can't be discounted at this point.

Maduro has declared 78% of Guyana, its oil-rich Essequibo region, Venezuelan territory, printed up maps to show it, ordered oil exploration there, told the naive he's only concerned about its ecology, and as a lagniappe, started arresting political opponents who were supposed to be "helped" by Biden's oil-for-democracy deal.

Now the communists in Caracas can pump oil, sell it on the world markets, invade their neighbors, and arrest their opponents, just like Joe Biden does in the states. That's a win-win for them because Joe Biden dropped sanctions on Venezuela. It's not for nothing that his Venezuela team has been called "the three stooges," by a senior U.S. diplomat.

But again, somebody's nation gets invaded, somebody gets the dogs of war, courtesy of Joe Biden.

What is this about? As with Russia and Iran, it's about oil, energy -- the sanctions, and the lack of sanctions.

Were President Trump in the White House now, not one of these wars would have happened, because Trump made the U.S. self-sufficient in oil and other energy and a competitive energy-exporting power. There would be zero need to drop sanctions on rogue states unless they really did what the U.S. demanded.

Biden shut that down on day one, when he cut off construction of the Keystone XL pipeline, and banned drilling for oil on federal lands. The U.S. rapidly lost its energy dominance, and then went begging oil tyrants to pump us some oil instead. Saudi Arabia, Venezuela -- they have all seen the U.S. come begging, despite having more oil in its own ground than it knows what to do with. Sanctions have been dropped, with no serious reciprocal reforms from tyrants. The sheer stupidity of it all has now led to a string of wars.

What accounts for the foolish stance, repeated again and again as wars break out like wildfires? Biden seems to be on the string of a Swiss billionaire named Hansjörg Wyss Wyss who wants the U.S. to go green, and forego that energy independence that forestalls wars and makes America a global player of power and influence. I wrote about his grip on the Democrats here, which explains Biden's rigidity on this green agenda matter, and why he can't change course.

Now it's war after war, thanks to Biden's sheer slowness at understanding what he's doing, and probably his fealty to the Swiss billionaire.

All he has to do is reverse his executive orders and make America energy independent. By failing to do it, he's inviting war, and more war. Now Guyana looks likely to be the next domino to topple. Thanksalot, Joe.

https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2023/12/biden_drops_sanctions__and_another_war_happens.html