EDITORIAL: When America retreats, evil advances

Barack Obama reportedly once said of his former vice president, “Don’t underestimate Joe’s ability to (mess) things up.” Americans, the brave people of Ukraine and our allies are learning that the hard way.

On Thursday local time, Russia invaded Ukraine from multiple fronts. Russian forces came by air, land and sea. There were explosions from missile strikes. In the first day of the fighting, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said at least 137 Ukrainians died. He declared martial law. His government handed out weapons to those willing and able to use them.

Without outside help, it’s likely Russian forces will overwhelm the country despite the determined resistance. Russia appears intent on capturing Kyiv, Ukraine’s capital. It’s likely Russian President Vladimir Putin wants to install a puppet government that would be loyal to him. The wild card is how willing the civilian population is to keep fighting the invaders. As the U.S. learned in Iraq and Afghanistan, urban warfare against a dug in and determined foe is slow going and dangerous.

It’s the biggest conflict in Europe since the end of World War II. The ramifications are likely to be long lasting. It’s unclear how far Mr. Putin’s ambitions extend — or more importantly, how serious NATO members are about stopping him. The U.S. is sending an additional 7,000 troops to Europe. A more permanent military presence in the Poland, Romania or the Balkans could be forthcoming too.

The moral responsibility for this atrocity lies with Mr. Putin. He’s the aggressor, the invader, the man intent on re-establishing the Soviet Union. Evil is a constant throughout recorded history, and he is an example of it.

But there also needs to be reckoning for the West’s unwillingness and inability to stop him. As president of the United States, Joe Biden bears the much of that responsibility.

America is the great anomaly in world history. We are the empire that could have conquered the world — and didn’t. Our military might has allowed our leaders to promote human rights, liberty and free trade throughout the world. Americans may not like being the world’s policeman, but projecting overwhelming strength, along with our allies, made power-hungry dictators think twice about their expansion plans.

Under Mr. Biden, however, America has shrunk from the world stage. He abandoned Afghanistan and the government we once supported. When it became clear that the Taliban would quickly overrun the country, he cut bait. Mr. Biden left thousands of Americans and tens of thousands of Afghan allies and their families behind. Even a deadly suicide bombing didn’t change his willingness to surrender.

Russia noticed. China did too.

America has the world’s strongest military. But that mere fact won’t garner respect — let alone deter our enemies — if the commander-in-chief makes it obvious that he can be pushed around.

Mr. Biden’s sanctions are a case in point. On Sunday, Vice President Kamala Harris claimed, “The purpose of the sanctions has always been and continues to be deterrence.”

On Thursday — after sanctions clearly didn’t work — Mr. Biden claimed they weren’t supposed to. “No one expected the sanctions to prevent anything from happening,” he said.

Mr. Biden and U.S. officials spent weeks correctly warning of a Russian invasion. Now, he tells the country and the world that his “plan” was to put something in place that he didn’t expect to work. Calling that incompetence would be compliment.

It’s unclear how serious these sanctions will be. Initial measures excluded bank transactions related to energy. They also didn’t cut off the Russian banks’ access to the SWIFT system, which banks use to communicate. Perhaps that changes. But it would be historically unlikely that even harsh sanctions will deter a dictator lusting for power.

“In a contest between democracy and autocracy,” Mr. Biden claimed Thursday, “freedom will prevail.”

May it be so, but it’s not an inevitability. And under Mr. Biden’s watch, the opposite is happening. If only Mr. Biden’s leadership and resolve matched the bravery of the Ukrainians defending their homeland.