More surprises from the New York Times. The title of Tom Friedman’s latest NYT column is “We Are Suddenly Taking On China and Russia at the Same Time”. Here’s its opening paragraph:
In case you haven’t noticed, let me alert you to a bracing turn of events: The U.S. is now in conflict with Russia and China at the same time. Grandma always said, “Never fight Russia and China at the same time.†So did Henry Kissinger. Alas, there is a strong case in the national interest for confronting both today. But have no doubt: We are in uncharted waters. I just hope that these are not our new “forever wars.â€
I strongly suspect that if you took an opinion poll of the American people they wouldn’t favor “taking on” either China or Russia let alone both at the same time if by “taking on” you mean military conflict.
Although his choice of words is making matters worse, I doubt that President Biden actually wants to go to war with them, either, let alone go to war with both of them at the same time.
But our chickens have come home to roost. Decades of bad policy are all coming to a head at the same time. Remember that in war the enemy gets a vote.
