LETTER: The art of the kneel

I don’t know what was worse at the Alaska summit, an American president being humiliated by a former KGB agent or the press coverage.

President Donald Trump rolled out a red carpet announcing might makes right, that aggression against democratic sovereign states is acceptable to the United States of America. Mr. Trump welcomed a murderous war criminal as a friend while abandoning an “ally” valiantly holding off a vicious enemy, 10 times its size.

And the press discussed options for Ukraine: ceding as little land as possible, negotiating for “security assurances,” keeping NATO membership possible. Not one story highlighted Mr. Trump’s appeasement with another meaningless deadline passed with no consequences. What happened to his vow of severe consequences without a cease-fire? Now a cease-fire has morphed to a deal for peace, except without consequences.

Not one Republican objected to this appeasement. How many missed deadlines equals a missed red line? The entire Republican Party spoke with one voice at the cowardice and weakness of Barack Obama after he deferred attacking Syria when it used chemical weapons. He allowed Russia to guarantee no further use and Republicans were apoplectic about the loss of American credibility.

Mr. Trump now announces: “It’s up to Zelenskyy.” No. It was up to the president. Stopping the war by bullying Ukraine into submission is not “up to Zelenskyy.” Stopping the war required a consistent policy of increasing military aid to Ukraine and increasing economic harm to Russia, not a state visit. Stopping aggression against democracy used to be America’s historical and strategic policy. That’s been undone by a weak, unprincipled friend of Vladimir Putin.

The art of the kneel.