President Biden should not pass off failed US proxy war against Russia to Trump presidency

President Biden should not pass off failed US proxy war against Russia to Trump presidency   A wise aphorism advises ‘Finish what you start.’   That should certainly apply President Biden finishing up the colossal military blunder he began early in his presidency. A half century cold warrior in Congress, the Vice Presidency, culminating in the presidency, Biden tried to weaken Russia by using his Ukraine proxies to keep Russia out of the Western European political economy.   He spent his entire term seeking that goal, only to have it backfire spectacularly. He’s accomplished nothing except largely destroying Ukraine as a functioning, democratic nation. With Russia he’s accomplished the opposite. Russia has gained prestige, power, a vibrant economy and near total control over a fifth of Ukraine that will never return to Kyiv’s rule.   How Biden could be so shortsighted, so wrong, so stupid will forever remain a mystery. But he does have an opportunity in his last 70 days to finish his failed project with a win-win negotiated settlement before Donald Trump takes office.   He needs to inform Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky that US weapons, keeping the proxy war bleeding, will be cutoff, requiring Zelensky to sue for peace. The only thing those weapons accomplish is continued slaughter of the Ukraine military and further degradation of the Ukraine nation.   The settlement will be a huge embarrassment for Biden and the US national security state. But it will end the dying and begin the process of rebuilding the roughly 80% of Ukraine that Russia neither wants nor can conquer like the 20% on their border never to return to Ukraine sovereignty.   Ending the war, or at least starting the peace process, will take one major crisis from Trump’s overcrowded foreign policy plate. Since Trump often speaks on opposite sides of every foreign entanglement, we have no idea how he will handle the Ukraine war once in power.   During the campaign he bragged he’d end it in one day starting by ending the US weapons train to Ukraine. But he just announced Rep. Mike Waltz to be his National Security Advisor. Uber hawk Waltz never encountered a US military misadventure he didn’t relish. Waltz’ favors ramping up sanctions enforcement on Russia which has not hurt Russia one iota in 33 months of war. Much worse, he supports allowing Ukraine to use using long range US, NATO-weapons to strike deep inside Russia. That’s not a plan to end the war in 24 hours. It’s an unhinged recipe for igniting nuclear winter in 24 hours.   Achieving peace in Ukraine in his remaining weeks would allow Biden to partially salvage his disastrous foreign policy record. Largely destroying Ukraine, enabling the worst genocide in this century in Gaza, endlessly escalating tensions with China that could explode into war, represents one of the worst foreign policy records in US history.   There would be neat historical symmetry between Biden and Trump if Biden does initiate a Ukraine peace agreement. In Trump’s last year he inked a deal with the Taliban to end America’s 20 yearlong Afghan war. Biden wisely and courageously followed thru to complete it in his first year. It would be cool if Biden could reciprocate and leave office with a peace deal for Trump to simply sign off on.   If Biden ended one war, he’s capable of ending a second. Come on Joe…say it’s so.