Alex Reinshagen | The Bruges Group
March 19, 2024
The current US Administration (and Congress) needs to get its act together. The entire world - friends and foes alike - see how weak America is on the world stage. The United Kingdom would be correct in taking on more of a leadership role in keeping us from plummeting into WW III. Because right now, it's not coming from President Biden and the United States.
With the recent announcement by Buckingham Palace that King Charles was diagnosed with cancer, coupled with high inflation and immigration concerns across Great Britain, many Brits may not be up to speed on the latest drama in American politics, and rightfully so. There are too many problems in the UK and the EU to worry about what is taking place in the US: the Russians are still in Ukraine; there is another war between Israel and Hamas; farmers are revolting throughout the EU; and of course, the rift in the Royal Family.
As an American, I like Prince Harry. I was on his protective security detail in Florida when he visited in 2016 for the Invictus Games at Walt Disney World. I met and spoke with him briefly after a polo match – my first encounter with him – and he was an extremely personable and relaxed, and a nice lad. I remember thinking to myself when we met how American politics would benefit from having such a reasonable, well-ntentioned man as a governor, senator, or president; someone who gave up his fortune and title, even though he didn't earn any of it, to be a regular man, albeit famous, nevertheless.
Also, as an American, I'm consumed by politics, but it's not by choice. We are spoon-fed the latest happenings in Washington DC, whether we want it or not, and regardless of where we live. The news programs on television pit the left against the right, day-in and day-out. It's not news anymore, it's a feeding frenzy; it's akin to the Chinese Communist Party controlling virtually every aspect of the lives of the 1.6 billion residents in China, telling them what they should and should not know.
A newly publicized report was released over the weekend concerning President Biden's handling of classified documents while he was Vice President and President of the United States. Like Hillary Clinton's unauthorized email server in her house which she used to process classified information, President Biden's theft of highly classified documents from secure storage facilities in DC, which he kept inside a cardboard box in his garage in Delaware, would land any US Government employee in jail for decades. To be clear, classified documents such as these should kept in a particular style safe, with a particular style and brand combination lock, in a locked and alarmed building – very different from Uncle Joe's garage.
The report was a summary of Biden's handling of classified information, and it was quite damning to the aging President. According to Special Council Robert Hur, who was appointed by US Attorney General Garland to investigate the President's handling of classified information, Biden willfully and knowingly held classified documents to which he had no right. This act was then and is now illegal, and if I had done this while a Special Agent in the State Department, not only would I have lost my security clearance and my career, but I would have been imprisoned. But different rules apply to different groups, not only in the US, but in most countries. Who said the scales of justice are blind? In America, it's the haves and the have-nots. It has been this way since slavery, and there is no end in sight.
I can live with that. What I cannot live with is the report in which the counsel referred to Biden as an "aging, elderly gentleman" with good intentions who is "forgetful" and, therefore, should not be charged with a crime because he is too impaired to stand trial. Since when did being elderly get you off the hook for committing a crime? Yet, he is the US President, battling President Xi Jinping in China, Vladimir Putin in Russia, and Quds Force in Iran. This is a man who was apparently freely elected in 2020 and is counted on to stem the flow of illegal immigrants flooding into the US from Mexico transporting deadly fentanyl into suburban America. It is the man who is relied upon to bring prosperity to America, and it is the man who promised to be the most transparent president in history.
American Diplomats working at the State Department will have their hands full trying to unspin the latest Biden news conference in which he was asked by Peter Doocy of Fox News, "How bad is your memory and can you continue to be President?" Biden responded, "My memory is so bad, I allowed you to speak." With this non-sensical response, Biden's incoherent rants have taken on a new level. The United States can no longer employ the façade of being the leader of the Western world, much less the free world. Everyone sees it.
The US is in a downward spiral, and it began when Biden took office: grade schools permit boys to use girl's restrooms in many parts of the country; sanctuary cities and 'Defund the police' movements have run aground, awash in crime that shows no signs of regressing; illegal migrants walk across our southern border, unabated, due to Biden's horrific 'open borders' policies; and both liberals and conservatives can't seem to find common ground, throwing jabs at each other for airtime on the nightly news. Iran, China, and Russia see it unfolding each time President Biden dares to appear on the tele. Our closest friends and allies recognize the disaster staring us in the face, lest Washington comes together in a united front, with new and improved leadership. Assuming this may not happen for another four years should Biden win re-election in November, the world needs the United Kingdom to lead us through these tumultuous times and keep the wars in the Middle East and Eastern Europe from spiraling into yet another world war.
With King Charles likely unable to take on more of a leadership role on the world stage anytime soon, perhaps it is time for Prince William, or even Prince Harry, to point the ship in the right direction and bring this world together before we destroy ourselves.
Alex Reinshagen is a contributing author of The Bruges Group (London), author of American Diplomat, and a retired US Foreign Service Special Agent. He has served around the world promoting US foreign policy for the US State Department including China, Iraq, Israel, Egypt, Pakistan, Palestine, Bangladesh, and Slovakia.