Correction on Recent Taiwan Post

In my 10-22-21 post entitled . . .

Joe Says We’ll Go to War to Defend Taiwan

. . . I referred to the US’s commitment to defend Taiwan under the Sino-American Mutual Defense Pact which, in fact, ended in 1980.  What took its place was the Taiwan Relations Act which DOES NOT PROMISE DIRECT US MILITARY ASSISTANCE.

Accordingly, Joe Biden’s comments in his CNN Town Hall wherein he told Anderson Cooper that the US WOULD DEFEND TAIWAN OWING TO A COMMITMENT WE HAVE ALSO WAS INCORRECT.  But, as I observed in my initial post, this was still the EXPEDIENT THING to say lest our allies EVERYWHERE begin to panic.

Besides, Republicans in Congress have currently introduced something called the Taiwan Invasion Prevention Act which would GIVE BIDEN NEW POWERS to defend Taiwan from a Chinese invasion.

Here’s Pat Buchanan’s verbatim take on not only Taiwan but other openly “confrontational postures” adopted by the Biden Administration:

• We are openly warning Russia that the U.S. may soon bring Ukraine and Georgia into NATO, which would entail a U.S. war guarantee to fight on those nations’ behalf in a future military clash with Moscow.
• We are openly warning Iran that time is running out, that if Tehran does not return to negotiations on the nuclear deal and compliance with its terms, a U.S. attack on Iran cannot be ruled out.
• We are putting China on notice that we do not accept its broad claims to the islets of the East and South China Seas, and we may be there to fight alongside our allies to sustain their claims.
• Now congressional leaders in both parties are crafting measures to give Biden authorization to take us to war with China to protect Taiwan, whose declaration of independence, warns Beijing, would cross its “red line” and mean war.

One has to wonder if US foreign policy hasn’t become OUTRIGHT DELUSIONAL.  We’re going to allow ourselves to be sucked into a series of potential wars such as these — when it isn’t even clear what, if any, are vital interests are?

Has our thinking become this sloppy, or are we simply ONE NATION UNDER HUBRIS?