The Emperor Has No Brains

America's post-electoral military escalation might amount to nothing, or it could be the last act of an empire gone mad. On ATACMS, ICBMs, and more nuclear poker

One more time, maybe the last, Joe Biden stared through sunglasses and angrily delivered a speech written to be uplifting. “The Amazon is the lungs of the world!” he barked at the G-20 summit in Brazil, before loping off with an unsmiling half-wave, like a man leaving a restaurant with lousy service. The President of the United States disappeared into trees.

Aides said the jungle exeunt was planned, but who knew? In an all-time awkward moment Monday, G-20 leaders waited and finally took a group photo without Biden, absent for “logistical reasons.” It was like taking a holiday portrait at the mall without Santa. When Biden reappeared the next day, a reporter shouted, “Mr. President, why did you change your mind on Ukraine shooting long-range missiles?” Biden said nothing, so other heads of state had to speak for him. “I had an excellent conversation with President Biden, he’s a friend and ally,” said Canada’s Justin Trudeau, through a nervous smile. “We talked about a lot of different things.”

Who’s calling the shots for NATO? On the heels of Tuesday’s news that U.S.-built ATACMS missiles were fired into Russia, up to 12 British-made “Storm Shadow” missiles were shot into the town of Marino yesterday in Russia’s Kursk region. Reportedly, French SCALP missiles may be the next Western long-range weapons deployed. But that’s just the beginning: