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A Republican lawmaker on Wednesday invoked the name of Neville Chamberlain, remembered in history as the British prime minister who tried to appease Hitler, during an attack on President Joe Biden for being soft on Russian leader Vladimir Putin.
It comes after Russian warplanes intercepted an American drone in international airspace, forcing it to crash into the Black Sea.
Rep. Carlos Gimenez, who is a member of the Homeland Security Committee, said Biden’s weakness was to blame for Russia’s boldness.
‘Look, Biden could be the Chamberlain of our day,’ he told Fox News. ‘And if you don’t know who Chamberlain was, Chamberlain was the guy that [said]: “This is peace in our time” with Hitler as he was dealing with Hitler, and that led to World War Two.
‘And so when you’re weak you invite trouble.
‘When you’re strong, you invite peace.’
British Prime Minister Neville Chambelain returned from a summit with German Chancellor Adolf Hitler in Munich in October 1938 waving their agreement in his hand. He said it was ‘peace for our time,’ but Hitler invaded Poland a year later
Rep. Carlos Gimenez (left), who is a member of the Homeland Security Committee, compared Biden’s response to Vladimir Putin’s aggression with Chamberlain’s record
Nazi Germany had annexed Austria and was threatening to invade Czechoslovakia in the fall of 1938 when Chamberlain traveled to Munich to meet Hitler as well as the Italian dictator Mussolini and the French premier to find a diplomatic resolution that would avert war.
The deal handed the Sudetenland in western Czechoslovakia to Germany.
Chamberlain also secured from Hitler what he thought was an agreement that the deal symbolized the commitment of Germany and the United Kingdom not to go to war with one another.
When the British prime minister returned to London, he was greeted by jubilant crowds.
‘I believe it is peace for our time,’ he told the throngs that gathered outside Buckingham Palace.
But within months Hitler had annexed the rest of Czechoslovakia. A year later he invaded Poland, leaving Chamberlain’s reputation in tatters.
Gimenez, whose own party is split on whether to stand up to Putin or let him have Ukraine, used the history lesson to attack Biden.
‘This president has shown time and time again throughout his political career that he’s completely weak,’ he said.
‘When it comes to foreign affairs, he will placate and try to negotiate with people that you can’t really negotiate with.
‘You have to have … you have to show strength and that’s the one way that you can attain peace — through strength. Never, never negotiate with bullies, and that’s what Putin is.’
According to US officials the MQ-9 Reaper drone was intercepted by two Russian Su-27 jets that dumped fuel on top of the drone before clipping its propeller, causing it to crash
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This comes after two Russian fighter jet pilots had forced down an unnamed US aerial vehicle (UAV, like the one pictured above) over the Black Sea yesterday, March 14
His was one of a number of voices demanding that the Biden administration hold Moscow accountable for the loss of the MQ-9 Reaper drone.
Sen. Lindsey Graham said Biden should threaten to shoot down Putin’s warplanes if they approach American assets even over international waters.
According to military officials, the Russian pilots repeatedly dumped fuel onto the drone and flew in front of it in a ‘reckless’ and ‘professional’ manner before a collision caused the American drone to crash.
The senator told Fox News host Sean Hannity that the US should hold Russia accountable and warned the Kremlin: ‘If you ever get near another US asset flying in international waters, your airplane will be shot down’, according to Newsweek.
He criticised the Biden administration and said the president was acting like ‘a deer in the headlights’ in the face of foreign threats like Russia.
South Carolina GOP Senator Graham (pictured) said the US should gun down Russian warplanes that approach an American asset in the airways over international waters
He said that weakness creates provocation and Russia knew they would get away with shooting down the drone, as other presidents like Reagan would have already started shooting down Russian planes if they were threatening American assets.
Fox News host Mr Hannity suggested Putin may have been monitoring Biden’s reaction as a Chinese spy balloon flew over the continental US and was only shot down after a week.
Senator Graham also compared the president to the comedian Rodney Dangerfield, who was renowned for leading his jokes with the line, ‘I don’t get no respect.’, as he said ‘nobody’ respected the president either.
He warned that if Biden didn’t change his game plan, there would be a World War III.
The Russian ambassador has now accused the US of an ‘act of provocation’ and claims its fighter did not hit a US drone that crashed into the Black Sea on Tuesday.
‘We view this incident as a provocation,’ said Anatoly Antonov, Russian ambassador to the US.
The senator told Fox News host Seam Hannity that the US should hold Russia accountable and warned the Kremlin: ‘If you ever get near another US asset flying in international waters, your airplane will be shot down’
He made the comments after being summoned by the US State Department to answer for the downing of one of its surveillance drones in international airspace.
‘What would the be reaction of the United States if you see such a Russian drone very close to, for example, San Francisco or New York?’ Antonov asked reporters as he left the department building in Washington. ‘For me it’s clear, for you as well.’
The US surveillance drone crashed into the sea after a two Russian Su-27 jets ambushed it, dumped fuel on it, and eventually struck its propeller, the Pentagon said.
Russia has denied that any contact was made and says the drone crashed after ‘sharp maneuvering’. Its Defense Ministry claimed the drone was flying toward its airspace with its transponder turned off, and the Russian fighters were dispatched to investigate.
