Biden and his throwaway comments

Asked whether he would be sending F-16 fighter aircraft to Ukraine, President Biden replied, "no". Asked whether the US would go to Taiwan's aid if China invaded, Biden replied, "yes". It's amazing how powerful these two words are when they come from the lips of the president of the United States. Although in each case the White House hastily rowed back on Biden's comments and tried to put them into a different context, the damage, if it is damage, was done. One has to assume that Biden actually meant to say no in the one case and yes in the other, athough some of his comments are so wayward that one is never quite sure whether the presidential marbles are functioning properly. But I think we can safely say that if left on his own to make the decision on F-16s for Ukraine, his instinct is to deny Kyiv what it desperately wants. Of course as president the buck does stop with him and he is the ultimate decision-maker. However, he also relies on all his national security council team of advisers and as far as one can judge, the F-16 issue has not yet been discussed in detail with all the top advsers present. So Biden jumped the gun. But the reporter got the answer to his shouted question and suddenly there were headines around the world that the US has ruled out sending F-16s to Ukraine. As for the Taiwan question, Biden has replied to that one on at last two occasions, giving his firm yes to the US military intervening in the event of a Chinese invasion of Taiwan, even though the protocol states that the US recognises there is only one China and US diplomats are not allowed to say that American carrriers will go steaming into the Taiwan Strait to repel Chinese forces if they invade. But the president can say what he wants and I'm sure Beijing got the message on both occasions. As for President Zelensky, he must be pretty pissed off with Biden that he replied so succinctly to the reporter's question when he could have finessed the answer with something much more vague and uninteresting. But it was a no to F-16s and until we are told differently that's it.