Sen. Graham To China: “If You Jump On The Putin Train, You’re Dumber Than Dirt”

Graham also at the Munich Security Conference called for Russia to be labeled a state sponsor of terrorism, which would then give Washington far-reaching legal ability to go after nations that provide assistance to Russia. The Biden administration has remained reluctant to go that far, which would set the two sides down a path of uncontrollable escalation in Ukraine.

Graham’s message to China came in response to Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s remarks warning Beijing against sending “lethal assistance” to Moscow. The Chinese government has also long been under pressure to condemn Russia, but has consistently refused to, instead highlighting the dangers of NATO expansion.

“What Secretary Blinken said is big news to me. He believes that the Chinese are on the verge of providing lethal weapons to [Russian President Vladimir] Putin,” Graham continued.

Below are the “dumber than dirt” remarks in fuller context: 

“And to the Chinese, if you jump on the Putin train now, you’re dumber than dirt. It would be like buying a ticket on the Titanic after you saw the movie. Don’t do this. The most catastrophic thing that could happen to [the] U.S.-China relationship, in my opinion, is for China … to start to give lethal weapons to Putin in this crime against humanity. That would change everything forever,” Graham said.

The neocon senator got even more provocative, however, it saying he’s not worried about “provoking” Putin into escalation, but wants “to beat him” – which goes far beyond what the US administration has openly articulated, given Moscow could receive it as a war declaration.

Lindsey Graham: “I’m not worried about provoking Putin. I want to beat him and how do you beat him? You beat him by giving the Ukrainians the military capability to drive the Russians out of Ukraine.” pic.twitter.com/wY5jJ65ZGI

— Real Mac Report (@RealMacReport) February 19, 2023

As for the Munich Security Conference, it has produced more signs of further escalation from the West. According to Politico’s analysis:

Even as Western leaders congratulate themselves for their generosity toward Ukraine, the country’s armed forces are running low on ammunition, equipment and even men. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who opened the conference from Kyiv on Friday, urged the free world to send more help — and fast. “We need speed,” he said.

U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris turned the heat up on Russia on another front, accusing the country of “crimes against humanity.” “Let us all agree. On behalf of all the victims, both known and unknown: justice must be served,” she said.

In other words, Russian leaders could be looking at Nuremberg 2.0. That’s bound to make a few people in Moscow nervous, especially those old enough to remember what happened to Yugoslav strongman Slobodan Milošević and his entourage.

And concerning what some pundits have labeled the “Ukraine of the east”, the Politico commentary continues…

The outlook in Asia is no less fraught. Taiwan remains on edge, as the country tries to guess China’s next move. Here too, the news from Munich wasn’t reassuring.

“What is happening in Europe today could happen in Asia tomorrow,” NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said.   

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi did nothing to contradict that narrative. “Let me assure the audience that Taiwan is part of Chinese territory,” Wang told the conference when asked about Beijing’s designs on the self-governed island. Taiwan “has never been a country and it will never be a country in the future.”

For some attendees, the vibe in the crowded Bayerischer Hof hotel where the gathering takes place carried echoes of 1938. That year, the Bavarian capital hosted a conference that resulted in the infamous Munich Agreement, in which European powers ceded the Sudetenland to Germany in a misguided effort they believed could preserve peace.

The European Union has indeed been moving forward on plans to establish a special war crimes tribunal to go after Russian military and political officials. 

However, one wonders where these “tribunals” were in the wake of Bush’s Iraq invasion, or the over two-decade long Afghan saga, or NATO’s decimating Libya, or the West’s role in turning Syria to rubble for that matter.