MOSCOW, October 7 (RIA Novosti), Ekaterina Blinova - Joe Biden's irresponsible blunders have put Washington in an awkward spot, forcing the White House to justify itself to its American allies, humiliated by Biden's infamous speech at Harvard University.
"Not only did his [Biden's] comments threaten to jeopardize President Barack Obama's fragile coalition, it also put the White House on the defensive, forced to clean up for Biden without specifically rebutting what he said," writes Josh Lederman, a White House reporter for the Associated Press.
The reporter points out that Joe Biden has recently been positioning himself as an alternative to Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential campaign. However, Biden's critics underscore that while the vice president's public speech has caused a serious but a "short-term headache" for the White House, his presidency may ultimately ruin all US efforts of establishing reliable relationships with its allies.
In the past two days, Biden was forced to apologize twice to key US allies of anti-IS coalition.
AP: Biden apologizes to Turkey's president for claiming Turkey, other allies, helped Islamic State.
— Jim Kuhnhenn (@jkuhnhenn) 4 октября 2014
.@VP #Biden called the Emirati crown prince today, said he never meant to imply UAE aided al-Qaida in #Syria - http://t.co/NxFA1eOemH
— Josh Lederman (@joshledermanAP) 5 октября 2014
"The vice president is somebody who has enough character to admit when he's made a mistake," said Josh Earnest, a White House spokesman, as cited by the Associated Press. However, Biden is unlikely to receive Democratic nomination if he "looks foolish," Democratic strategist Hank Sheinkopf notes.
Joe Biden's remarks regarding the European sanctions policy against Russia as well sounded inappropriate. "It was America’s leadership and the president of the United States insisting, of times almost having to embarrass Europe to stand up and take economic hits to impose costs," he said.
Observers stress that although the US allies may dislike Joe Biden's opinon, his speech reflects reality. In her article "Joe Biden Apologizes for Telling the Truth," Carol Giacomo, Princeton's Ferris Professor of Journalism, emphasizes that "the basic truth – that Turkey and other countries enabled Islamic State and other extremists – can’t be wished away." What Joe Biden said in Harvard had been long discussed in the corridors of the White House – his only mistake was to announce it in front of the cameras, experts note.
Biden has apologized to US Arab allies and Turkey, but it seems unlikely that he feels sorry for his words regarding the role of America's European allies in US global politics, experts say.
