Ramaswamy Repeats Biden’s Mistake
Undercommunicating U.S. opposition to a foreign invasion is no small matter. By Readers Sept. 7, 2023 5:22 pm ET Former biotech executive Vivek Ramaswamy campaigns for the Republican presidential nomination in Salem, N.H., Sept. 4. Photo: ELIZABETH FRANTZ/REUTERS Regarding Vivek Ramaswamy’s letter on Taiwan (Aug. 29): A rule of statecraft is never tell your adversary what you won’t do. The purpose of strategic ambiguity is to leave doubt in the mind of a potential aggressor. I like a lot of what Mr. Ramaswamy offers, but his misstep, like President Biden’s, risks an avoidable war. While it is tempting for Americans to focus internally and let the rest of the world sort itself out, two world wars show the danger of letting tyrants underestimate their opposition. On the bright side, Mr. Ramaswamy seems more
Former biotech executive Vivek Ramaswamy campaigns for the Republican presidential nomination in Salem, N.H., Sept. 4.
Photo: ELIZABETH FRANTZ/REUTERS
Regarding Vivek Ramaswamy’s letter on Taiwan (Aug. 29): A rule of statecraft is never tell your adversary what you won’t do. The purpose of strategic ambiguity is to leave doubt in the mind of a potential aggressor.
I like a lot of what Mr. Ramaswamy offers, but his misstep, like President Biden’s, risks an avoidable war. While it is tempting for Americans to focus internally and let the rest of the world sort itself out, two world wars show the danger of letting tyrants underestimate their opposition.
On the bright side, Mr. Ramaswamy seems more educable than Mr. Biden. A clue that he has learned will be if he recants his error rather than explaining why he wasn’t really wrong, only misunderstood. Preventing a misunderstanding, rather than correcting it after the fact, is the whole point. Ask Vladimir Putin; no doubt he now realizes that Mr. Biden initially undercommunicated U.S. opposition to an invasion of Ukraine.
Jeff Sourbeer
Belleair, Fla.
What's Your Reaction?
