On Wednesday, the Pentagon announced that it was scrapping a long-scheduled test of a Minuteman missile that was to take place this weekend at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. The only thing more shameful than kowtowing to Russia was Lloyd Austin’s cult-of-personality operation in the Pentagon declaring him to be some sort of moral avatar for folding like a cheap suit in the face of no pressure from anyone.

Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III exemplified how a responsible nuclear nation should behave and postponed a long-planned test launch of an American Minuteman III rocket, Pentagon Press Secretary John F. Kirby said today during a news conference.

What took place is not the action of a responsible Secretary of Defense but a craven act of cowardice at just the time when acting con huevos was required.

It isn’t like someone woke up one morning and thought, “Gee, let me launch an ICBM and really put a wind up the Russkis.” It isn’t like we are in the midst of a Cuban Missile Crisis (despite the profoundly weird comparisons being drawn by some). It isn’t like we are participating in an Able Archer exercise where the Russians could mistake a test for a preemptive strike. This is a test of which the Russians would have had weeks or months’ notice. There is not a single reason this launch should have been canceled other than to send a signal to the Russians that the White House isn’t terribly upset with what they are doing in Ukraine, and we are still buddies.

There is precisely one reason for this action. Despite all the woof-tickets sold by Biden at the State of the Union about what he was doing about Ukraine and to Putin, Biden and his entire team have been laggards. It was Europe that led in sanctioning Russian banks. It was Europe that led in blocking Russian airlines from operating. It is Europe that took the lead in openly arming Ukraine. It is Europe (despite the relative wisdom of the decision) that has taken the lead in seizing the personal wealth and property of Russian oligarchs. So why would Biden be acting like he thinks that a nice cup of warm milk and a nap will make this mess go away? Because Biden and his State Department are desperately trying to put together another Iran nuclear deal and Russia is their crucial partner.

Just Now: State Department spokesperson pledges US will continue to work with Russia in areas of key interest (presumably the Iran nuclear deal and Kerry's climate change comments, among them). Then says Russia is a pariah. Stunning.

— Richard Goldberg (@rich_goldberg) February 25, 2022

At a time that ‘cries out to Heaven’ for resolute action, the Western alliance is saddled with a weak, vacillating little man who lacks the courage to do anything but take the path of least resistance.