To the Editor:

There are many attacks on President Biden for matters that he, as president, can’t quickly and directly control, like gas prices. (Nor can any other leader of any other country magically reduce the inflation that their countries are experiencing.) It is important to remember that when it comes to international relations, the president has a very significant and timely role to play.

Bret Stephens is a conservative columnist for The New York Times and on Sept. 13 he wrote, “This column is rarely short of criticism of the Biden administration. So let me loudly cheer the fact that the staggering gains Ukrainian forces have made against Russia are a victory for Joe Biden, too.” Stephens notes that it isn’t just that the U.S. has supplied many essential weapons to Ukraine, “It’s that we are providing Ukrainians with the kind of battlefield intelligence that enables them to maneuver, target, strike and evade in ways they otherwise couldn’t.”

Stephens concludes, “As the war enters a new phase, it will inevitably bring new dangers. No danger is graver than failing to prevail. Full credit to Biden for getting, and acting on, the point.”

The embattled, heroic people of Ukraine should understand that Americans appreciate that their president is doing everything in his legal power to assist them. When blame is due, blame, and when credit is due, give credit. That is what an informed electorate does.

Nancy Nickel

Prairie City