Some may feel this conflict is old hat these days….I do not….not when billions are being wasted on a proxy war that will have no winner.
The White House on Thursday asked Congress to approve a $40 billion bill that includes nearly $24 billion for additional spending on the war in Ukraine.
According to CNN, the $24 billion for the Ukraine war includes $13 billion in military aid and $7.3 billion in economic and humanitarian assistance. It also includes $3.3 billion for infrastructure projects for regional countries impacted by the war.
The request comes after a poll from CNN found that 55% of Americans are against more spending on the war in Ukraine.
(antiwar.com)
First that counteroffensive….how’s that working out?
To be honest (that is refreshing for it is something the pro-war media is incapable of providing) it is not going well….
A Western official told CNN in an article published Tuesday that it’s “extremely” unlikely that Ukraine will make progress in its counteroffensive in the coming weeks that will alter the balance of the war with Russia.
“They’re still going to see, for the next couple of weeks, if there is a chance of making some progress. But for them to really make progress that would change the balance of this conflict, I think, it’s extremely, highly unlikely,” an unnamed senior Western diplomat said.
Rep. Mike Quigley (D-IL) also spoke to CNN about the counteroffensive and said the briefings Congress has received on the assault are “sobering.” He said the situation was the “most difficult time of the war.”
…
Ukraine is struggling to break through multiple layers of Russian defense, most notably vast minefields. The Wall Street Journal quoted a Ukrainian platoon commander in an article published Tuesday who said the Ukrainians are “demining the fields with bodies,” demonstrating the massive human cost. “It’s awful,” the platoon commander said.
Another Western diplomat told CNN that Ukraine hasn’t even gotten through Russia’s first defensive line. “Even if they would keep on fighting for the next several weeks, if they haven’t been able to make more breakthroughs throughout these last seven, eight weeks, what is the likelihood that they will suddenly, with more depleted forces, make them? Because the conditions are so hard,” the diplomat said.
(antiwar.com)
Let me be the first….it is a stalemate and will continue to be so.
Several NATO countries have provided Ukraine with tanks ,billed as the deciding factor, and those tanks are not doing so well against thee defensive line of the Russians….so the US will send in their version of a tank, the Abrams….
The first batch of Abrams tanks that the US is providing Ukraine was authorized for shipment over the weekend and is expected to arrive in the country in early fall, the US Army’s top acquisition official said Monday.
“The last of the set was officially accepted by the US government or the production facility over the weekend. So they are done,” said Army Acquisition Chief Doug Bush, according to The War Zone.
The US will be providing Ukraine with 31 refurbished M1A1 Abrams, an older variant of the tank. The US initially said it would send the newer M1A2 Abrams, but the Pentagon decided to speed up the plan by sending older tanks. The M1A2s needed to be manufactured and would have taken years to deliver.
Bush said that while the tanks are ready, it will still take time to deliver them and send necessary related equipment, which includes “ammunition, spare parts, fuel equipment, repair facilities.”
(antiwar.com)
NATO countries like Germany, Poland and the UK have sent tanks and most have become expensive scrap….but the US must add theirs to the heap.
Sadly these will not make a difference…..but maybe depleted uranium rounds will swing the day.
Not to worry the US will keep throwing money at this situation until the well runs dry….
The White House is expected to formally ask Congress to authorize additional funding for the Ukraine war as soon as this week, Punchbowl News reported on Tuesday, citing sources familiar with the matter.
The funding would be in the form of an “emergency” supplemental bill that would also include money for domestic disaster relief and potentially military aid for Taiwan.
One source said the request is expected to be “north of $10 billion,” but the Biden administration is still working on setting the final number. So far, Congress has authorized $113 billion to spend on the war in Ukraine.
(antiwar.com)
You see this war continues whether you’re interested or not….people continue to die and money is being wasted on a quagmire (a better obtuse word than stalemate).
I often bitch about all the news and we have no independent voice from the actual people of Ukraine….and now we have something close….
According to the Washington Post, many citizens of Ukraine are adopting a darker mood about the war with Russia, and national unity is beginning to fray. The change in sentiment comes as Kiev’s spring counteroffensive fails to retake significant territory despite surging casualties.
“Ukrainians, much in need of good news, are simply not getting any,” the Washington Post reported Thursday. One Ukrainian, Alla Blyzniuk, interviewed by the outlet, said, “[before] people were united.” Now, she described, a sense of collective “disappointment.”
The sense of despair is driven by massive casualties in Kiev’s counteroffensive. Blyzniuk said that most soldiers sent to the front die in just two to three days. Last week, Politico reported that Kiev had committed 150,000 troops to fight along three fronts. Nevertheless, the Pentagon admits that Ukrainian forces have failed to make any significant gains.
Washington publicly claims it has provided Kiev with everything Ukraine needs to wage a successful counteroffensive. However, Western officials admitted to the Wall Street Journal that Ukrainian forces lacked critical equipment. “When Ukraine launched its big counteroffensive this spring, Western military officials knew Kyiv didn’t have all the training or weapons—from shells to warplanes—that it needed to dislodge Russian forces.” The report continued, “But they hoped Ukrainian courage and resourcefulness would carry the day. They Haven’t.”
And the waste continues.
I Read, I Write, You Know
“lego ergo scribo”
In Saner Thought 