Category: Foreign policy

Is Rafah The Line?

Hell no but Biden thumped his chest when BiBi said he would attack Rafah…..did Biden a line in the sand (HAHAHAHA) not a goddamn chance.

But he talks tough….

A planned shipment from the US to Israel that was to include 1,800 2,000-pound bombs and 1,700 500-pound bombs was paused last week due to concerns that Israel was planning to defy US wishes and invade Rafah, launching a full-scale assault on the southern Gaza city in a major expansion of Israel’s military operation there. That’s according to senior US administration officials who spoke to outlets including the Washington Post, the Guardian, and the AP. A key quote from one senior official specifically references the 2,000-pound bombs that are already, per the Post, “controversial.” The AP notes such bombs have been used “frequently” by Israel in its seven-month-old war against Hamas, while the US only used them “sparingly” while fighting the Islamic State.

  • “Israel should not launch a major ground operation in Rafah, where more than a million people are sheltering with nowhere else to go,” said the senior administration official. “We are especially focused on the end-use of the 2,000-pound bombs and the impact they could have in dense urban settings as we have seen in other parts of Gaza.”

This is the first known time the US has paused an arms transfer to Israel since the Israel-Hamas war started in October, and a second official calls it a “shot across the bow” meant to illustrate to Israel how deeply the US is concerned about the situation in Rafah. The officials say the White House began reviewing future arms transfers in April, and that no decision has yet been made about whether to proceed with the paused delivery at a future date. However, one official also says the Israeli military already has enough weapons to conduct the Rafah operation regardless of the pause, should it choose to.

Seriously?

This was nothing but a political ploy….after all polls show that Americans are getting weary of Israel’s assault on Gaza….there is an election about 6 months away and he is trying to calm the peasants.

Then it was BiBi’s turn to thump his aged chest…..and responds to Biden’s idle threat.

Benjamin Netanyahu is responding with defiance to a warning from President Biden about an expected invasion of Rafah. After Biden said the US would halt the shipment of offensive weapons to Israel should it go ahead with the ground invasion, Netanyahu issued a video message:

  • “If we have to stand alone, we will stand alone,” said the Israeli prime minister, per the Washington Post. “If we need to, we will fight with our fingernails. But we have much more than fingernails.”
  • All set? Meanwhile, a spokesman for the Israeli military said Israel already has the necessary weaponry for the invasion, reports the AP. “The army has munitions for the missions it plans, and for the missions in Rafah too—we have what we need,” said Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari. However, it’s likely the US move would force Israel to shift strategy to some extent—”it’s possible we’ll have to economize the way we use our arms and hit more targets without precision bombs,” former national security adviser Jacob Nagel tells the New York Times.
  • Low point: Alon Pinkas, a former Israeli consul general in New York, tells CNN he thinks this is one of the lowest moments in history for US-Israel relations. “I do think this is a very low point—could the relationship survive this? Yes. Could it do so while Netanyahu is in power? No.”
  • Analysis: This is indeed a “moment of crisis” in US-Israel relations, writes Adam Rasgon in the New York Times. And it’s one that could result in domestic blowback against Netanyahu. “The United States provides Israel with a steel dome—it’s not only military support; it’s strategic and political; it’s at the United Nations, the international court, and so on,” Amos Gilead, a former senior Israeli defense official, tells the newspaper. “If we lose the United States with the unbelievable friendship of President Biden, it won’t be forgiven.”

Really?

Israel exist because the US stood by them for decades and I do not think this problem would be happening if there had been more diplomacy and less US ass kissing.

But Biden’s threat is a moot point…..why?

The Israeli military said Thursday that it has enough munitions for its planned operation in Rafah, comments that came a day after President Biden said he would withhold the shipment of heavy bombs to Israel if it proceeds with a major attack on the city’s “population centers.”

Israeli Defense Forces spokesman Daniel Hagari said, “The IDF has armaments for the missions it is planning, including missions in Rafah. We have what we need.” US officials have also said that Israel has enough bombs to attack Rafah.

Israel started its operation in Rafah on Monday by capturing the border crossing that connects to Egypt and launching strikes across the city. The US has said these steps are “limited” and that it’s only opposed to a major invasion of the city. But the situation continues to escalate, and satellite images show that the IDF is expanding ground operations in the city.

(antiwar.com)

The White House has said that a major Israeli operation would not defeat Hamas, reflecting the overall US position that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s goal to “eradicate” Hamas is unrealistic. “Smashing into Rafah, in his [Biden’s] view, will not advance that objective,” White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said.

So basically this was all theater for the idiots that blindly follow crap.  When it comes to Israel the US is a toothless tiger.

This game is becoming more and more disgusting and Biden keeps playing it.

Peace Out

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

“It’s Good For World Peace”

It is official that bill to Ban TikTok was signed by Biden….but that was not what the bill was really about….TikTok was just the cover for a massive spending bill for the War Department and its piglets that suck in its teats.

It has been awhile since the vote and the signing and not much in the news these days….is TikTok really a threat or is it something else?

The real meat of this bill was the aid for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan….

Packed into the $95 billion bill is $61 billion to spend on the Ukraine proxy war, $26 billion to support Israel, and $8 billion for military aid for Taiwan and other spending in the Indo-Pacific region to prepare for war with China. It also includes a mechanism that could ban TikTok if its China-based parent company ByteDance doesn’t divest within nine months and gives the federal government the power to steal frozen Russian assets.

The legislation includes $61 billion for the proxy war in Ukraine, much of which will go to US weapons makers to replenish US stockpiles. It includes over $9 billion in economic aid in the form of repayable loans, but Ukraine is not actually expected to pay it back. Another provision will authorize the US to sell off frozen Russian assets, which could be used to pay the loans. CNN previously reported that the Biden administration will also be able to cancel the debt.

The bill also includes $26 billion to support Israel. About $9 billion will go toward humanitarian aid in Gaza and other places, while the remaining $17 billion will go toward military aid to support the slaughter of Palestinians in Gaza and replenish Israeli air defenses. The aid is on top of the $3.8 billion in military assistance that Israel receives from the US each year.

Another $8 billion will go toward military aid for Taiwan and other spending in the Indo-Pacific region to prepare for a future war with China. It includes $1.9 billion to replenish weapons sent to Taiwan and regional countries and $2 billion in Foreign Military Financing, a State Department program that gives foreign governments money to purchase US weapons. Over $3.3 billion will go toward submarine infrastructure in the region.

(antiwar.com)

Even a Repub Mitt Romney, who I seldom agree with, has seen the real reason for the assault on TikTok….

In a conversation with Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT) acknowledged that banning TikTok has such strong support in Congress because the social media platform has hurt Israel’s public relations battle.

“Some wonder why there was such overwhelming support for us to shut down, potentially, TikTok or other entities of that nature,” Romney said at the McCain Institute this past Friday. “If you look at the postings on TikTok and the number of mentions of Palestinians relative to other social media sites, it’s overwhelmingly so among TikTok broadcasts.”

The official justification for targeting TikTok is the unfounded allegation that it’s a Chinese spy tool because its parent company, ByteDance, is based in China. But Romney’s comments suggest the real purpose of the renewed push to ban the app after a similar effort failed years ago was to censor news coming out of Gaza and pro-Palestinian content.

Blinken blamed social media in general when asked by Romney why Israel was losing the global PR war. Palestinian journalists have been able to broadcast to the whole world the atrocities committed by Israel in Gaza using social media, including graphic videos of dead or wounded children being dug out of rubble following an Israeli airstrike.

(antiwar.com)

I’d bet you are wondering what the title is all about….world peace?

President Biden…claimed the legislation, which funds the proxy war in Ukraine and Israel’s genocidal war in Gaza, is good for “world peace.”

“It’s a good day for America, it’s a good day for Europe, and it’s a good day for world peace, for real. This is consequential,” Biden said.

“My commitment to Israel, I want to make clear again, is ironclad. The security of Israel is critical,” Biden said.

Have you heard such total bullsh*t….ever?

Biden just keeps spreading his fecal matter.

Geez Nelly how much does AIPAC pay this old fart for such outright lies?

What a f*cking hypocrite!

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

WTF?

My regular readers know that I have been a staunch critic of using US taxpayer dollars to fund Ukraine’s war with Russia.

I think those billions of dollars could be better spent on the problems this country is having than spending it on a cause that few think is necessary.

So when I read a story about the US spending a billion dollars to buy Ukraine made weapons to give to the Ukrainian army I went ballistic.

But let you see for yourselves….

The US will purchase $1.6 billion in Ukrainian-made weapons for Ukraine, The Defense Post reported on Monday.

The $1.6 billion is included in a $6 billion tranche of weapons the US announced on April 26. The arms will be provided through the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI), which allows the US to purchase weapons for Ukraine.

The US and its NATO allies have made clear that part of their long-term plans for Ukraine is to help the country develop a military-industrial complex. Western arms makers are also looking to manufacture weapons in Ukraine.

Arseniy Pushkarenko, deputy chair of the Ukrainian Parliament’s Committee on Foreign Policy and Interparliamentary Cooperation, said Ukraine’s military-industrial complex should entice other countries since the weapons it produces are battle-tested.

“This is one of the factors in the development of the Ukrainian economy. Today, the military technologies that we have are tested in combat conditions, which makes our military-industrial complex attractive enough for many countries of the world,” he said.

It’s unclear what types of weapons will be purchased with the $1.6 billion. According to the Pentagon, the $6 billion USAI package includes “components to support Ukrainian production of [Unmanned Aerial Systems] and other capabilities.”

(antiwar.com)

SO the US will buy weapons from a Ukrainian weapons maker to be used by the Ukrainian military…..why cannot a Ukrainian company make weapons for the military.

This is getting ridiculous at this point……

We will pay their government officials salaries and now we will prop up a business in Ukraine….WTF?

To say I have a problem with this would be an understatement…..

Time for the US to stop worrying about Ukraine and start worrying about the people in this nation.

PERIOD!

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Don’t Let The Door Hit You In The Ass

This is news from Africa…..

I recently wrote about the failure of our War on Terror in Africa….that it had created more problems than it solved….

Is Africa A Failure?

Then there was a coup in Niger and the coup leaders told the US to vacate….

Dressed in green military fatigues and a blue garrison cap, Colonel Major Amadou Abdramane, a spokesperson for Niger’s ruling junta, took to local television last month to criticize the United States and sever the long-standing military partnership between the two countries. “The government of Niger, taking into account the aspirations and interests of its people, revokes, with immediate effect, the agreement concerning the status of United States military personnel and civilian Defense Department employees,” he said, insisting that their 12-year-old security pact violated Niger’s constitution.

Another sometime Nigerien spokesperson, Insa Garba Saidou, put it in blunter terms: “The American bases and civilian personnel cannot stay on Nigerien soil any longer.”

(antiwar.com)

I understand that US will leave Niger….”The US Department of State agreed to pull out about 1,000 troops from the country that has been under military rule since July 2023….

Now it seems that another nation in Africa is fed up with US presence….Chad….

Chad is threatening to scrap an agreement with the US that allows American troops to operate in the country, signaling the US might lose even more of its military footprint in Africa after Niger ordered a US withdrawal.

According to CNN, Chad’s government sent a letter to the US earlier this month that said it could end the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA). The letter didn’t directly order the US military to leave, but US officials said that if the agreement were canceled, US forces would have to leave a French military base where they were stationed.

Reuters also reported on the letter and said Chad ordered the US to halt activity at the Adji Kossei Air Base because the US had failed to provide documents justifying their presence there. The US has a small military presence in Chad, with CNN putting the number of US troops in the country below 100.

US officials told CNN that the letter could be a negotiating tactic to get a more favorable deal, but the expulsion of US forces would follow a pattern of Western countries losing their foothold in the region.

(antiwar.com)

By all accounts the War on Terror in Africa is an epic failure….for it has created more problems than it has solved.

How many more African nations will follow suit?

I could say this would save the taxpayer some money but reality and the War Department will just piss it away on Ukraine and Israel.

Time for all this to change….and now!

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Speaker Continues To Play With Fire

I see that since the Speaker has saved our home appliances he has decide to cave to the warhawks and piss away more taxpayer cash on these damn wars…..

Here are those all important home appliance bills….

  • Hands Off Our Home Appliances Act

  • Liberty in Laundry Act

  • Clothes Dryers Reliability Act

  • Refrigerator Freedom Act

  • Affordable Air Conditioning Act

  • Stop Unaffordable Dishwasher Standards Act

I know I feel better knowing this is happening.

Now that all is safe with our home appliances the Speaker decided to chance it and go for the money needed for our proxy wars (arms industry is happy now)…..

Speaker Mike Johnson’s four-pronged foreign aid package has become five bills, and his job could depend on what happens with the reworked legislation. On Wednesday, Johnson told his Republican caucus that the House will stay in session until it votes Saturday evening on the package with stalled aid for Israel and Ukraine as its centerpiece, the New York Times reports. Success is not certain, nor is his continued tenure in the speakership. Two of Johnson’s members have threatened to file a motion to vacate, which could result in his removal, if he puts aid to Ukraine to a floor vote.

Johnson became emotional Wednesday evening when asked about his decision by a reporter, per the Washington Post. “If I operated out of fear over a motion to vacate, I would never be able to do my job,” Johnson said. “I can make a selfish decision and do something that’s different. But I’m doing here what I believe to be the right thing,” he added. Johnson will need Democrats’ support to pass the bills, and he won the backing of the most influential one. President Biden strongly endorsed the package on Wednesday. “I will sign this into law immediately to send a message to the world: We stand with our friends, and we won’t let Iran or Russia succeed,” Biden said.

Here’s how the bills break down:

  • Cost: The total is $95.3 billion, per the AP, same as the Senate approved in February, though the packages aren’t identical; Johnson added some provisions to appeal to GOP opponents of Ukraine aid.
  • Ukraine: More than one-third of the $61 billion would go toward replenishing weapons and ammunition systems for the US military, Republicans said. And $13.8 billion would buy weapons from the US. Johnson’s bill has $9 billion in forgivable loans; the president could set the terms or cancel the loans.
  • Israel: Aid to Israel and humanitarian relief to people in Gaza account for $26 billion, and $4 billion would go to restock Israel’s missile defenses.
  • Indo-Pacific: About $8 billion is intended to deter China’s aggression in the region.
  • Assorted: The fourth bill satisfied a Republican wish list of foreign policy priorities. The final wording wasn’t released yet, per the AP.
  • The border: The fifth piece is intended to satisfy GOP demands to strengthen security at the southern US border. It might not have worked. “Every true conservative America First patriot in the House should vote against the rule for this borrowed foreign aid bill with no border security,” Rep. Bob Good, the chairman of the Freedom Caucus, posted on social media.

Did he put his gig as Speaker on the line?

The Freedom idiots will be gunning for him and that should stall anything happening in the House for the rest of the year.

But we will hardly notice for the House does very little actual work….just slapping retaliation on the Dems in this Congress that is.

That tight rope that Johnson is trying to walk is getting a lot of slack in it….will he survive?

This theater of the absurd is just too fascinating to ignore (at least for me).

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Is The Speaker Playing With Fire?

The Speaker of the House is trying to work a deal where Ukraine can get their hush money (stop the bitching and moaning)….but his efforts are making him a target for the band of idiots that like disrupting Congress by going to war with the Speaker.

Johnson is playing with fire…..

It’s a sign of how complicated the politics of Congress are at the moment: House Speaker Mike Johnson will try to pass four different bills this week designed to send billions in aid to Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan—all while trying to keep his job as speaker.

  • The four bills: Johnson will introduce separate bills on aid to Ukraine, aid to Israel, aid to Taiwan, and a fourth one that contains a range of measures favored by the GOP such as banning TikTok, reports the Washington Post. One main goal of this “convoluted” strategy is to decouple the Ukraine and Israel components.
  • The challenges: There are many. First, Johnson “would need near-unanimous support from his own conference” even to bring the package to the floor, and it’s “far from certain” he has that, per Politico. If he clears that hurdle, success hinges “on a complicated mix of bipartisan coalitions that support different pieces, given resistance among hard-right Republicans to Ukraine funding and among left-wing Democrats to unfettered aid to Israel,” per the New York Times.
  • His speakership: Marjorie Taylor Greene has threatened to trigger a vote on ousting Johnson if he moves ahead with Ukraine aid, and she called this new plan “another wrong direction” for Johnson, reports CBS News. In response, Johnson said: “I don’t spend my time worrying about motions to vacate.” In making the case for the aid, he said: “We have terrorists and tyrants and terrible leaders around the world like Putin and Xi and in Iran, and they’re watching to see if America will stand up for its allies and our interests around the globe—and we will.” Ukraine, for example, has said it is quickly running out of military supplies, per the Post.
  • Deeper dive: All in all, this is a “gigantic gamble” by Johnson, as laid out in a detailed analysis at Punchbowl News. The plan has the potential to “blow up in his face,” reads the piece. “If the vote count starts to flag or hardliners rise up in opposition, there might be a movement to force Johnson to back away from this plan. Yet for Johnson, this scheme is the best of a lot of bad options.”

He is making few friends in the Freedom Caucus, the very ones that lead the charge to get rid of McCarthy…..and one more has joined the call….

Marjorie Taylor Greene is no longer the only Republican ready to remove Mike Johnson as House speaker. Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky said Tuesday he was on board, reports Politico. In fact, Massie asked Johnson to resign in a closed-door GOP session, and Johnson refused, per the Hill. Last month, Greene filed a “motion to vacate” the speaker’s post, though she hasn’t said when she might trigger an actual vote. She and others in the House Freedom Caucus accuse Johnson of working too closely with Democrats on several policy issues, and his decision to call a vote on aid to Ukraine further angered them.

Johnson: “I am not resigning and it is in my view an absurd notion that someone would bring a vacate motion when we are simply trying to do our job,” Johnson told reporters after the meeting, per the Wall Street Journal.

  • Massie: “The motion is going to get called, OK? Does anybody doubt that?” Massie told reporters. “And then he’s gonna lose more votes than Kevin McCarthy. And I have told him this in private, like weeks ago.” Massie reportedly told Johnson in the meeting, “You’re not going to be speaker much longer,” and Axios says many attendees booed his remarks.
  • Democrats: Should Greene call a vote, Johnson would almost certainly need the backing of Democrats to remain in his post, and some have said in recent weeks they would protect him if he brings Ukraine aid up for a vote, per the Hill.

As if the House could not get more dysfunctional these idiots have to waste even more time and energy.

Is this in the best interest of the nation?

I say no!

What say you?

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Ukraine Is Jealous!

The aid package for Ukraine in their struggle with the Russian invasion is stalled in Congress and yet any and all aid to Israel seems to get the fast track…..and Ukraine is fighting the green-eyed monster of jealousy on Israel’s success.

Ukrainian officials have expressed envy over the US’s response to an Iranian drone and missile attack on Israel that came in retaliation for the Israeli bombing of Iran’s consulate in Syria.

The US, the UK, France, and Jordan all intervened to help intercept Iranian drones and missiles. “The whole world saw that Israel was not alone in this defense — the threat in the sky was also being eliminated by its allies,” Zelensky said.

The attack on Israel came as Russia has stepped up its missile and drone attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, which Moscow said was a response to Ukrainian attacks on oil refineries inside Russian territory. Ukraine has suffered serious blows in the strikes as it’s running low on air defenses, and Russia’s intelligence continues to improve.

“When Ukraine says that its allies should not turn a blind eye to Russian missiles and drones, it means action is needed — a bold one,” Zelensky said. “It is not rhetoric that protects the sky, it is not opinions that curb the production of missiles and drones for terror.”

…

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba acknowledged that the US and NATO wouldn’t directly intervene but called for more military aid. “Even if you cannot act the way you act in Israel, give us what we need, and we will do the rest of the job,” he said.

The $60 billion President Biden is seeking to fuel the proxy war in Ukraine still hasn’t passed through Congress. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) said he would work on getting more military aid to Israel this week, and the White House has said that it would only support legislation that also included spending for Ukraine and Taiwan.

(antiwar.com)

The problem is simple….Ukraine does not have the agents with cash to bribe their way to success as Israel does.

Until they, Ukraine, start greasing the right palms they will always be look for solutions.

Cash is what it is….the oil that keeps the gears of Congress working…..the more cash spread around the better the results….and that is at ALL levels from the chief to the little reps….money will help Ukraine prevail.

Just so you know the Congress instead of taking up cash for Ukraine spent their time working on laws that govern home appliances….time well spent.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Here We Go! Once Again Into The Breach?

While most of us were trying to enjoy our weekend the whole fabric of the Middle East is unraveling….

After years of trying to provoke a response from Iran Israel has manage to get that act and in turn will most likely involve the US.

So here we go again….ass deep in the Middle East….our forays into the region accomplished two things….the death of Saddam and the creation of ISIS (more to come on this later)….

It began amazing enough on April Fools Day….with an Israeli airstrike….

Israeli airstrike leveled an Iranian consulate building that’s next to the Iranian embassy in the Syrian capital of Damascus, marking a significant escalation in Israeli attacks on Iranians in the region.

At least seven people were killed in the strike, including Gen. Mohammad Reza Zahedi, a senior commander in Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). Iran has confirmed the death of Zahedi, who oversaw the IRGC’s Quds Force operations in Syria and Lebanon and is vowing a harsh response.

Then the war of words began….the threats the chest thumping….

Twelve days after the chest thumping….

Iranian commandos have seized a cargo vessel with reported ties to an Israeli billionaire, taking control of the ship as it sailed near the Strait of Hormuz. The incident took place amid soaring tensions between Tehran and Tel Aviv, after Israeli forces bombed an Iranian diplomatic compound in Syria earlier this month.

The Portuguese-flagged container vessel, MSC Aries, was boarded by troops with the elite Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) on Saturday. The seizure occurred some 50 miles off the coast of the United Arab Emirates and was confirmed by a statement from the ship’s operator, MSC. It noted that 25 crewmen were on board at the time.

Iranian state media reported that the ship was under IRGC control and being “directed back to Iranian territorial waters,” though did not specify for what purpose. The ship is reportedly owned in part by Zodiac Maritime, a company operated by Israeli-born billionaire Eyal Ofer.

(antiwar.com)

Then late Saturday the horrible news flashed across my desk….

The Iranian military fired a massive barrage of drones and missiles targeting sites in Israel, with Tehran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) saying the attack was retaliation for a deadly Israeli strike on the Iranian consulate in Damascus.

The attack was announced on Saturday afternoon in an IRGC statement carried by Iranian state media, which said that “dozens” of UAVs and missiles were “fired at the occupied territories and positions of the Zionist regime.” The elite military unit claimed to have struck “important military targets,” though shared few details about the results of the operation.

…

While the military claimed “most” of the Iranian projectiles had been intercepted by allied states even before reaching Israeli airspace, it acknowledged “minor damage to the infrastructure” of an unspecified military base in southern Israel, as well as “a few injuries.”

(antiwar.com)

What to do…what to do?

US officials have yet to announce any military response, congressional sources told the Daily Mail the Pentagon planned to deploy multiple warships carrying some 2,500 Marines to the Eastern Mediterranean. Washington has made similar shows of force throughout the ongoing war in Gaza, stationing aircraft carriers and other naval assets in the region since last October.

When asked whether Washington would directly intervene in hostilities between Israel and Iran during a press briefing earlier this week, Pentagon spokesman Patrick Ryder declined to “get into hypotheticals,” only citing the US’ “ironclad commitment to Israel’s security.”

This is what those idiot warhawks like Sen. Cotton have been praying for….an excuse.

This is the trap that Israel laid many years ago it has just slowly developed….my money is on Biden walking into that dead end with eyes wide open (or should I say wallet wide open?)

The fallout has started….

Iran has conducted its much-anticipated revenge attack against Israel by firing hundreds of drones and missiles, nearly all of which were intercepted. The big question: Now what? How Israel responds could determine whether the situation escalates into a wider regional war, and an intense diplomatic push was underway.

  • The attack: Iran’s volley of an estimated 300 drones and missiles was unprecedented because it is believed to be the nation’s first-ever direct attack on Israel, reports the New York Times. However, Israel says it intercepted 99% of them with the help of the US and other nations, per the AP.
  • he US: President Biden said he will meet with G7 leaders on Sunday to coordinate “a united diplomatic response” to Iran’s attack, per USA Today. As the AP sees it, the language of the statement suggests the White House is trying to head off “a broader military conflict.” Biden also spoke with Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday, and the Times suggests the call helped ward off an immediate retaliatory strike.
  • Iran warns: Tehran warned that if Israel retaliated, its response would be “much larger.” Iran also warned the US not to get involved in any Israeli military response or it would attack American bases. Meanwhile, Israel’s war cabinet was to meet later Sunday, and Israel’s defense minister, Yoav Gallant, warned the confrontation was “not over yet.”
  • Nine nations: The BBC counts at least nine nations involved in the first round, a sign of how protracted the situation is. Projectiles were fired from Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Yemen, while they were shot down by (or with help from) forces from Israel, the US, the UK, France, and Jordan. France, for example, provided tech support, including radar, reports the Washington Post.
  • A few landed: A relative handful of missiles landed in Israel, causing minor damage to an Israeli military base, per the Wall Street Journal. Israel also says a young girl was injured.

I am sorry but this, if it comes to a heavier response should be between Israel and Iran….the US should stay out of this situation completely.

Update…

President Biden told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that the US wouldn’t join Israel in any offensive action against Iran, multiple media outlets have reported.

I would applaud Biden’s statement if it we not bullsh*t….it is called ‘electioneering’….we are involved and we need to back away.

The US does not need another Middle East excursion….they seem to never pan out for us.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Trump Has An Answer For The Ukraine Situation

Everybody has an opinion on how to end the stalemate in Ukraine…..even the once and future king, Trump….

Donald Trump has a plan to stop the war in Ukraine, though Ukraine won’t like it. The former president and presumptive Republican presidential nominee has spoken privately about his plan to pressure Ukraine to cede territory to Russia—specifically Crimea and the Donbas border region—in order to bring the two-year-old war to an end, the Washington Post reports. Trump has reportedly said both sides “want a way out” and people in parts of Ukraine wouldn’t mind joining Russia. He’s apparently so confident in his ideas he’s claimed he could negotiate a “very easy” peace deal within 24 hours of his election, though Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said he will not surrender any land.

A Trump campaign rep wouldn’t answer questions about his plan, but said “President Trump is the only one talking about stopping the killing.” Campaign adviser Jason Miller later claimed the whole report was “fake news,” per the New York Post. The proposed scenario outlined by sources would mark a dramatic departure from President Biden’s long-term plan to continue military support for Ukraine, and some foreign policy experts say it would only reward Russian President Vladimir Putin for invading his neighbor. Even people close to Trump share this view. “He has to pay a price. He can’t win at the end of this,” says Sen. Lindsey Graham, who claims to have “been spending 100% of my time talking to Trump about Ukraine.”

Graham says he wants Trump to embrace the idea of Ukraine joining NATO. But “he doesn’t say much about that. I don’t know if he’s thought too much about it,” Graham tells the Post. Former Trump White House aide Michael Anton has reportedly described Trump’s plan as focused on the ceding of Ukrainian territory in Crimea and Donbas to Russia, limiting NATO expansion, and encouraging Putin to lessen his reliance on China. That last point might take sanctions relief and European cooperation. But Ukraine and its European allies are likely to resist any deal with Moscow. For Zelensky, it would “constitute domestic political suicide,” Carnegie Endowment for International Peace analyst Michael Kofman tells the Post.

I have said since about 1995 that since the collapse of the USSR that NATO should be dissolved and let Europe deal with the consequences of a defunct Soviet Union.

Ukraine….if there is a peace deal that keeps boundaries the way they are today then there will always be problems in Eastern Ukraine as there were before the invasion.

Is Trump’s plan a sound plan?

Will this plan hurt Trump’s chances?

In reality do any of his supporters really care?

Any thoughts?

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Defeat Russia At All Costs

Hit them hard with everything you have…..but not like that.

Ever since Russia invaded Ukraine the US and the NATO nations have imposed heavy sanctions (something I serious doubt) on the invader….financial sanctions mostly economic sanctions all in an attempt to weaken the Russian economy and its war machine….and this included sanctions on their oil industry where they derive a lot of their working capital.

If the West can cripple the oil industry then they, Russia, would most likely try to find a way to end this conflict, right?

So hit them hard and often…..but not like that.

If so then the latest move by the US is a bit confusing….

US officials are losing patience as Kiev fails to heed American demands to stop attacking Russian energy infrastructure. The White House fears the attacks will lead to an increase in oil prices and trigger reprisals by Moscow.

According to the Financial Times, “The White House had grown increasingly frustrated by brazen Ukrainian drone attacks that have struck oil refineries, terminals, depots, and storage facilities across western Russia, hurting its oil production capacity,” adding that US officials are concerned with “driving up global oil prices and provoking retaliation.”

The demands to halt attacks on Russian oil facilities may appear confounding to Kiev after NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg green-lit Ukrainian attacks inside Russia last month. Additionally, President Joe Biden has vowed to cripple the Russian economy, and the West has used sanctions and price caps in an effort to curb Moscow’s energy exports.

The White House may see increasing gas prices at home as a primary concern with the 2024 election on the horizon. Bob McNally, a former White House energy adviser, said, “Nothing terrifies a sitting American president more than a surge in pump prices during an election year,” as cited by FT.

As Ukrainian losses on the battlefield have continued in recent weeks, Kiev has conducted more attacks on Russian soil. This has led the Kremlin to evacuate thousands of children from a border region. Ukrainian forces also successfully attacked seven energy targets in Russia last week.

Washington’s fear that attacks on Moscow’s energy infrastructure will prompt retaliatory strikes on Ukrainian energy seems to have materialized. On Friday, the BBC reported, “A million people are without power across Ukraine after Russian missiles targeted energy infrastructure,” with Kiev’s Energy Minister German Galushchenko saying Moscow aimed to cause “a large-scale failure of the country’s energy system.”

(antiwar.com)

Is it win at all costs or is it just a geopolitical game of Risk?

Biden is really good, like most politicians, of speaking out of both sides of his mouth.

And the game goes on….

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”