Tag: Foreign Aid

Trump’s Rescission

NO!  I did not misspell the word RECESSION.

Rescission means a budgetary game played by a president.

Our Little Donny has played that card for the first time in many years….

President Trump has told House Speaker Mike Johnson that he won’t be spending $4.9 billion in congressionally approved foreign aid, reports the AP, effectively cutting the budget without going through the legislative branch. Trump, who sent a letter to Johnson on Thursday, is using what’s known as a pocket rescission—when a president submits a request to Congress to not spend approved funds toward the end of the fiscal year, so that Congress cannot act on the request in the 45-day timeframe and the money goes unspent as a result. It’s the first time in nearly 50 years a president has used one. The fiscal year closes at the end of September.

The letter was posted Friday morning on the X account of the White House Office of Management and Budget. It said the funding would be cut from the State Department and the US Agency for International Development, or USAID, an early target of Trump’s efforts to cut foreign aid. The last pocket rescission was in 1977 by then-President Jimmy Carter, and the Trump administration argues that it’s a legally permissible tool. But such a move, if standardized by the White House, could effectively bypass Congress on key spending choices and potentially wrest some control over spending from the House and the Senate.

The 1974 Impoundment Control Act gives the president the authority to propose canceling funds approved by Congress. Congress can vote on pulling back the funds or sustaining them, but by proposing the rescission so close to Sept. 30 the White House ensures that the money won’t be spent and the funding lapses. Trump had previously sought to get congressional backing for rescissions and succeeded in doing so in July when the House and the Senate approved $9 billion worth of cuts. Those rescissions clawed back funding for public broadcasting and foreign aid. The Trump administration on Wednesday appealed to the Supreme Court to stop lower court decisions that have preserved foreign aid, including for global health and HIV and AIDS programs, that Trump has tried to freeze.

This should not be surprising….I mean Donny will not help his own people, the poor, the sick or the elderly….why would he help anyone else, right?

I Read, I Write, You KNow

“lego ergo scribo”

Did Hell Freeze Over?

I am not a fan of any GOPer that has stupidity and is proud of that…..but on occasion I have heard one of these dullards say something that makes sense, at least to me…..

As ignorant as I believe MTG is she recently called for something that I could agree with and of necessary support….

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) has said she will be introducing an amendment to remove $500 million in military aid for “nuclear-armed Israel” from the 2026 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), marking a rare acknowledgement of Israel’s nuclear weapons from a member of Congress.

The US has a policy of ambiguity toward Israel’s nuclear weapons program and does not acknowledge its existence or pressure Israel to sign the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). It’s estimated that Israel has somewhere between 90 and 300 nuclear weapons.

“I’m entering amendments to strike $500 million more for nuclear-armed Israel. And it’s important to say nuclear-armed Israel, because they do have nuclear weapons,” Greene told Steve Bannon on his “War Room” podcast.

“And we already give them $3.4 billion every single year in the state, from the State Department. $3.4 billion every single year. They don’t need another $500 million in our defense budget. That’s for the American people’s defense,” Greene added.

The US provides Israel with $3.8 billion in military aid each year under a memorandum of understanding signed between Israel and the Obama administration. Of that amount, $3.3 billion is provided through the State Department’s Foreign Military Financing program, and $500 billion goes toward missile defense through the Pentagon.

The US has also provided billions of dollars in additional military aid after October 7, 2023. According to Israeli media, the US has financed roughly 70% of Israel’s war-related military spending since then.

Greene went on to stress the importance of acknowledging Israel’s nuclear weapons. “And Israel, you can—nuclear-armed Israel, I think it’s really important to phrase it that way. Nuclear-armed Israel doesn’t need $500 million more from the American people. Our government just bombed Iran on their behalf and destroyed their nuclear,” she said.

(antiwar.com)

I agree…..stop enabling these thugs of the Middle East….for without the US they are nothing….and without the control they have on the media then the whole damn world would know just how brutal and barbarous they truly are…the media is their best tool in their struggle to prevent their atrocities coming to light.

I wish MTG gets signers for her amendment and maybe then the Israelis will be brought into the light and held responsible for the evil ways.

We can only hope.

Then another Right winger has made a statement that I have previously stated…..for those that hold dual citizenship and join the IDF without ever serving the US military should lose their citizenship….once they serve they have shown that Israel is their primary concern and not the US……and a person that I seldom agree with has made a similar statement….

Tucker Carlson, the former Fox News host and a leader in the Republican Party’s isolationist wing, said that Americans who previously served in the Israeli Defense Forces should have their U.S. citizenship revoked over concerns of dual loyalty. At the same time, he also criticized the Trump administration for trying to deport pro-Palestinian students who engaged in anti-Israel activity on campus.

“There are a lot of Americans who’ve served in the IDF — they should lose their citizenship,” Carlson said in a 45-minute speech on Saturday at the Turning Point USA Student Action Summit in Tampa, Florida. “You can’t fight for another country and remain an American, period.”

In a Q&A session after his remarks, Carlson also appeared to agree with an audience member that the Trump administration’s crackdown and deportation of pro-Palestinian students who engaged in anti-Israel activity is “totally outrageous.”

(forward.com)

These two ideas ought to get the naysayers up on their high horse.

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”

What’s Next For The US Money Funnel?

A good question….for eventually Israel will have enough of the their blood lust and this mash-up in Gaza will come to an end.

Where will the War Department decide to focus their attention?

Will we return to the days of all out Ukraine support?

Of course there is always the situation in the South China Sea and Taiwan for the funnel to widen.

Or will the War Department look for another budding conflict to make worse?

Another?

Yeah, look no further than South America.

But where?

Venezuela.

They have been on the US shit list for decades because of their elections and now there seems to be a budding mash-up that could turn profitable for someone.

Venezuela has long maintained that a decision taken in 1899 by an international arbitral tribunal to award it to Britain, the colonial power which at the time ruled over Guyana, was unfair.

The matter is currently before the International Court of Justice, although Venezuela has disputed the international court’s authority to rule on the Essequibo dispute.

In the referendum, the Venezuelan government asked voters to back its stance on the dispute.

The most controversial question was the fifth, which asked Venezuelans if they agreed with “the creation of the Guayana Esequiba state” and its “incorporation into the map of Venezuelan territory”.

Electoral officials said 95.9% of voters cast a “yes” vote to that question.

Guyana has denounced the proposal as an attempt at annexation and President Irfaan Ali has accused his Venezuelan counterpart of fomenting conflict by calling for the referendum.

President Maduro hailed the results as “an overwhelming victory”. “We have taken the first steps of a new historic stage in the struggle for what belongs to us, to recover what the liberators left us,” he said.

The overwhelming support shown by voters had been widely expected as Venezuela’s claim of sovereignty over Essequibo has very broad support in the country.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-67610200

Guyana President Mohamed Irfaan Ali said his government is working continuously to ensure the country’s borders “remain intact” and said people have “nothing to fear over the next number of hours, days, months ahead”.

Will this be a war of words or will it somehow become more and then more?

I have a radical idea….if a country cannot afford to fight a war maybe a different approach is called for….but that is just me.

This possible mash-up sounds similar to Eastern Ukraine a few years back.

Interesting….no?

If the US gets involved in this potential situation you can bet that or whoever will invoke the Monroe Doctrine (a post to follow).

Update:  As if right on cue….the US gets involved….

The US military said Thursday that it would conduct flight operations in Guyana amid tensions between the Caribbean nation and its neighbor Venezuela over the disputed Guayana Esequiba region.

Guayana Esequiba is an oil-rich region that makes up about two-thirds of the territory of the state of Guyana, which gained independence from Britain in 1966. In 1899, an American-British tribunal ruled that the territory belonged to the UK, a position that was rejected by Venezuela.

The US is backing Guyana in the dispute, which Secretary of State Antony Blinken reaffirmed in a phone call with Guyana’s President Irfaan Ali on Wednesday. According to the State Department, Blinken said the two sides should respect the 1899 ruling “unless, or until, the parties reach a new agreement, or a competent legal body decides otherwise.”

According to the US Embassy in Guyana, US Southern Command planned to conduct flights with the Guyanese military on Thursday. “This exercise builds upon routine engagement and operations to enhance (the) security partnership between the United States and Guyana and to strengthen regional cooperation,” the embassy said.

(antiwar.com)

Finally Exxon is drooling over this situation.

ExxonMobil Wants to Start a War in South America

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

As The Country Runs Out Of Cash

We just had a debacle about the debt limit just a few mere weeks ago and the reports are that it will be even further in debt soon…..and with all this concern over debt and spending our president has almost demanded more cash for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan.

White House rolled out its proposed $105 billion bill to arm Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan. The legislation also includes funding for the border and humanitarian assistance. US officials say over $50 billion will go to American weapons manufacturers.

The Biden administration is proposing a massive aid package as it has struggled to get Congress to appropriate more funds for the proxy war in Ukraine. The largest portion of money is for Ukraine at $61.4 billion. The White House wants enough money for Ukraine to fund Kiev through the 2024 election.

National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan described the aid as critical to American national security and demanded Congress pass the bill. “This budget request is critical to advancing America’s national security and ensuring the safety of the American people,” Sullivan said. “The world is closely watching what Congress does next.”

Biden announced the legislation in a speech on Thursday night, “American leadership is what holds the world together. American alliances are what keep us in America safe. American values are what make us a partner nation you want to work with.” He continued,”to put all that at risk – we walk away from Ukraine, we turn our backs on Israel – it’s just not worth it. That’s why tomorrow I’m going to send to Congress an urgent budget request to fund America’s national security needs – needs to support our critical partners, including Israel and Ukraine.”

Director of the Office of Management and Budget, Shalanda Young, explained that nearly half of the money will go to American arms makers. “This supplemental request invests over $50 billion in the American defense industrial base, ensuring our military continues to be the most ready, capable, and best-equipped fighting force the world has ever seen,” she said.

Young claimed that the spending would bolster the American economy and create jobs. However, a study indicated that military spending costs more jobs than it creates.

(antiwar.com)

I have said this many times….why is others problems mean that the US must throw money at them?

I seldom see this kind of urgency when it comes to our social programs.

Why is that?  (Don’t answer that was rhetorical question)

Turn The Page!

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Are The Tanks Rolling?

The news shot across the media….the US and its allies will be sending tanks to the Ukrainian forces in their on-going conflict with the forces of Russia.

The US announced on January 25 that it will send thirty-one M1 Abrams tanks to Ukraine. The tanks may take months or even years to arrive and may never see the battlefield. But that may never have been the intent.

The M1 Abrams is the main battle tank of the US military and is one of the most powerful and sophisticated tanks in the world. But, for Ukraine, that is both the advantage and the problem.

According to military analyst Daniel Davis, “it could take a year or more for all these Abrams to make it to Ukraine, so any expectations that these tanks will have an immediate impact on the fighting needs to be tempered.”

In his comments announcing the decision, Biden said that delivering the tanks to Ukraine will “take time” without further specification.

Reporting ahead of the Biden administration’s announcement, the Associated Press said that “it could take months for the tanks to be delivered.” Other reporting by the AP added that “it could take months or years for the tanks to be delivered.” The longer estimate seems to be based on US intentions to purchase new tanks through the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative package, which provides longer-range funding for weapons, rather than sending tanks from US stockpiles.

US Is Sending Tanks to Ukraine. But Why?

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said Tuesday that Ukraine expects to receive between 120 and 140 Western-made tanks in the “first wave” of deliveries.

“The tank coalition now has 12 members. I can note that in the first wave of contributions, the Ukrainian armed forces will receive between 120 and 140 Western-model tanks,” Kuleba said. “These are Leopard 2, Challenger 2, M1 Abrams.”

Tanks may not be the answer that Kyiv thinks it will be…..

It seems to be a case of little provision for so much supposed effect. The debates, the squabbles, the to-and-fro about supplying Ukraine with tanks from Western arsenals has served to confirm one thing: this is an ever-broadening war between the West against Russia with Ukraine an experimental proxy convinced it will win through. Efforts to limit the deepening conflict continue to be seen as the quailing sentiments of appeasers, the wobbly types who find democracy a less than lovable thing.

So far, promises have been made to ship the US M1A2 Abrams, Germany’s Leopard 2 and the UK’s Challenger. Others have alluded to doing the same thing – including France regarding its Leclerc tanks – but tardiness fills the ranks, and logistics will make the provision of such weapons a long affair. Re-export licenses will have to be issued, notably regarding the Leopard 2; training Ukrainian tank crews will also need to be undertaken.

All in all, the picture is not as rosy as those in Kyiv think, despite the confident assessment from Ukraine’s Deputy Foreign Minister, Andriy Melnyk that his country’s defence forces would have access to “at least a hundred tanks” within three months.

Ukraine’s Tank Problem

How will this end?

Thoughts?

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Yet More Cash For Ukraine

Yes I know that I bitch about all taxpayer’s money being sent to Ukraine in their struggle….and guess what?

Even more money being funneled into Ukraine……

The US Congress is doing its part to piss away needed funds…..

Congressional negotiators agreed to include nearly $12 billion in new spending on the war in Ukraine in a stopgap spending bill that will likely be voted on this week, Reuters reported on Monday.

Sources told Reuters that the $12 billion will include $4.5 billion in funding for arms being sent to Ukraine and $2.7 billion for other military and intelligence support for Ukraine. The funding also includes $4.5 billion in direct budgetary aid for the Ukrainian government.

A source told The Associated Press that the stopgap bill is meant to fund the federal government through mid-December and could be brought to the Senate for a vote as soon as Tuesday evening.

The funds for Ukraine largely fall in line with a request made by President Biden. The White House asked Congress to authorize $11.7 billion in spending for Ukraine and for $2 billion for energy spending to offset the cost of the sanctions campaign against Moscow.

If the measure is passed, it will bring the total US expenditures for the war in Ukraine to about $65.6 billion. Including the $2 billion in energy spending to offset sanctions brings the total to $67.6 billion. To put the figure in perspective, Russia’s entire annual military budget for 2021 was $65.9 billion.

he Ukraine aid is not meant to last very long. When requesting the funds, the White House said it was needed for the first three months of the 2023 fiscal year, which starts on October 1 for the federal government. Ukraine is preparing to launch more counteroffensive next year and has asked the US to provide more advanced weaponry.

(antiwar.com)

You would think that the US has spent enough cash on this war….if so then you would be sadly mistaken….

Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced Monday that the US committed an additional $457.5 million in “civilian security assistance” that will go toward the country’s law enforcement agencies.

Blinken said that the new aid brings the total funds for Ukrainian law enforcement committed by the US to $645 million since last December. He said that funding has gone to the National Police of Ukraine and Ukraine’s State Border Guard Service.

The aid includes personal protective equipment, medical supplies, and armored vehicles. Blinken said the new funding would also go toward investigating alleged Russian war crimes in areas of Ukraine.

Aid for Ukraine is still being pulled from the $40 billion bill President Biden signed back in May. But Congress has reportedly agreed to include $12 billion in new Ukraine aid in a government funding bill that will be voted on this week.

The plans for new aid come as Ukraine is asking the US for more advanced and longer-range weapons. Blinken said Sunday that conversations on what weapons to provide Ukraine next are “ongoing.” US support for Ukraine shows no sign of slowing down despite the risk of provoking Moscow and President Vladimir Putin’s recent warning regarding nuclear weapons.

(antiwar.com)

Is this truly money well spent?

If you think so then why?

Will the purse strings ever close on this situation?

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

“Mrs Z” Comes To Washington

Yesterday the First Lady of Ukraine came a-calling on our Congress….and it was theater at its best……

Ukrainian first lady Olena Zelenska, who has called herself “a non-public person,” stood in the US Capitol on Wednesday and starkly made the case for more US air defense systems to block Russian missiles. She showed America’s most powerful lawmakers images of the toll of Russian bombardment of cities on Ukraine’s children—a blood-splattered baby stroller, a small crumpled body. For Zelenska, spouse of President Volodymyr Zelensky, the appearance capped a week in Washington that marked some of her highest-profile appearances of the war, the AP reports. “We want no more airstrikes. No more missile strikes,” Zelenska told Republicans and Democrats on Wednesday, as an overhead screen displayed the wreckage of Russian bombardment of Ukrainian cities. “Is this too much to ask for?”

Speaking to an audience that included House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, Zelenska appeared in the same congressional auditorium where her husband, speaking by video, drew standing ovations from lawmakers three weeks into Russia’s invasion. Until Wednesday, Zelenska’s conversations with US officials this week reportedly focused on the need for mental health care for Ukrainians dealing with the trauma of the war, and a US offer of rehabilitation assistance for children who have lost limbs in the attacks—humanitarian causes, not strategic or tactical. Wednesday’s appearance was different.

She showed photographs of a smiling, paint-smeared 4-year-old girl, Liza Dmytrieva, whom the first lady had happened to meet before Christmas. The screen next showed an overturned baby carriage with blood caking on the sidewalk beneath it, after an airstrike killed the girl. Another photo showed a girl in a pink headband, shot by Russian soldiers with her family as they tried to flee, and who screamed and cried for two hours in their car before dying, Zelenska said. Another showed a 3-year-old boy learning how to use a prosthetic limb after an airstrike. Zelenska noted the humanitarian needs. “Maybe you expected from me to speak on those topics,” she told lawmakers, through an interpreter. “But how can I talk on all that when an unprovoked war is being waged on our country?” Lawmakers gave her standing ovations before her speech, but the photos had some shaking their heads. “We’ve seen from Ukrainian leadership their courage but also their no-nonsense direct appeal and laying out the brutal mentality of Mr. Putin,” Democratic Sen. Ben Cardin said afterward.

Like I said theater…..looks like all that cash spent on PR by Ukraine is paying off.

I am old so I can remember similar theater for Kuwait and the Balkans in the 1990s….I would rather see the humanitarian aid doing some good or the bank accounts of the so-called ‘leaders’….it was masterful theater thrown at the Congress to justify the US throwing away money.

Now ask….what does the US hope to accomplish in Ukraine (other than the most obvious)….

By all accounts the best that Ukraine can hope for is a draw…..if true then what are our intentions?

To protect democracy?  That ship sailed in the first month of the conflict.

Where is the national interest for the US (beyond the obvious)….

We need to ask questions and get direct answers before we keep flushing taxpayer cash down the Ukrainian toilet.

Turn The Page!

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

News On Ukraine

I know the news from Ukraine is not that important right now to Americans….we are dealing with the collapse of our system…..but yet there are some things coming out of Ukraine that we Americans should be concerned over.

First the most important news…..once again the US president is sending more taxpayer cash to Ukraine….yes more!

President Biden authorized a new $450 million weapons package for Ukraine that includes more High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS), patrol boats, and tactical vehicles.

The Biden administration first sent HIMARS to Ukraine as part of a previous arms package that was announced on June 1, which represented a significant escalation in US military aid to Kyiv. Ukrainian officials said Thursday that they had received the first HIMARS delivery.

According to the Pentagon, the $450 million weapons package includes:

  • Four HIMARS
  • 36,000 rounds of 105 mm ammunition
  • 18 tactical vehicles to tow 155 mm artillery
  • 1,200 grenade launchers,
  • 2,000 machine guns,
  • 18 coastal and riverine patrol boats
  • Spare parts and other equipment.

The new bundle of weapons was funded by the $40 billion Ukraine aid bill that Biden signed into law back in May. The $450 million was authorized using presidential drawdown authority, which allows Biden to send weapons to Ukraine from the US military’s stockpiles.

Including the initial $13.6 billion aid bill for Ukraine, the US has authorized about $54 billion to spend on the war in Ukraine. The funds are meant to last through the 2022 fiscal year, which ends on September 30 for the federal government.

The majority of the funds are going toward military spending, whether through weapons packages for Ukraine or for the Pentagon to replenish its weapons stock and pay for troop deployments in Eastern Europe.

(antiwar.com)

I ask just what does the US get in return for all this cash?  I mean kindness is one thing but fool-hardiness is just stupid.

US is once again doing what it always does in these situations…..throw good money after bad!

It seems the mouth of Ukraine has a new strategy…insult those that are aiding his war…..

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba appears to have launched a new strategy in his country’s war against Russia. Insult Kyiv’s closest supporters by calling them Russian pawns.

He penned an article in Foreign Affairs, what amounts to the venerable newsletter of the Blob, the internationalist establishment. The US and Europe are not doing enough for Ukraine in his opinion. Indeed, he believes that the allies, despite sanctioning Russia and providing weapons to his country, are effectively going over to the dark side.

Kuleba wrote: “calls for dangerous deals are getting louder. As fatigue grows and attention wanders, more and more Kremlin-leaning commentators are proposing to sell out Ukraine for the sake of peace and economic stability in their own countries. Although they may pose as pacifists or realists, they are better understood as enablers of Russian imperialism and war crimes.”

A student of Dale Carnegie’s How to Win Friends and Influence People Kuleba is not. Denouncing the very governments he expects to help is a dubious tactic. Telling them to ignore the interests of their own nations won’t work. That is a step too far even for Kyiv’s friends.

Kuleba’s frustration is understandable. His nation has been invaded, a crime and tragedy. The human and material costs are horrendous. Despite early setbacks, the Russian military retains significant advantages, such as artillery dominance, which has led to steady if slow gains in the east. And despite Kuleba’s optimistic assertion that Ukraine can win, Moscow can escalate through full mobilization and resort to WMDs, something Kyiv cannot match. So he wants more, ever more assistance from the US and Europe.

This is understandable, even expected. However, if Kuleba and his government are counting on Western aid to save Ukraine, they are likely to be disappointed. Although the invasion has dominated media attention and driven the allies to take unusually tough and swift action against Russia, the conflict is not their, and certainly not their people’s, top concern.

First, this is Ukraine’s war, not the West’s crusade. There have been many conflicts since World War II, and even the US, the most militaristic power since the end of the Cold War, has avoided participating in most of them. When intervening militarily, Washington has always set limits, eventually deciding, with good reason, that it should stop pouring good lives and resources after bad into them – Afghanistan and Vietnam most dramatically. No other country will care as much about the outcome in Ukraine as Ukraine.

Indeed, Kuleba admitted: “It is only natural that people and governments lose interest in conflicts as they drag on. It’s a process that has played out many times throughout history. The world stopped paying attention to the war in Libya after former leader Muammar al-Qaddafi was toppled from power, in 2011. It disengaged from Syria, Yemen, and other ongoing conflicts that once generated front-page news. And as I know well, the rest of the world lost interest in Ukraine after 2015, even as we continued to fight Russian forces for control over the eastern part of the country.” Everyone is more concerned about their families and friends, as well as their communities and nations, than about “the world.”

Second, Kyiv’s fight is not for Europe, the West, or any other country. Ukrainians are fighting for Ukraine. Kuleba claimed: “If we lose, there will not just be no more Ukraine; there will be no prosperity or security in Europe.” Yet no one in NATO, except perhaps the Baltic States, which would do little of the fighting – NATO always has stood for North America and the Others – has ever considered Ukraine to be a vital interest worth fighting for. The alliance failed to act on a succession of promises to induct Kyiv and did not directly intervene after Russia’s 2014 territorial seizures. Today allied governments are acting in the very ways that so upset Kuleba because they believe it is vital to avoid being dragged into the conflict.

Has Ukraine Adopted a New Strategy of Insulting the Allies?

It is not anything new!  Zelensky and his sycophants have been insulting and embarrassing the Allies from the beginning….a tactic that has proved very lucrative from the beginning….cash has flown into the country at an alarming rate.

How goes the war?

Not as well as the powers would have us believe…..

According to a report from CNN, White House officials are losing confidence that Ukraine will be able to retake all the territory Russia has captured since it invaded on February 24 as Russian forces continue to make gains in the eastern Donbas region.

Unnamed US officials told CNN that President Biden’s advisors have started debating if and how the US should start convincing Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky should change his definition of what “victory” will look like.

Zelensky has repeatedly stated that Ukraine’s goal is to drive Russia out of all territory it has captured since it invaded. He also has said he wants to expel Russian forces from Crimea, a territory Moscow has controlled since 2014.

But even as the US and NATO are sending more and more heavy weapons to Kyiv, the prospect of Ukraine being able to launch a sufficient counter-offensive does not seem realistic. Ukraine is taking heavy casualties, with officials admitting they are losing between 100 and 200 troops each day.

(antiwar.com)

Finally, it looks like NATO could get a few new members…..Turkey is dropping its objection……

Turkey agreed on Tuesday to lift its objection to Sweden and Finland joining NATO, paving the way for the two Nordic countries to begin their application process at this week’s NATO summit in Madrid.

Finnish President Sauli Niinisto released a statement that said that he and Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson held talks with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Madrid that were facilitated by NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg.

The three leaders signed a joint memorandum that said Turkey would support the Nordic nations’ NATO bid at the upcoming summit. Niinisto said the memorandum outlined that Turkey, Finland, and Sweden agreed to “extend their full support against threats to each other’s security.”

Turkey initially objected to Sweden and Finland’s application due to their alleged ties to the PKK, a Kurdish militant group the US, the EU, and Turkey consider a terrorist organization. Erdogan also wanted the Nordic nations to lift export controls on weapons they placed on Turkey in response to a Turkish assault on northeast Syria in 2019.

(antiwar.com)

And the war continues….and taxpayer money is wasted….as usual.

Watch This Blog!

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

More Money And Even More Money

I have been ranting about the amount of money that the president and Congress has been throwing at Ukraine….especially now when there are so many Americans that are struggling to survive….but it matters not.

This is more previous post about the cash we are throwing…..

More Money….More Money….More Money

It is never enough Biden is asking for even more cash to aid Ukraine…..

President Biden asked Congress for $33 billion for the new Ukraine aid package, but congressional Democrats ramped it up to $39.8 billion. The package includes $11 billion in presidential drawdown authority, which allows President Biden to send Ukraine military equipment from US stockpiles.

The aid also includes $6 billion in Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative funding, which enables the US government to buy weapons from arms makers and send them to Ukraine. The Pentagon will receive $8.7 billion to replenish weapons stockpiles that have been to Ukraine, and $3.9 billion to pay for troop deployments in Eastern Europe.

In March, $13.6 billion for Ukraine aid was included in a spending bill signed by President Biden. The new $39.8 billion plan will bring total US aid for Ukraine in 2022 alone to over $53 billion. To put the enormous figure into perspective, Russia’s entire military budget for 2021 was estimated to be about $65.9 billion.

(antiwar.com)

The measure passed in a vote of 368-57, with only Republicans voting against the bill. The legislation now moves to the Senate, which could hold a vote this week.

Read more…..

https://greenwald.substack.com/p/biden-wanted-33b-more-for-ukraine

And this must been done by 19 May….according to the admin…..

Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and Secretary of State Antony Blinken have urged Congress to pass additional funding for Ukraine aid by May 19 as President Biden is close to exhausting funds that allow him to send weapons to Kyiv.

Austin and Blinken told House and Senate leadership in a letter obtained by The Hill that the administration needs more money by May 19 “if we are to continue are [sic] security assistance at the current pace.”

As part of a $13.6 billion Ukraine aid package passed in March, $3.5 billion went towards a presidential drawdown authority, enabling Biden to send arms from US military stockpiles. Biden recently signed off on a $150 million arms package for Ukraine and has about $100 million left from the drawdown funds.

“In short, we need your help. The ability to draw upon existing DoD stocks has been a critical tool in our efforts to support the Ukrainians in their fight against Russian aggression, allowing us to quickly source equipment and ensure a sustained flow of security assistance to Ukraine,” Blinken and Austin wrote.

(antiwar.com)

The urgency seems to be the panic the admin is feeling for they fear the purse strings will be cut and their handlers in the industry will retaliate at election time.

I have stated many times….help Ukraine but not when the help hurts American families….but since those families do NOT have a lobbyist then their plight is of no importance.

They, Congress, should be ashamed of themselves….they turn their backs on the American people all in the name of the bribes (oh my bad….donations) they get every election.

As usual it is all about the cash not the country.

When is enough enough?

At what point do the American people start questioning the decisions of our Congress?

Turn The Page!

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”