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The best news I have heard in a long time.
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Ukraine Aid Bill Clears Critical Hurdle in the House as Democrats Supply the Votes
Democrats stepped in to support bringing the aid package to the floor, in a remarkable breach of custom on a key vote that paved the way for its passage.www.nytimes.com
Well I think there are a small noisy minority who do ... but let's not take that any further.Clearly no one on either side of Congress wants their name in the history books under: those responsible for the fall of Ukraine, enablers of Russia's invasion of western Europe, and those who could have stopped WW3 but failed to act.
This is something I daydream about. 5 minutes after President Biden's signature is on the bill, Loaded C-130s start landing in Ukraine. Yeah, I know.
Dimlee,
Are you able to post the entire article?
Thanks,
Biff
Les images impressionnantes du crash d’un bombardier stratégique russe, que l’Ukraine dit avoir abattu
La Russie a pour sa part évoqué la mort d'un membre d'équipage dans le crash d'un Tu-22M3 à la suite d'une «défaillance technique», sans préciser s'il s'agit du même avion.www.lefigaro.fr
The problem with the Tu-22M3 is it is devoid of an ashtray.
It's the psychological effect as well thoughGawd...these recent articles proclaiming Ukraine doomed because U.S. witholding aid - it's as if the U.S. is the sole source of support and it completely pushes amazing efforts from other nations under the rug, which is shameful, to be honest.
Gawd...these recent articles proclaiming Ukraine doomed because U.S. witholding aid - it's as if the U.S. is the sole source of support and it completely pushes amazing efforts from other nations under the rug, which is shameful, to be honest.
Here a summary of EU assistance to Ukraine for the month of April (in .PDF format, 2 pages):
Even if US aid was only half that support the war would be going far far worse for Putin.
Just watched a video over at funker530 and it showed an interior view of the Ukraine command center during the intercept and amateur video of the strike.Ukraine claims to have shot down that Tu-22 with a S-200 rocket.
I'd speculate that was a heavily modernized version or some kind of FrankenSAM
Ukrainian soldiers destroy Russian Tu-22M3 bomber: Weaponry used revealed
Read morenewsukraine.rbc.ua
Okay, I will play the role of the contrarian.However - on a per population and as a percentage of GDP the US is FAR behind some of the European nations and, because it has a far bigger economy than anywhere in Europe, its lack of support is far greater than an equivalent lack of support from say Lichtenstein.
If US aid matched the percentage of GBP that Balkans states have provided the Ukrainians would have more F-16s than they could handle and war would be a whole different picture in every way.
Even if US aid was only half that support the war would be going far far worse for Putin.
I think you put that quite nicely, and i think it is true.Okay, I will play the role of the contrarian.
Here is a quote from the NATO website:
The combined wealth of the non-US Allies, measured in GDP, is almost equal to that of the United States. However, non-US Allies together spend less than half of what the United States spends on defence. This imbalance has been a constant, with variations, throughout the history of the Alliance and has grown more pronounced since the tragic events of 11 September 2001, after which the United States significantly increased its defence spending. The volume of US defence expenditure represents approximately two thirds of the defence spending of the Alliance as a whole. However, this is not the amount that the United States contributes to the operational running of NATO, which is shared with all Allies according to the principle of common funding. Moreover, US defence spending also covers commitments outside the Euro-Atlantic area. It should be noted, nonetheless, that the Alliance relies on the United States for the provision of some essential capabilities, regarding for instance, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance; air-to-air refuelling; ballistic missile defence; and airborne electromagnetic warfare.
Do the countries that are contributing higher than normal amounts have commitments all over the planet?
Do any of these countries contribute aid anywhere else on the planet?
Our "population" is up an estimated 12 million from illegals, of which untold amounts of funding is going to them. Is anyone giving us money for that? Crime is up huge, as is drug trafficking across our southern border. Anyone "helping us with that?
This has no political party attached to it, just stating what's going on (not why).
I'm a retired military veteran. The VA healthcare rarely gets positive reviews for a reason. When do we get our house in order?
I'm just asking what I think are the obvious questions since the undercurrent seems to always be the US needs to do more.
Personally I think we should help out the UKRs, but would like oversight of where that money is going.
Cheers,
Biff