Ukraine has been left exposed on the front lines — running out of ammunition and men — while its energy system now faces an onslaught that is exposing its depleted air defenses.
This is sending a giant red flag to America's allies: we will not support you in times of war, do not rely on us since we will drop you whenever it is politically convenient to do so.
Sadly, this shouldn't be the case and it's indicating an abdication of responsibility in being the Arsenal of Democracy for the free world.
I feel Turkey going with the Chinese moonbase instead of the US “moonbase” will come up as a turning point in future history books. Trump hollowed out a great deal of the remaining good will to the US. Biden can’t turn the corner with the potential of trump returning. The US should get ready to be a regional power in 50 years, after people in europe and asia get tired of hosting their bases for no protection.
I really hope Europe can step up to fill America's gap, because it's clear that America will not get its shit together in time to help at this point, if it ever will again.
This has been so frustrating to watch. We have half of our country bootlicking the Russian leader that their cult leader is strangely endeared towards. This was our opportunity to really do the right thing and support a people defending themselves and their democracy. Something we as Americans could have been proud of for generations. But no. Republicans couldn’t have us do the right thing. Not even once.
America is occupied with sending aid to Israel. There's only so much money Biden can draw down for foreign military aid with Congress being in the state its in and the budget being in the state its in. It's been the Biden administration's policy that Israel's military needs are important as well and many bills have tied aid for Ukraine to aid for Israel.
That pov only has value inside of america. This is a two sided sword, conservatives acted against it, democrats didnt do enough, and from outside, america choosed to let ukraine rot.
Thinking retrospectively, It's a good thing that they stoped their counteroffensive last year and ended up distributing forces in the multiple fronts.
Not only did they do this, they continue to do so. Because many Republicans in Congress are funded by dirty Russian money. Traitors all that should be tried for treason. And the ring leader in the clown car is the worst of all.
Mike Johnson is pushing to get Ukraine aid. It’s part of why mtg is trying to get him removed. So while there are other issues with him, this isn’t one of them
All Mike Johnson has to do is schedule an up or down vote on the Ukraine Aid bill that the Senate approved months ago. That's it. He has failed to do even that.
I think a lot of people forget how before the war, but after the 2014 annexure, Ukraine begged to be able to buy western weapons, such as the javelin, because one random guy can take out a whole tank (great force multipliers against the russian bear). Great deterrent. But they were not approved because they fought giving arms for Ukraine would provoke and not deter, and that dialog and greater economic integration with Russia would be the solution.
So the west miscalculated, luckily Russia as well and Kiev did not fall, but now Ukraine is in a war, and unlike previously where they could have put resources into acquiring western weapons, they now have to input their resources into fighting and defending their country.
The EU and America have stepped up initially, like 90% of the pledges went straight back into the American economy, since the give Ukraine their old stock and manufacture replacement stock for themselves. EU is close to matching USAs total contributions and if you look at France and their economy's size they are percentage wise out spending the US in contributions.
The nice thing here is most support money gets spend in their own country, stimulating their economy, Ukraine is putting their own citizens and soldiers life on the line and it will weaken a common Nato foe. But not supporting Ukraine will emboldened Russia and now that most of their military ineptitude and corruption has been exposed and is being improved, Russia might calculate further expansion, since that is their modus operandi.
Exactly, but hindsight is 20/20. What I wanted to show was that a lack of support for Ukraine was then a win for Russia. But even more so now, that a lack of full continuous support for Ukraine today is just another win for Russia.
Yep. Strange how Biden was able to figure out how to get weapons to Israel without congressional approval and against the wishes of people he's depending on to get re-elected but can't use that same brain power of his to help Ukraine.
This is actually a fair question. To answer it fairly, wars are extraordinarily expensive.
Remember in the first Captain America movie, how Cap starts off as a showman, trying to sell war bonds to the American public? This bit of the movie is rooted in real history, the government actually did that, just to raise money to help pay for WW2. War bonds are basically just savings bonds, where the govt goes to its citizens and says "give me $100 now to help pay for the war, and we'll pay you back with interest in a few years".
Israel has fewer borrowing opportunities than the massive US did, though, so it's a little harder.
Even Russia's war, relying on huge backstocks of Soviet equipment, is very expensive, and they saved up a huge amount of money over many years to be able to do what they are doing right now.
Thing is, even with the massive influx of weapons, Ukraine is going to face a severe risk of mutiny and exhaustion because they just don't have enough people to rotate through the front lines.
Even with the recent news of the expanded draft, the AFU just recently ended the service limit for conscripts and is still outnumbered by Russian troops on the front line.
Either Ukraine will have to extend the draft further, seriously hindering their economy, or another country will have to get involved directly. France was supposedly considering deploying troops to the Ukrainian-Belorussian border to free up troops to fight in the East, but that clearly isn't coming to fruition (yet?).
The opportunity for Ukraine to get any kind of decisive victory and a decent peace deal was within the first year of the war. Russia was always going to have time on their side.
The US and our allies cannot produce weapons at a rate faster than Russia does with 10% of the budget. Increasing our military budget further is going to make our national security situation worse
The shortages forced Kyiv’s military to withdraw from a key eastern city in February, and with no progress in Washington, Ukrainian soldiers are now desperately trying to hold on to their positions along some 600 miles of the front line.
Ukrainian leaders, backed up by Western officials, are pushing Republicans to break the logjam before it is too late, fearing the Kremlin could seek to take advantage by launching a new offensive over the summer or sooner.
He told Congress that Ukraine will run out of artillery shells and air defense interceptors “in fairly short order” without new U.S. support, leaving it vulnerable to a partial or total defeat.
Russia has turned its attention back to Ukraine’s energy grid, striking key facilities in missile and drone attacks that have exploited a shortage of air defense systems across the country.
Zelenskyy said last week he was still hopeful for a “positive vote” in Congress, and even suggested that Kyiv would be willing to get the aid in the form of a loan rather than a handout, an idea floated by House Republicans that seemingly originated with Trump.
Just six months out from the U.S. election, the possibility that Trump could cut off Ukraine completely or try to force it to cede territory as part of a truce deal with Russia may be focusing minds in Kyiv.
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why does America have to do everything? the EU will be far more negatively impacted if Russia wins (energy, food, trade in general) - why arent the EU member states doing more?
EU should be heavily investing in this war... unless they already decided the fate of ukraine and are letting the efforts against Russia to stall. Each country is different anyway, some have to balance arm exports with the reaction of the people political support, others may be fearing a future escalation of the war if Ukraine ends collapsing and prefer to arm themselves.
Just as the efforts to achieve net zero emissions: its all just acting, nobody will move a finger when the moment of action comes.
Issue is, the Hungarian far-right wants its ancient lands back, some of it is Transcarpatia. Beyond that, once Russia destroys Ukraine with its culture, they'll have some basis on doing the same with Slovakia.
Because America spent a lot of time trading security for political points. Nobody is interested in having given the points and now also have to do the security.
In recent years EU countries have been growing their armies and relying less on America, but nobody is ready to fight Russia. If America actually started withdrawing its promises and overseas assets, europe would wake up; but america doesn't want that.
Its Biden's job to move the country in terms of rhetoric. You move the country and the elected representatives will follow. They want to stay elected. He's failed utterly, in this regard.
You take the big seat and you have to play cards with the hand you are dealt. The buck stops there.
Biden is the president. Not the House, not the Senate, not Trump. What you are saying when you make your point is that the Republicans are actually in control of the presidency and that Biden doesn't bear responsibility for the outcomes of his leadership (or lack there of).
Either the buck stops with the President or it doesn't. Excusing Biden's inability to lead isn't an acceptable answer. That's the job of leadership. To change minds, especially those who don't agree with them. Blaming Republicans gives Biden cover for his lack of leadership, and the material fact that he isn't able to drive a narrative, or to whip congress or the American people or international leadership towards an end. That's the job of the president, and the buck stops with them. It doesn't pass to any one else. The buck stops at the desk in the oval office.
So the question I would put back to you, is does the buck stop with the President or not?
You're disgusting. Instead of worrying about the plight of millions you and your buddy here decide to objectify women who have lost their fathers, brothers, husbands and friends to a horrific war.