Yes? I'm confused without congressional approval we can't backfill what we give Ukraine? Latest DOD report shows 68% of the ukraine aid actually stays in america?? Pentagon can't fill old inventory with new inventory unless congressional approval?
Those MAGA politicians desperately want to hand Putin a Christmas gift by voting against more support to Ukraine.
Yuck, wtf...Orban is knee deep in Putin's oil funded assets. These Red agents are making it too obvious.
Yup but if you want peace in Ukraine it starts with passing aid then negotiate a end to the war when you have a stronger seat at the table. You can't want peace while ukraine has no weapons...Russia would just eat them up
[CNN] Russia has lost 87% of troops it had prior to start of Ukraine war, according to US intelligence assessment Russia has lost a staggering 87 percent of the total number of active-duty ground troops it had prior to launching its invasion of Ukraine and two-thirds of its pre-invasion tanks, a source familiar with a declassified US intelligence assessment provided to Congress told CNN. Still, despite heavy losses of men and equipment, Russian President Vladimir Putin is determined to push forward as the war approaches its two-year anniversary early next year and US officials are warning that Ukraine remains deeply vulnerable. A highly anticipated Ukrainian counteroffensive stagnated through the fall, and US officials believe that Kyiv is unlikely to make any major gains over the coming months.
Orban is a darling of the US right and was invited to speak at CPAC. He’s an example of Rightwing leaders who have come to power in grievance over immigration and culture wars. He also has said he is against race mixing and that he fears Christianity will be overrun by asiatics. Also for all of the concern about antisemitism Hungarian Jewish groups have condemned Orban’s remarks and noted how they echoed Nazi rhetoric.
Welcome to politics in the year 2023. We have assholes running rampant across the globe.... it is the era of populism 2.0.
This paragraph seems more important than the headline. And isn't the average age for Ukraine fighters like 45 years old now? That's a sign they're just about done.
I have mixed feelings about Biden - but I will say that he inherited an absolute mess from a foreign policy perspective, for a lot of reasons ranging from COVID, to the increased push for resources, the rise of China and the strain on the CCP, the ineffective past policies of prior administrations, instability in the Middle East and Africa... the Taiwan situation, the Venezuelan collapse and unstable government, the changes in Mexican stability after the capture of the biggest drug dealer in the world - a divided Western culture and constant wars over 20 years. He has avoided a global war so far, and while that seems like a small or easy feat, it really isn't when you consider all that is going on. In the Middle East we have Saudi Arabia and Iran doubling down on their cold war. We have a vacuum in the region because of Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya and volatile relations between the occupied territory and Israel. So far Biden has walked that line well and avoided a war that Iran wants to happen. Venezuela is a powder keg, some of it by the US hands... and so far Biden has been able to limit the amount of "help" they are receiving from China and Russia. Russia has not invaded beyond Ukraine and has not taken the country either. We have essentially just left Africa alone to deal with their investments and now conflicts with China and the Muslim/Christian fights. It is a terrible lot to deal with - and outside of China early on dipping it's toe into the Russian waters and making vague statements about Taiwan, there hasn't been a war with China - and Biden seems to be the first administration to somewhat get that China has geo political aims around China, but isn't hell bent on taking over the world.
With all due respect - who are you or me to tell the Ukrainians what is "good for them"? They want to fight for their country - no one is making them do it, and they are in a better position to decide what is good for them. We either financially support them or we do not.
This is how I feel. I am more liberal than you are - but I do not understand some of the decisions Germany is making. When Germany granted asylum to a number of Muslim immigrants it was at first popular, and then it became very unpopular in Germany and increased the strength of the far right wing political movements in the state and there were increases in crime. We can debate if there will or will not be long term issues - there may not be.... but I have seen where Germany is now going to allow a large number of Afghan refugees into Germany, refugees that the rest of the Middle East will not take because they are viewed as culturally not responsive to a government or state rule. Why would Germany want to do that? I know it sounds Machiavellian to say that - but political decisions are Machiavellian.
I don't think it sent any message honestly - since the 1950's, the USA hasn't gone full out in a war and typically loses interest in wars (Korea, Vietnam, Afghanistan), and if the USA does take down a country, they typically at some point decide they don't want to have anything to do with it (Iraq) and leave. This is SOP for the USA. This I am sure is why Russia is playing the long game on Ukraine and part of why China has handled Taiwan the way they have. On a side note I was talking to a good friend and friend of my wife, she is Iraqi and she was talking about the weird relationship between Iraqi's and the USA. She said that on one hand most Iraqi's appreciate that the USA was able and willing to liberate them from Hussein, but they also blame the USA in part for things being so bad in Iraq before the invasion. Then they were resentful about how the USA basically walked away from Iraq - but oddly enough, she said that Iraq is becoming very Americanized and said that most of the young people in Iraq wish that the USA had never left Iraq, that the USA had just occupied it and built it up like. She said a lot of Iraqis are not religious and want to be part of the West.... sounds very odd, but Amira is from Iraq and is usually pretty even handed about things. I have hear Afghanistan is actually more tribal than before the USA decided to invade, which is hard to believe.
German citizens did not want a war either...... neither did the Soviets..... neither did the English.... neither did the Americans..... yet it happened. Seldom do the citizens of a nation want a war unless they are invaded. Russia and China are ruled by dictators. While I agree with you that the citizens of the world do not want a global war - and the will of the majority matters - it just doesn't always carry the day.
I don't like Josh Hawley - and I question his sincerity. However, the larger sentiment is something that is resonating with more and more Americans. We have been in Cold War for 70 of the last 80 years....... we have been at war against terrorists, Afghanistan and Iraq for over 20 years. We have spent trillions of dollars on these wars, and trillions more on proxy wars sending aid to Israel, South American nations etc. Yet there are plenty of issues in the USA that have not been adequately addressed. We have infrastructural issues, a drug epidemic, educational challenges, insufficient safety nets for people, lack of government control or help on the housing market........ all of these are issues that have not been addressed. Now people like Josh Hawley really don't give a ****, they want it all to go to tax cuts for the wealthy and corporations.... but the reality is that there are a lot of Americans, on both sides of the aisle are tired of it all and tired of the money not being used domestically.
