Ukraine War Defense $$$
Good Morning,
On the weekend the U.S. finally approved it’s resolution to fund the Government for another 45 days by a vote of 335 to 91. Unfortunately part of the compromise was to cut additional funding to Ukraine for it’s armed defence of it’s lands, invaded and illegally annexed by Putin’s Russia.
Ukraine counts on the U.S. for massive replenishment of artillery shells, small arms ammunition, tanks, armoured personnel carriers, critical anti tank weapons and air defence and the list goes on.
Without American funding, is it doubtful Ukraine can win in it’s current counter offensive and quite likely, Ukraine may have to consider throttling back on it’s goal to drive Russia out of eastern Ukraine, and focus instead on solely on defending what lands it can hold onto in the face of an unrelenting war driven by Russian leaders who seem obsessed with restoring a Russian Empire.
Russian lawmakers have recently spoken of pushing further west, past the four territories Russian forces have annexed, and taking addition territory in Ukraine including Kherson, Odesa and more.
Russians like former stand in President Medvedev had threatened the Baltics, Poland and even Germany. These are NATO members which America has pledged to protect at all costs.
The danger for Ukraine is so obvious and extreme it’s almost impossible to understand how Trump’s far right MAGA Republicans could play politics with Russia’s invasion of it’s neighbour, but those same extremists would have forced America to shutdown throwing thousands of Federal workers including the armed forces to go without pay and plunged the economy into chaos, all for political gain.
Former Representative Liz Cheney (R-WY) tweeted “Members of the House and Senate who are voting to deny Ukraine assistance on the 85th anniversary of Neville Chamberlain’s 1938 “peace in our time” speech should read some history: Appeasement didn’t work then. It won’t work now.”
Germany and Russia started WW2 less than a year later.
President Biden stated Sunday “We cannot under any circumstances allow American support for Ukraine to be interrupted. I fully expect the Speaker will keep his commitment to the people of Ukraine and secure passage of the support needed to help Ukraine at this critical moment.”
It’s a critical moment because the Russian lines in south east Ukraine could collapse, as Ukraine pushes forward to cut off the land Putin’s land bridge to Crimea. Crimea itself has come under fire by Ukrainian forces including the recent missile attacks taking out air defence systems, recapturing off shore oil platforms which are said to be key to controlling the Black Sea approaches to Ukraine, and the destruction of 2 Russian ships under repair in Sevastopol.
Mike Quigley, the only Democrat to vote against the bill, said “This bill is a victory for Putin and Putin sympathizers everywhere” adding “We now have 45 days to correct this grave mistake”.
But the future for Ukraine funding doesn’t look bright because it has become so politicized by Trump loyalists. These are the same Republicans who are now pushing for Republican House Speaker McCathy to be removed over passage of the funding bill.
Russia meantime can only see the U.S. political infighting as encouraging, and Putin who has pushed tens of thousands of his own countrymen to their deaths in Ukraine, will keep driving the notion of a victory, because defeat surely means his position as Russian President is finished, and the future doomed for his inner circle which signed on and supported this bloody war no matter the cost to Russian people.
Dana Lewis