Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and other European leaders have applauded the US for passing a vital €89 billion aid bill which has been struggling to make it through the House of Representatives for months.
The House swiftly approved roughly €89 billion in foreign aid for Ukraine, Israel and other US allies in a rare Saturday session as Democrats and Republicans banded together after months of hard-right resistance over renewed American support for repelling Russia’s invasion.
With an overwhelming vote, €57 billion in aid for Ukraine passed in a matter of minutes, a strong showing as American lawmakers race to deliver a fresh round of US support to the war-torn ally. Many Democrats cheered on the House floor and waved blue-and-yellow flags of Ukraine.
He doesn’t need to thank us, he deserves our thanks for fighting against fascism. Some of the best money the US has ever spent. Now, redirect all money from Israel to Ukraine.
Seriously, even if Israel wasn’t evil, it could still quite easily do whatever it’s doing by itself. Even if it wasn’t evil, it doesn’t need help doing what it does.
Yet here we are.
Well, it’s just being polite.
Exactly. And showing he doesn’t feel entitled to help, and actually appreciates it greatly.
he deserves our thanks for fighting against fascism
Its 1980 again and my man is the Saddam Hussein of the 21st Century.
0/10
Rofl… Are you at least paid for this shit? Cause if not… Imagine being so fucking dumb that you actually believe that shit and on top of that, instead of preaching somewhere where you’ve got a chance, you stay on Lemmy. It’s so fucking sad, man… can’t you see it? You’re trying to sell meat to a bunch of vegans, it’s hilarious.
Imagine being so fucking dumb that you actually believe that shit
So stupid you’re familiar with US history prior to 1991?
If you think the Saddam story is unbelievable, wait till you learn about Noriega.
It’s so fucking sad, man… can’t you see it?
Why do folks who want to sound incredulous just sound like they’re high as fuck?
Why do folks who want to sound incredulous just sound like they’re high as fuck?
That’d be your inner narrative embellishing fucking reality with filigree and lace to fit your shit-ass perspective.
Jim Jefferies said it best: “That’s the problem with crazy people; they don’t know they’re crazy”. Way to illustrate his insightful point by telling us you hear our voices in your head, dumbass.
That’d be your inner narrative
Sure thing, Cheech.
If you think the Saddam story is unbelievable, wait till you learn about Noriega.
Yes we are all well aware that Republicans have a long history of appeasing dictators. Same as now.
Republicans have a long history of appeasing dictators
Not just Republicans…
The flood of weapons going into Israel, Ukraine, and Taiwan is going to fuel the same kinds of conflicts that arms sold to Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran, and Jordan fueled 40 years ago.
When the building conflict between Poland and Ukraine goes hot…
When some of the enormous third-party arms market ramped up in these countries spills into neighboring Egypt and Turkey…
When someone with a MANPADS and nefarious intent gets within striking distance of a civilian airport…
Shit is going to pop off in a way folks just watching TV and clapping for their favorite team simply aren’t prepared for.
You’re correct about the missteps of US foreign policy.
But your argument is a nonstarter because the people you’re talking about were literal dictators in authoritarian systems.
Ukraine is literally fighting to engage with the liberal West, over authoritarian East, against a foreign aggressor. And it’s done a very good job of keeping and even improving its democratic institutions through this war (I’m referring more to transparency of laws and changes to how corruption is dealt with, specifically).
the people you’re talking about were literal dictators in authoritarian systems
We’re heading dick first into the meat grinder of another Trump administration. And that’s nationally. Nevermind all the tinpot governors we’ve got running around the Gulf Coast and Midwest. What do you think happens when they’re back in charge of the national military again?
That’s before we get into the finer points of “authoritarianism” when you’re funding a proxy war overseas by rubber stamping a government takeover of a social media company at home.
Ukraine is literally fighting to engage with the liberal West, over authoritarian East, against a foreign aggressor. And it’s done a very good job of keeping and even improving its democratic institutions through this war
They’re in a turf war over the Donbas. But the deadline for elections in the Ukraine was constitutionally mandated for March 31st of 2024. We’re three weeks past that with no plans for a vote in sight. I would say Ukraine is officially off the board as a “liberal democracy”, at least as long as martial law lasts. And with the new arms shipment looking to close off the possibility of a ceasefire, that suggests elections are postponed indefinitely.
I see a Republican shaking hands with a dictator. Exactly like the Butcher Putin appeasers now.
They posted a picture of Obama and Clinton. They aren’t Republicans
Next, you’ll misinterpret 1984 to describe this as a “we were always at war with Oceania” moment".
Its 1980 again and my man is the Saddam Hussein of the 21st Century.
Yes we know Butcher Putin is your man. And yes he is a lot like that other tyrant dictator.
Yes we know Butcher Putin is your man.
Me and my close friend, Vladdy Daddy.
Lol, couldn’t even find a picture where they smiled or even looked at one another.
Sigh, the simpler times of 2012, the neoliberals really thought they’d won that one, that Russia would stop simping for dictators, start drinking democracy juice, and focus on exploiting labor instead of conquering it.
Two western proxies, Israel and Ukraine, holding off two supermember states of the modern Axis of Evil/Group of Friends: Russia and Iran. Gaza and the West Bank are to Iran what Belarus and Crimea are to Russia, just further along; Russia already has a working nuclear weapons program and have parked nukes in Belarus and taken over reactors in Crimea. Nobody is going to let Iran get that far. Russia says they are fighting fascism, too. Why do you believe it when Iran says it but not Russia?
You do understand that Israel is the aggressor here? Yeab yeah, they had a huge terror attack. After 50 years of continued treating Palestinians like shit and randomly killing them whenever they want, stealing their land, and so on, they (foolishly) strike back and give Israel a bloody nose. Yes, on the personal level, it’s a huge tragedy, but on the level of a country, they got a fucking bloody nose. They then proceed to commit genocide, murder thousands of children… You’d think that of there is a single country that knows better, that it would be Israel, but alas, here we are.
Iran is basically being opportunistic here, bit also just responded to Israel bombing it’s embassy. All Ayers here are dirty as shit but You CAN’T claim Israel is even remotely a hero in any of this. Israelites are just happily stealing more land.
Nah I don’t see it that way at all. Gaza’s political and community leaders put their kids in harm’s way and and then celebrate their deaths as “martyrs,” which is just coded speech for “human shields used by fanatical warlords to increase the human price of Israel’s strikes against Hamas members and the hundreds of miles of tunnels they built under neighborhoods and schools.” Lying about it to everyone and coming to the international community with crocodile tears is the only weapon for Hamas and it’s many pan-Islamist ideological allies, other than straight up hostage-taking, indiscriminate rocket attacks, mass shootings, and suicide bombings.
Hamas would scuttle the tunnels and surrender if they had any concern about human lives in Gaza, other than their own. Maybe Gaza could have elections and international ports of entry again, bring in all the food and medicine they want, you know, if they had a legitimate legal system and government, if they ever even one single time treat a war criminal as a criminal instead of as a hero, maybe they could develop an economy based on something other than spending everything on weapons to kill Jews while the entire population is malnourished and living philanthrope-to-philanthrope.
Don’t need to think Israel is the heroes to understand, as a country, it has redeeming qualities.
Last time Palestine held an election the elected officials were in favor of maintaining peace with Israel. Then the Israeli government came in and kidnapped or killed the elected officials. They were replaced with unelected, not pro peace officials, and here we are, no more elections, no more peace.
The republican traitor filth should be sent to the front, to fight for their motherland.
Fuck Russian scum, I hope the US missiles and tanks fuckin hurt. Putin is a goatfucker too.
Fuck Russian scum
This should be banned for hate based on national origin
You have more in common with the Russian working class that is being sent to die in Ukraine than you have in common with American billionaires.
Putin, Russian Oligarchs, and American Oligarchs are your enemies. Not the common Russian men that are conscripted against their will to die for no reason
Cry harder that the Soviet Union collapsed and left the majority of Russian males a bunch of hopeless drunks obeying a piece of shit dictator like Putin. Cry harder that Ukraine resisted an unwarranted invasion based on fear of Russia’s continually waning power. Cry harder that Wagner almost kicked Putin’s ass and caused the Kremlin to have to backtrack.
When I say “fuck Russian scum”, there are plenty of good hearted Russians, but the scum, fuck them. Putin is scum, btw, a piece of shit goat-fucking wannabe BITCH.
the Soviet Union collapsed and left the majority of Russian males a bunch of hopeless drunks obeying a piece of shit dictator like Putin
If that’s true, then aren’t they victims of the lottery of birth who deserve our compassion and pity? There but for the grace of God go you or I; we could have easily been born in Russia instead of here - and would be suffering the consequences accordingly
Putin’s actions are a seperate issue. But the common Russians are largely blameless for the actions of their country
If that’s true, then aren’t they victims of the lottery of birth who deserve our compassion and pity?
Did I say they don’t deserve compassion or pity? Deserving of it they may be, that alone might be even more insulting to them than what I said. One thing that didn’t change from Soviet era is that everyone must follow the political platform with a figurative gun to their head. It’s ok to say that the Russian invasion is wrong, and the US’s missiles and tanks will be blasting servicemen to bits who do not deserve to be blown to bits, but they will be violently killed, as it is a war.
Asking them nicely to stop invading isn’t going to work.
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The republican traitor filth should be sent to the front
Its curious to see someone propose that the punishment for opposing a war is to fight in it. But the reward for supporting the war is to profit from it.
Its curious to see someone propose that the punishment for opposing a war is to fight in it.
Isn’t that literally the Russian policy?
I think the Russian policy is to conscript anyone currently in jail. But the Russian Federation has one of the highest prison populations in the world (475 per 100,000). The lion’s share of that population is guilty of petty theft, illegal drug use/sales, and vagrancy/illegal encampment.
The US gave up on this conscription strategy after the Vietnam War, when a bunch of minority community groups like the Black Panthers and the Raza Unida Party started cropping up.
I can’t find what I was talking about now, but I’m sure there were reports about mobilisation being used as a punishment for speaking out against the “special military operation”.
There’s definitely instances of Russian political dissidents being thrown in jail. And from there, they’d get sucked up into the jail-to-combat pipeline.
This isn’t strictly unusual for government agencies. The California state fire patrol is composed largely of prison labor. But training dissidents and vagrants in the art of war carries its own basket of problems. It only works if you do the Iran-Iraq War trick and have your dissidents-turned-soldiers in the worst possible conditions (in that case, Iranian Revolution student protesters were turned into shock troops expected to run across Iraqi mine fields).
In the current state of the Ukraine-Russia War, its the Russians hiding behind the mine fields and the Ukrainians charging across them. But I’m more than confident that there’s some other low-skill high-lethality job for them to do. Maybe playing “The Most Dangerous Game” against Ukrainian drones, so Russian anti-drone units can target and shoot them down.
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The USA stopped using conscription because Vietnam was unpopular with everyone
The US stopped using conscription in January of 1973, two months before the last helicopters exited Vietnam. The major protests against Vietnam had largely fizzled out by the late 60s, as the war was primarily an air war focused on bombing and gassing Vietnamese dissidents into submission. And, if you’re truly familiar with your US history, you’ll know that this is when the popularization of the POW/MIA came to fruition thanks to the John Birch Society and Ross Perot.
But Nixon’s decision in '71 to end conscription was more to do with the success of the Civil Rights Movement in galvanizing former WW2, Korea, and Vietnam Veterans to its cause, when Nixon’s goal was to recast these dissidents as criminals and drug addicts. As the economy stalled out under his presidency, military enlistment was actually on the rise and conscription served no real purpose.
Conscription is still a thing in the USA, it just hasn’t been used since Vietnam.
Registration is still a thing, although even then there’s been a number of big fights over how one’s gender and sexual orientation would affect enlistment.
But conscription, as a policy, has been abandoned as the military has relied increasingly on its officer’s corpse and private contractor base to manage military operations. The political gains to an expanded MIC plus the liabilities of an armed and organized working class mean it no longer has a place in the model we use for conducting invasions and occupations.
Fuck off with this disingenuous horseshit. They’re not opposed to this war. They’re opposed to helping the resistance to Russia’s imperialism, because they’re russian puppets.
If this war is so important to you, why are you not over there right now fighting instead of a conscripted Ukrainian?
Get back to servicing putin’s schlong, traitor.
Oh wow, what a unique insult…
Oh geez…you’re spending way too much time on Lemmy/Reddit…Republicans are all in favor of helping Ukraine, they’re just more careful about sending billions and billions and it becomes an endless money pit…that shit happens all the time, and the Republicans are the “traitors” for questioning why and where all the money is being sent. If it was up to Democrats, there’d be NO questions… just send money!
I didn’t see them pinching the pennies when they were trying to build pointless their 2000 mile border wall
“The United States needs to stop getting involved in everyone else’s business” - Sincerely, The World
“The United States needs to do more to get involved in everyone else’s business” - Sincerely, The World
I swear… if it’s not a war that’s supported by the Left, than we’re all traitors for questioning the finances behind it…
I like it when people and institutions do good things, I dislike it when people and institutions do bad things, simply enough. If there’s one or two good things the US does at the geopolitical stage, and they hesitate, I’m just going to sigh in dissapointment.
Ukraine is supported by the entire Free World. Putin’s Evil Empire and imperialist war of aggression is supported by neofascists.
Dont lump democrats in with the left, we see them as right wing
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Who cares what Russia says? They’re also claiming Ukraine is rightfully there’s…the point is to make sure the funds are doing what they’re supposed too. If both sides just say “here, take whatever you want!” what good is that? It’s about checks and balances, we don’t want this to turn into another Vietnam…
That’s not what the republicans blocking the aid have been saying: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-67649497
Here’s the facts:
- freedom is hard and expensive
- the conservative “I got mine;fuck you” doesn’t work when it’s ‘others’ in need; it doesn’t even work when it’s poorer Americans in need
- the sea lion questioning is a stalling tactic; always has been.
- Republicans can’t even keep a Senate leader, and this guy was right up their seditious theocratic enslaving-women hell-hole alley. They will readily agree to nothing that doesn’t fit their cruel and narrow ideological dependencies.
It always was going to BE a money pit, as that’s the alternative to Normandy and ditching the UN shackles (which is a terrible idea but required).
Time to spend 1/10th as much on Ukraine’s military as America spends on its own, and solve this shit.
House of Representatives majority leader, not Senate.
But otherwise, yes.
Good points, with noting that the aid to Ukraine can easily be justified from a selfish perspective. The fact that it’s also a truly just cause isn’t really part of the equation for a lot of those politicians.
Get back to servicing putin’s dick.
Hey man, I’m all in favor in helping Ukraine, I think we should absolutely do what we need to do…as do most Republicans. However, if history has taught us anything, it’s also that we cannot be an endless money pit for European affairs. I have no issues giving Ukraine money, but I think it’s always a good thing to question everything.
if history has taught us anything,
…it is that appeasement causes far greater problems in the long term. We need Churchill not Chamberlain.
Exactly Bernie Sanders’ reasons behind his view on foreign policy and why that money should go to improving the well-being of those that work for it.
I don’t know why you’re getting downvoted. I thought Lemmy’s self-proclaimed left-wingers loved Bernie. Apparently they hate him now.
“First, it is imperative that we support Ukraine’s valiant effort to defend itself against Putin’s invasion. If Ukraine falls, it will be a signal to Putin that he can continue to expand his authoritarian aggression against democratic nations” -Bernie Sanders
What does that quote have to do with anything?
There is no correlation. You can be fully supportive of Ukraine and be fully supportive of US expenditure being domestically focused, cautious of foreign aid plans, exactly ZK686’s position as well.
Yes. Bernie massively supports Ukraine. Obviously.
But, Bernie was also part of the reason the bill kept being delayed.
😲
Sanders, Welch Break with Democrats to Vote ‘No’ on Israel, Ukraine Aid Package - sanders.senate.gov
And why was that? Well, now we’re finally back on topic… Sanders has always been opposed to foreign aid and foreign policy when American public are in need. This especially to not emptying money with no plan into “a bottomless pit.” If you’ve somehow missed it in his speeches and debates over the decades, you can read more about it in his letter which specifically covers this topic amongst others…
It is mirroring what ZK686 is saying.
But because ZK686 seems to have identified as a republican from “the other tribe”, when they say it it’s horseshit and woffle and we get the spears and rocks out, amiright?
This place sometimes. Absolute circus… Every village has its idiots; whether red or blue makes no difference.
I’m genuinely thankful you’ve made it this obvious how much of a fucking moron you are as I can block you immediately and get on with my day.
Let me guess, only left politics and democrats are your happy place? God forbid anyone disagrees…
Anybody who will actually take the time to read your comment by this point knows you’re full of shit. Republicans aren’t the party of fiscal responsibility. The only situation in which they actually care about saving money is if it saves money for their 1% handlers.
So, there should NO questioning funds that are sent all over the world? The US should just say “here, take whatever you want!”
Funding this proxy war is probably the absolute smartest thing the US could do. The Ukrainians are badasses (read up on their ice fortress revolution in 2014) and are fighting for their homeland. Russia is our second most powerful adversary in the world (and are far more adversarial with us than China) and this war is draining their morale and economy.
Now I have you tagged as “liar”
Every dollar send to help Ukraine will save about 10 dollars you don’t have to spend in a full out war.
It’s an easy calculation only a Russian shill or the people dumb enough to believe their lies would dispute.
Why are you being down voted? Is this place becoming an I support the current thing place too?
It might be a commentary on critical thinking, who knows? Definitely not you!
Critical thinking was not taught to me in school or university. Just memorize, spew nonsense to score more points on ‘analysis’ questions and google the fuck out of everything.
If the current thing is the least worst option, then yes. If you can’t see it’s about least-worst and not branding, you may need to repeat some courses.
Yes, it’s Reddit 2.0: “This is a Liberal/Democrat site ONLY!”
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Fucking old cock. Disgusting
Hot fucking damn, the russian bots are really out on parade in this comment section aren’t they?
…Welp, not like they can parade IRL, so I guess they’ve got to take what they can get!
Shame the TikTok ban went through, but a 60 billion package should give some fresh strength to the defenders of Ukraine.
I hate this calling idiots bots stuff. It’s like calling people NPCs. I think I’m getting old.
Yeah, the majority of them aren’t “bots”. It’s mostly people acting as useful idiots, parroting talking points put forth by Kremlin backed trolls. The shit reeks of 2018’s totally organic “Walk Away” movement – the arguments and slogans practically rhyme.
I don’t like the “bots” thing either since it’s inaccurate to what’s actually going on, but at the same time I don’t know a concise way to call out pretty obvious Russian state backed AstroTurfing.
I think we really underestimate the amount of trolling that professional trolls do, I don’t think the amount of useful idiots online is that big. While the Russian IRA was knocked offline during the 2018 usa elections, I found that the discourse on reddit was radically different. Subreddits like walkaway or the Donald were suddenly absent from my front page and discussions seemed more civil.
A professional working a 9-5 job of making troll posts, who is using professional tools, who has scores of accounts and spreadsheets with prepared talking points that are based on data analysis, who is working to hit kpi, … That single professional is able to make a lot more posts and have a much bigger impact than a large group of geezers shitposting on their smartphones.
I agree that there’s a lot of direct trolling online, but I wouldn’t discount the number of “useful idiots”.
Remember Q-anon? The core of that entire “movement” was a handful of people on an obscure website steering discourse and pumping out conspiracy theories to a few hundred dedicated direct followers. That audience served as both a testbed for ideas and a free “localization service” – they’d take an unpolished core idea and through discourse transform it into something marketable for wider consumption. Said followers obscure the source of the messaging, amplify it, spread it to traditional social media / the real world, “fight” dissidents, etc.
Those “useful idiots” are a fundamental part of an efficient, cost effective, and successful disinformation campaign.
The useful idiots are pumped up by bots upvoting.
I fucking hate the NPC thing specifically. The bots is one thing, you may not actually know if it’s an honest person or a paid bot, but to call someone an NPC is just dehumanizing people.
You do all sorts of shit to an NPC in a video game you’d never do to a real person. I hate that it’s normalizing dehumanization.
If you’re lucky, your are…
Kremlin propaganda is a huge problem and sticking your head in the sand isn’t helping.
You’ll have to clarify what you’re accusing me of here. Are you arguing that the people who support Russia’s invasion on this platform aren’t real people? That they’re not actually a combination of bootlickers and folks that actually believe any harm to American hegemony is a positive? Because there are a whole lot of the latter here because they’ve gotten banned from many other platforms, and not a great reason to spend the resources on the former.
I’m saying that your hand waving away the idea that there are bots on here is short-sighted and ignoring the problem is a terrible idea.
I’ll keep hand waving it unless you point to a real instance of a propaganda bot program on this laughably small slice of the Fediverse. A few comments are not fucking AI driven. The entire concept is ridiculous. Nobody’s building auto-reply bots to respond to many articles when we’ve only got a handful of people, like @MicroWave@lemmy.world , who even bother to post the fucking articles.
At some point, the “russian bots are really out on parade” comments are practically a Markov Chain response in their own right.
There would be less talk about them if there weren’t so many and Russia wasn’t known for botting propaganda every chance they get.
They are really obvious at this point.
Of all the automated posting tools circulating in the US, how many of them are Russian?
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Problem is you people suck ass at figuring out if you are talking to a bot or not. I have been called a bot several times, here and on reddit. My favorite was when I was talking shit about the MCU. Someone honestly believed there was a bot designed to say the MCU has gone to shit since endgame.
In the end I doubt there really is much of a ‘Russian bot’ presence on lemmy because…well…we are a itty bitty little insignificant corner of the internet.
edit- OH also one of my favorites, also MCU related. I remember this dude on reddit said he was positive wolverine would be in infninity war and when he got downvoted he blamed Disney bots.
Or maybe being able to talk to whomever you please isnt a right, and some of us prioritize our mental health above talking to loud idiots. Theres a huge difference between not liking a marvel movie, and celebrating violence and genocide btw I have no idea how you made that leap. Anyways, if we end up blocking an idiot, whether or not they were a bot is a technical detail
edit: Also sorry Chunk, I know I never ended up responding to that last comment a few months ago, it ended up reaching a length of time that it felt too weird to respond anymore
We are talking about bots tho. And I made the leap because I was bringing up the time I criticized the MCU too much and someone came along and said ‘this is clearly a bot do not engage.’
If you want to talk about blocking people about being horrible that’s different. But this was a discussion about how supposedly bots are astroturfing this weird little tiny corner of the internet and I was pointing out that people are more often than not wrong when they claim they found a bot by describing my personal experience.
I guess thats fair. I guess personally I dont take the term Russian Bot too literally, as it also works as an insult that undermines anyone dumb enough to repeat russian talking points. So I read Tankie and Russian Bot interchangably
Eh understandable
They call everything they disagree with a bot or a Russian. They have a child’s understanding of the world and believe everything the mommy and daddy politicians tells them
You’re the one who said something completely disconnected with reality dude lol.
Can you understand this?
It’s bullshit that they’re being thanked for table scraps that the children had to slap fight over how many scraps are allowed…
Of course anything other than 100% gratitude would be touted by the shittier child for the rest of their life regardless of whether the scraps ended off starvation or not.
My metaphor got a little weird but what the fuck.
While true that the timing is shit, the amount is nowhere close to “table scraps” - this seems like it will legit be helpful, maybe even enough to turn the tide in Ukraine?
Also, it’s not like Congress fed its own and then waited months to feed the dog - rather, dinner for the entire family was delayed from the start of the fiscal year 2024 in October 1 until just a few weeks ago, involving the ousting of one Speaker of the House and almost doing so to the second as well. And now, this aid package for Ukraine may likewise finish the job of getting the Speaker kicked out, bc any time the government is “functional” is considered bad by some elements.
But the timing from passing the federal budget itself to passing this aid package is actually quite short. Yes it’s half a year late, but it did eventually happen, and the amount of aid is large, so is a “success” by multiple metrics, and all the more so given the opposition. If we do end up having a civil war as people like MTG are calling for, this may well be the last aid package that the USA ever manages to pass in the final stages of its democracy.
So imho we should take the win and be happy - we may not get to celebrate Congress doing routine activities like “passing budgets” very often in the future, even six months late.
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There’s a lot we could unpack there - e.g. it makes me all the more glad that they passed this, since we’ve already spent it either way!?
One quick item: Biden has stated that the aid can be there this week. He was prepared to spring on this. As you already said, this package was mostly to replenish already-spent funds, not as much directly to push forward with new ones. Although with that replenished stamina, I would expect to see new pushes happen as well.
Another big item is that Ukraine is not a member of the EU or NATO. As such it is “entitled” to nothing - everything that is being offered is purely voluntary. So, compared to nothing, $60B USD is quite a lot? Hence why he is grateful, and rightly so.
Another is that the USA does not need to be the sole provider of this aid - not that I am glad for the pause, but given that it happened anyway, I was heartened to see other nations rise up and cover the slack. And now for the USA to join the right side of history - well, better late than never, and all the more so with an amount this big!:-)
As you pointed out, the biggest one is that there is a faction within the US government that looks to be wanting Ukraine to fail, or more precisely for Russia to win. If Trump “wins” the next election, one way or another (i.e. legally or… otherwise), the USA may even go so far as to join Russia against Ukraine?! But for now, even delaying that aid may hamper it enough for Russia to finish the job. Maybe. Even so, this particular aid package got passed. Come what may, this one is a success. It is as important to celebrate success as it is to call out failures - failing to do either is biased, and therefore wrong.
Speaking of, the USA may also fail one day, less due to direct Russian military intervention and more from an internal civil war. But not today, b/c again, come what may, this particular aid package got passed, whoo-hoo!:-)
The main problem is that most European nations essentially disbanded their military after the financial crisis. The European weakness has made it extremely difficult to deliver weapons so far. Thankfully the European war machine is now really picking up and is ready to take over in case of GOP shenanigans (unfortunately we are electing our own idiots and Moscow stooges so no guarantees ).
Russia can be smart… in some ways, sometimes (while also simultaneously dumb in others, as aren’t we all?:-P). e.g. wasn’t it 2025 that Germany was scheduled to eliminate its dependence upon Russian oil (or was it rather all?) for energy. Knowing this does seem likely to have influenced the timeline of events somewhat, seeing how in that regard at least (and some others) it was the perfect time to strike - i.e. if they had waited longer it would have become far more difficult?
And let’s be blunt: if they had managed to take over what they wanted in that “three-day” timetable as initially planned, wouldn’t Europe have simply let them have it? As we consider that, let us not kid ourselves here b/c this invasion has gone on for a decade at this point - Georgia, Crimea, the area west of Crimea, etc. - each time citing “no, I swear, this was all that I wanted, I won’t do this ever again, I promise”. So if EU nations are somehow shocked, Shocked I tell you, SHOCKED, that those leopards would not one day turn and eat THEIR faces off, then I don’t know what to tell them…
However, I was pleased to note how e.g. Germany quickly turned its economy upside down and started mass-producing weapons. They tend to be a very smart and technically-minded people, so I for one have no problems believing that it at least could have been a strategic move on their part to “not have weapons”, when they were not immediately needed, yet also be ready to start producing them at a moment’s notice when the need for such became apparent - as you pointed out.
Likewise but with very different factors involved, those nations physically closest to Russia may have wanted weapons yet been afraid of enraging the bear by having them? So what I am trying, probably ineptly, to say is that it may not “purely” be due to willful ignorance on behalf of every EU nation, to lay down those older-style weapons that cost a lot yet haven’t been necessary for literally decades. A better cost-to-benefit ratio may have been to invest in something like energy independence, so long as the military factor was covered at some very minimal level.
Plus technology changes so fast… as we are seeing live in Ukraine, “tanks” were not the big thing, especially as Russia heavily misused them at first, compared to drones, right? So EU nations were “not prepared”, in the specific sense, but by investing into robotics and batteries and such, the converse does not seem quite true either i.e. we cannot say that those same nations were not entirely “unprepared” either?
That is why it is so amazing that Ukraine is holding off Russia, essentially acting as the shield for the entire fucking world, making Russia expend all of its military might & resources upon it, which could otherwise be put to use elsewhere, into saving up and preparing for the next target, which they ofc according to Russa “we have no plans for, b/c Ukraine is all that we want, we promise”!
Ukraine really does deserve aid then - they’ve earned that. But… there are >100 Republicans who seem to believe rather that Russia has “earned” the right to take whatever they want. And that should worry us all, around the world.
Speaking of, the USA may also fail one day,
And yet so far the USA has been the most successful country in the world.
I mean… that depends on what metric you are going by, I suppose.
Not by personal happiness, or by health outcomes, or “freedom”, or safety, or education, or (non-military) technology, or … well the list gets rather extensive.
To be fair, the USA did used to lead the world, e.g. being first if not to space then to the moon, and we sequenced the human genome, and computers were invented here, and there’s Hollywood serving up movies and culture all over the world, etc., so I am not knocking any of the past achievements. Notably, after WWII we did get a bit of an “uneven” start compared to countries like the UK that were bombed by Germany whereas the USA emerged fairly unscathed, and yet we took that headstart and really went for it! We indeed were the most successful country in the world - unquestioned by almost anyone.
However, lately… well, “the economy” is still booming, but most average people are going to die significantly sooner than their parents generation did, possibly by a terrorist event such as a school shooting that we have nothing whatsoever to try to stop, health outcomes are abysmal, and many millennials and especially Gen-Zers strongly doubt that they will ever be able to afford a home, seeing how homes have become “investments” rather than places to live in, colleges costs have quintupled, most jobs today for younger people are “temporary” positions in the gig economy, etc. etc. etc.
You do bring up a good point: compared to the rest of the world we still do have it pretty good, in some ways. It is just that compared to how we ourselves used to have it e.g. 50 years ago, we are doing significantly worse, relatively speaking.
Look at almost any list, e.g. the top 10 scientific discoveries, or engineering accomplishments, and America barely makes those lists anymore. Other nations with drive & heart like India or China are sacrificing so that they can outpace us. That’s fine I guess, they needed their turn:-). But at some point we should ourselves: what exactly makes us “successful”… these days?
You might think that I am one of those that hates America, but I do not think of myself that way, it is just that I am questioning our place and how it has changed over the years. Though perhaps I am simply paying attention to the wrong sources, so if you want to send me something to read or watch that answers that, I would like to learn. So far though, everything that I have learned lately ends up just depressing me b/c it at least appears to be a decay, and not just morally.
How much money do you think Ukraine is entitled? After this influx of “scraps”, the USA has contributed more in total dollars than the rest of the world combined. Here is a good source, keep in mind this data is from February and doesn’t include the latest funding: https://www.cfr.org/article/how-much-aid-has-us-sent-ukraine-here-are-six-charts
All of it. I want the AFU to have so much US-supplied ordinance that it makes Helldivers look prophetic
the USA has contributed more in total dollars than the rest of the world combined
This is incorrect.
Here’s another link that doesn’t include billions more from other EU countries since January.
Also European money is overwhelmingly being sent as cash. US aid is overwhelmingly spent inside the US.
This graph is only good through February as well and doesn’t include the latest aide packages from the US and EU. I found that the EU added another 50 billion euros in feb and the US another 57 just now. So I’ll adjust my statement, the US has given as much as the EU. The spirit of my original comment still remains. Why all the hate on here for a very generous aide package?
No hate here. I’m delighted it’s coming. I think there’s a lot of frustration with the lives and ground lost over political wrangling.
You’re right. Block all the funding. Wait, what will you do when China goes after Taiwan? And Russia goes after Poland and Scandinavia? There is historical precedent for your type of lunacy. Hitler was just going to stop with Poland, right?
You’re jumping to conclusions, I actually support the aide packages. What I don’t support is an attitude of entitlement and calling what is a very generous aide package “scraps.” Yes it came later than what would be ideal, but it came and will help.
We literally spent many trillions of dollars keeping the Kremlin in check during the Cold War. Helping Ukraine now is a marvelous bargain for us that will save us a far greater amount of money later.
Hey, Republicans, do y’all remember Red Dawn? Those two movies you made about The USSR and Russia being the ultimate evil enemy that was going to invade and must be stopped? You do? Good.
My real question is, why in the name of all that is Murican, ARE YOU ACTIVELY HELPING RUSSIA WITH THEIR ILLEGAL AND UNPROVOKED INVASION‽‽‽
“Red Dawn” is the most compelling reminder here…?
I know several conservatives that swore that movie was a very probable scenario in the 80s-00s. AFAIK they’ve all left the party.
I just figured instead of a mildly popular cold war era fictional book/movie, a better reminder would be the, you know, cold war.
Well if “several conseravtives” believed it…
Republicans are not helping anyone, you’re spending too much time on here buddy. Republicans simply want accountability for the aid. They ask questions, because if it was up to the Democrats, they’d just send, send, send…
Well, you’re half right…
“Republicans are not helping anyone”
They’re helping me. I’ve worked my ass off for what I have in life…it seems to me that the only party that continues to have their hands out are Democrats.
So you’re in the 1%. Cause if you’re not that’s blatantly incorrect.
Nice try comrade. There are so many Republicans bought and paid for by Russian oligarchy dirty money it’s hard to tell the difference now. How does it feel to be a traitor to the United States for your butt buddies in Moscow? Confederates, all of you.
They ask questions, because if it was up to the Democrats, they’d just send, send, send…
Sounds like you, who rolled all up and down this thread and c&ped this same bullshit and hit “send send send”.
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want accountability for the aid.
The accountability is that Ukraine will lose their country and their lives to Putin’s Evil Empire if they don’t win the war. Why do you hate freedom and the Free World?
Sorry we’re late, we let the stupid people plan things and… you know.
Any way to give Ukraine 2-4 years worth of stuff at a time?
What would be the end goal other than waste all of our money to get more people dead?
Not at the rate they use it up. The Ukraine military budget has historically been measured in billions ($4-5B/annually going back to the end of the USSR). We’ve been giving them traunches of aid in the $50-100B range for the last three years. And that’s not including the logistical support we’ve provided out of the Pentagon’s baseline budget.
2-4 years of Ukraine aid at the current scale would be on the order of trillions of dollars. That’s what we’re spending to play tag in Bakhmut at the cost of hundreds of lives a month. Not even what it would cost to “win” back the Donbas (or what would be left of it) in its entirety. Never even mind Crimea.
Now the Senate still has to pass the bills. Hopefully this will work out.
Yeah, I was gunna say, they’re gunna need to learn to put the mortar before the shell once they get their funding. Thanking us for something that might never come is a little out there.
I just hope the senate is able to vote on the components separately like the House was, because Fuck Russia but also very much Fuck Israel.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and other European leaders have applauded the US for passing a vital €89 billion aid bill which has been struggling to make it through the House of Representatives for months.
The House swiftly approved roughly €89 billion in foreign aid for Ukraine, Israel and other US allies in a rare Saturday session as Democrats and Republicans banded together after months of hard-right resistance over renewed American support for repelling Russia’s invasion.
With an overwhelming vote, €57 billion in aid for Ukraine passed in a matter of minutes, a strong showing as American lawmakers race to deliver a fresh round of US support to the war-torn ally.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine said he was “grateful” to both parties in the House and “personally Speaker Mike Johnson for the decision that keeps history on the right track,” he said on X, formerly Twitter.
EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said "Ukraine deserves all the support it can get against Russia.
Russian Foreign Minister spokeswoman Mariya Zakharova said “US military aid to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan will exacerbate global crises: aid to the Kiev regime is a direct sponsorship of terrorist activities; to Taiwan - an interference in China’s internal affairs; to Israel - a direct road to escalation in the region”.
The original article contains 351 words, the summary contains 215 words. Saved 39%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!
Hey, no problem Big Z, I didn’t need healthcare, schools, or infrastructure anyways :)
1: Unlike some nations, we can do both if we want to.
2: They weren’t going to do those regardless, because our oligarchy doesn’t want to.
Damn, the united states sucks lmao
🦜🇱🇷
We have the freedom to to go into financial destitution from medical bills then die hungry, and untreated in the street. USA USA
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Bad move. The smart thing to do would be to say “No backsies” just in case this election goes tits up.
What?
If Trump wins he might fuck around with the aid for personal political gain as he did during his presidency. I guess people already forgot when Trump was essentially was asking Zelensky to investigate Biden in exchange for aid.
I am amazed at the downvotes this comment (and the one child comment that got the joke got)… In November there’s a chance Trump is elected and when he comes into office it’s likely he arbitrarily holds up any aide that hasn’t already been sent.
Yeah, I legit don’t get it. It’s a funny joke that makes a good point.
Looool
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Account created: 21.04.2024
Ok bro
Now he can afford the higher quality coke again
As an anticolonialist, shouldn’t you oppose Russian attempts to colonize Ukraine?
No, silly, only America does colonialism /s.
Who here is defending Russia?
As if Ukraine was at some point NOT a colony of Russia…
Hasn’t been since July 16, 1990 when Ukraine became independent by democratic vote of 355 in favour and 4 against.
This implies that Belarus is also not a colony of Russia. Do better.
Belarus is not a colony of Russia. It’s an independent nation, and has been for the last 33 years. Read a history book before spouting nonsense you ruski bootlicker. https://history.state.gov/countries/belarus
Tell that to a million of Belarusians who were persecuted and exiled for opposing Russian puppet at the head of state.
You must be fucking kidding me. How far up your ass your head is, if out of all sources you chose the US’s department of state?
Mister Coke-Connoisseur, I have to inform you that he actually fights to defend his people. He doesn’t sit around in Moscow taking phone calls for updates about an unjust invasion like that fuckwit Putin.
While making speeches glassy eyed and coked up
Now Putin’s Evil Empire will be fucked.
Did Zelensky really think the US wouldn’t take another chance to play war games? Nah, we like instability too much. Can’t have Russia gaining too much power/resources now. Sorry we’re late, as usual.
“half” of the political interest in this nation would have preferred to not give Ukraine a penny and allow Russia to take what they want.
Right now there is a very real risk that the USA will stop coming to their aid. I am ASHAMED as a US citizen that right now we’re hemming and hawing about getting involved.
My entire fucking life has been war on foreign soil and NOW when we have a chance to be the honest to god fucking good guys and half of the nation would rather restrict human rights then defend them, it’s sickening.
I feel this, it pisses me off so much. The scumbags are jingoistic as fuck up until the conflict is an ANTI-imperialist one.
the conflict is an ANTI-imperialist one
The conflict has become a litmus test on the left for if someone is actually anti imperialist, or if they just dislike the West
Preach. Those people drive me up the fucking wall. And especially since their idea of praxis is being a dick on the internet and not voting, then claim to be the only true leftists.
Yeah, they’ll say the system can’t be used to fix the system and we need a violent revolution, but they ignore how all the previous leftists successfully made good changes to the system. Civil rights, women’s suffrage, gay rights, workers rights – they were all accomplished through voting and the first amendment.
Yeah. It can be simultaneously true that voting is a fundamentally broken system that will only allow for so much change, and that elections have life-or-death consequences. It can also be simultaneously true that both the parties are terrible, and that the Democrats are less bad.
I would give them more credit if they ever did any organizing, or even talked about organizing, but it’s just crabs in a bucket.
Oh, and in another thread, they were complaining about “theft.” It was the seizure of Russian assets to fund the defense of Ukraine. They were defending the foreign bank accounts of billionaires. Real clown shit.
The war is already happening regardless of what the us does. Would you rather we just sit back and let Russia destroy ukraine?
Lots of hate for how the US does business here. But of course I want them to help Ukraine in the end. Doesn’t make all of their politics right. It’s all a big game and if you don’t believe that you’re sadly naive. Our politicians are addicted to the game of chess, it’s not just the power.
Apparently my main point is getting buried. I agree.
That image is very likely to be fake, btw.
I’m American, and can say it’s likely real. There were strong calls for isolationism after WWI. The US waited over two years to join the allies in WWII. It’s important to know of our government’s failures as well as successes, or we face repetition.
The Holocaust Memorial Museum disagrees.
Then the museum is wrong. WWII began September 1, 1939, when Germany invaded Poland. The US entered in response to the bombing of Pearl Harbor which occurred on December 7, 1941, over two years later.
Prove it.