US assistance to Ukraine has ‘ground to a halt’ amid political infighting, White House says (www.independent.co.uk)
from bdonvr@thelemmy.club to world@lemmy.world on 12 Jan 2024 10:29
https://thelemmy.club/post/7350399

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autotldr@lemmings.world on 12 Jan 2024 10:30 next collapse

This is the best summary I could come up with:


American military aid for Ukraine has now “ground to a halt”, the White House said on Thursday amid bickering in Congress over a package of support for both Israel and Kyiv.

Ukraine’s military fears Vladimir Putin’s forces could break through its defensive lines and secure victory for Russia within days if the US does not commit to more aid, with intense fighting still taking place around the key industrial town of Avdiivka, despite the onset of the country’s bitter winter.

The Republican lawmakers have sought to justify their opposition by complaining that allocating funds for Ukraine does not benefit the US directly and by suggesting that there are no controls on how the money at issue would be spent.

However, Shalanda Young, the White House budget director, pointed out in her letter that Mr Biden’s request for supplemental appropriations would also pump more than $50bn into US-based defence manufacturing, including bolstering capabilities for building air defence systems, tactical vehicles, and artillery shells made in numerous different states.

This comes amid intelligence reports showing Russia has been receiving increasing military support from North Korea and Iran for its continuing invasion of Ukraine.

The Biden administration has repeatedly sought to make the case that the Kremlin has become reliant on North Korea, as well as Iran, for the arms it needs to fight its war against Ukraine and has disclosed intelligence findings that it says show as much.


The original article contains 604 words, the summary contains 236 words. Saved 61%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!

verdantbanana@lemmy.world on 12 Jan 2024 10:55 next collapse

usafacts.org/…/nutrition-assistance-snap-spending…

cfr.org/…/how-much-aid-has-us-sent-ukraine-here-a…

almost as much funding has gone to Ukraine versus US federal food stamp program and if they pump 50bl into US based defense spending it will be close to or more than we spend to assist feeding people

xmunk@sh.itjust.works on 12 Jan 2024 11:21 next collapse

This isn’t an either/or problem… We can do both. We can do both trivially.

nicetriangle@kbin.social on 12 Jan 2024 12:34 collapse

Yeah this is a walk and chew gum at the same time kind of thing. Both are valid issues and given the US budget, this is not a zero sum situation. The US could and should be doing better in both areas.

WhatAmLemmy@lemmy.world on 12 Jan 2024 11:24 next collapse

This funding is not “for” Ukraine. It’s for the military industrial complex — most of that money stayed in the US.

I personally haven’t supported 9/10 of US military actions since WW2, but Ukraine is a rare case where I do. So tell me… There are hundreds of billions in other spending that should be scrutinized before Ukraine — Why do you think we should let Putin invade and seize other countries?

Cosmonauticus@lemmy.world on 12 Jan 2024 11:28 next collapse

Why do you think we should let Putin invade and seize other countries?

To be fair America famously does/did

Theprogressivist@lemmy.world on 12 Jan 2024 11:44 collapse

What country hasn’t?

maynarkh@feddit.nl on 12 Jan 2024 12:11 collapse

San Marino and Switzerland at least.

That said, imperialistic conquests of one country do not justify that of another.

Theprogressivist@lemmy.world on 12 Jan 2024 12:30 next collapse

No shit. That was my point.

Cosmonauticus@lemmy.world on 12 Jan 2024 12:56 next collapse

No but it’s hard to cry about imperialism while funding genocidal imperialism.

No I don’t support Russia but the Biden administration are giant hypocrites

Skua@kbin.social on 12 Jan 2024 13:13 next collapse

I'll take hypocrisy any day over the apparent alternative of doing the imperialism and not helping anyone else resist imperialism

Theprogressivist@lemmy.world on 12 Jan 2024 13:33 collapse

So, how is Russia doing any less different than the US according to your logic?

xmunk@sh.itjust.works on 12 Jan 2024 15:40 collapse

If we’re bitching about imperialism you really have got to put Switzerland back on that list… It’s introduced and supported turmoil across the world while constantly profiting from it - go visit Zurich or Lucerne sometime and realize just how much international money is supporting every part of their economy.

Candelestine@lemmy.world on 12 Jan 2024 12:49 next collapse

… hear hear. There are few things I hate more in modern politics than having to align myself with our military-industrial complex, as it feels like a deep and personal betrayal of some of my own strongest and longest-held beliefs.

But … every tool has its purpose, and this is exactly what they’re for. Would they maybe, just maaaaybe, like … some more money?

teamevil@lemmy.world on 12 Jan 2024 14:02 collapse

I will never understand how people don’t get this fact…the aid is loans to Ukraine and the money goes directly to US weapon manufacturers.

Hyperreality@kbin.social on 12 Jan 2024 12:24 next collapse

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/False_dilemma

CanadaPlus@futurology.today on 12 Jan 2024 23:38 collapse

Exactly. I would fully support expanding welfare and funding the shit out of Ukraine, and then raising upper tax brackets to pay for it all (in my country or theirs). I doubt OP does, so obviously money’s not the real problem.

NovaPrime@lemmy.ml on 12 Jan 2024 16:48 collapse

And yet the very assholes complaining about Ukraine aid and blocking funding are also complaining about Food Stamps and other “entitlements” and refusing to take free federal dollars for things like child nutrition summer programs. Miss me with the bullshit. As if Republicans gave a fuck about funding the social safety net.

WashedOver@lemmy.ca on 12 Jan 2024 11:23 next collapse

What a shame the inaction of one generation is going to mean eventually the younger generations becoming Cannon fodder again due to this burying the head in the sand and giving Putin just what he needs to keep going beyond Ukraine.

The older generation aren’t fans of the younger generations as it is so this should show them /s

NoneOfUrBusiness@kbin.social on 12 Jan 2024 11:55 next collapse

It's honestly insane that Israel is getting weapons while Ukraine isn't.

McDropout@lemmy.world on 12 Jan 2024 13:51 next collapse

Israel is more important to the states than Ukraine (or Russia’s proximity to NATO)

Wodge@lemmy.world on 12 Jan 2024 14:18 next collapse

No. It’s republicans that are blocking Ukraine aid.

NovaPrime@lemmy.ml on 12 Jan 2024 16:46 next collapse

If the President can go around Congress on Israel, he can do it for Ukraine if he wanted to.

McDropout@lemmy.world on 12 Jan 2024 18:06 next collapse

BUT IT’S THESE REPUBLICANS !!! /s

CanadaPlus@futurology.today on 12 Jan 2024 23:35 collapse

Not necessarily. Israel has a lot of special carveouts built into US law specifically for it. For example, they’re the only country that can spend US military aid money on their own suppliers.

McDropout@lemmy.world on 12 Jan 2024 18:06 collapse

How much money have you guys been sending to Israel throughout the last 2 decades alone vs. how much money was sent to Ukraine. You guys have money to support genocidal apartheid maniacs (including israeli terrorist settlers) but cut funds when it comes to Ukraine.

But yes, blame the republicans. Woo! Republicans.

How much money was sent to Israel during Biden’s administration, Obama’s administration?

Woo! Republicans.

But remember, vote blue no matter who ❤️

Wodge@lemmy.world on 12 Jan 2024 19:28 collapse

Republicans are actively blocking any funding for Ukraine. Meanwhile funding for Israel is passing through the house easily. It is literally their fault.

Stop being a dipshit.

UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world on 12 Jan 2024 19:44 collapse

Republicans are actively blocking any funding for Ukraine.

I don’t even think this is strictly true. Republicans simply don’t have a majority to pass a budget of any kind, and no one in the party is willing to compromise with the Democrats to pass a bipartisan bill. Even when the GOP has all three branches, they struggled to pass anything. They’re just bad at legislating.

Ukraine is collateral damage.

GiveMemes@jlai.lu on 12 Jan 2024 20:37 collapse

That’s the trick of the GOP… literally all they do is obstruct and destroy any sort of progress the Democrats do end up making lol.

Astarii_Tyler@lemmy.world on 13 Jan 2024 00:34 next collapse

Ukraine produces 25% of europes food and 70% of the world industrial neon, which is needed for chip production. A famine in europe and giving control over chip production for the next 5 years to russia and china is a lot worse than losing our middle east stronghold.

McDropout@lemmy.world on 13 Jan 2024 09:14 collapse

The Middle East, often stereotyped as a barren desert, holds unparalleled geopolitical significance globally. It stands as the most crucial geopolitical climate on earth, influencing intricate political dynamics that reverberate across continents.

Yes, I said that, on earth.

The resources that are found in North Africa and South West Asia are to the west more valuable than Ukraine.

chitak166@lemmy.world on 13 Jan 2024 13:08 collapse

Yeah, without Israel the US wouldn’t have 9/11.

slaacaa@lemmy.world on 12 Jan 2024 15:29 collapse

Even if somebody agrees with Israel: they have a large and modern army, plus some nukes for backup. Let them sort their own shit out, while focusing support on a country that absolutely needs it.

UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world on 12 Jan 2024 19:42 next collapse

they have a large and modern army

They’re hemorrhaging money and manpower to fight this war, particularly in the wake of the Houthi’s shutting down travel through the Red Sea. If the US were to take a hard line against Israel (as Reagan did when Israel launched a war against Lebanon back in the 80s), the Israelis would be forced to back down for fear of exhausting their supplies too quickly.

Let them sort their own shit out, while focusing support on a country that absolutely needs it.

The US has never prioritized needs over political expediency. And the Israel lobby has far more pull in the American Congress than anything Zelensky is fielding.

Failing to support Ukraine means you’re a bog standard Republican. Failing to support Israel means you’re going to lose your job in either party.

Jessvj93@lemmy.world on 13 Jan 2024 00:20 next collapse

AIPAC getting called out is a boon then, I’m glad their bullshit is finally under scrutiny and can be out maneuvered thanks to how fast information can spread.

chitak166@lemmy.world on 13 Jan 2024 13:08 collapse

Failing to support Ukraine means you’re a bog standard Republican. Failing to support Israel means you’re going to lose your job in either party.

Such a tragic reality that we are witnessing every day.

There is a lot of truth to “Jews control the media” if everyone who speaks out against Zionism is punished.

It might not be Jews who control the media, but Zionists definitely have a disproportionate amount of influence on what the average person is allowed to say.

UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world on 15 Jan 2024 21:46 collapse

There is a lot of truth to “Jews control the media”

Not… really. This is where you run into the old saying “Antisemitism is the socialism of fools”. The idea that “Jews” control media is horribly misplaced, because for every given adherent to the faith with some amount of clout, there are millions utterly devoid of swag. You could just as easily claim “Australians control the media” by pointing to the Murdochs or Packers. Or put the blame on the Germans by way of the Hearst family. If you wanted to be particularly smarmy, you could put the blame on the Americans themselves, as an ethnic cohort.

But we’re way past any kind of root cause analysis when we just try to blame a single ethnic cohort, while ignoring how much division exists within that cohort. Certainly, the Beta Israelis don’t control the media. And we can find plenty of anti-war Jews, anti-Zionist Jews, and even just anti-Netanyahu Jews as counterfactuals to the current media narrative.

Zionists definitely have a disproportionate amount of influence

A certain select group of people with a Zionist position have either direct ownership stake or indirect financial influence over a number of major publications and broadcasters. And as media ownership has consolidated over time, they’ve gained a larger voice.

Some of those people might be described as Zionists, such as Jonathan Karp and the Adelson family. But others, like the highly influential head of the Second Baptist Church of Houston - Ed Young - are quite literally selling people on Zionism as an end to Judaism by way of a nuclear holocaust that ushers in the Second Coming of Christ.

Not Jewish. Not really Zionist in the conventional sense. Enormously influential in US - and by extension global - media and politics, purely by way of his command of a wealthy congregation in a set of heavily contested electoral districts.

ashok36@lemmy.world on 12 Jan 2024 19:57 collapse

They’re also fighting basically peasants with pea shooters compared the Russian army and its weapons systems.

Israel needs zero support from the US to war crime its way through Gaza.

trslim@pawb.social on 13 Jan 2024 13:25 collapse

I kind of think the US is cowardly, and holds some misguided fear about Russia. Fighting a strugging terror group like Hamas or the Houthis is easy, and we don’t have to really worry about anything. It’s an easy win in a military sense (though we all know how actually defeating a group like that actually is.)

Also doesn’t help that Russian propoganda is unfortunately quite effective, and the US has a bunch of Putin rod riders.

paddirn@lemmy.world on 12 Jan 2024 13:21 next collapse

Utter bullshit and a goddamn disgrace. If any country needs and deserves our help right now, it’s Ukraine.

ParetoOptimalDev@lemmy.today on 12 Jan 2024 14:37 collapse

Palestine?

McDropout@lemmy.world on 14 Jan 2024 00:34 collapse

They’re Arabs, they doesn’t matter /s

small44@lemmy.world on 12 Jan 2024 13:50 next collapse

Israel is more important to US than Ukraine

Cinner@lemmy.world on 13 Jan 2024 07:09 next collapse

Let Russia take Ukraine and have a decade to learn from their mistakes and rebuild. The flyers dropped over the United States of USSR and United Kingdom of USSR will be cut out in the shape of a tiger. Putin will chuckle.

Dropping aid to Ukraine is the worst possible move we can make.

chitak166@lemmy.world on 13 Jan 2024 13:09 collapse

The US is more important to Israel than Ukraine.*

FTFY

ThompsonJr@lemmus.org on 12 Jan 2024 14:42 next collapse

<img alt="" src="https://lemmus.org/pictrs/image/52e0aac2-849c-459f-870b-7faa278522de.webp">

corsicanguppy@lemmy.ca on 12 Jan 2024 15:58 next collapse

GoP Cult blaming Biden in 3…2…1…

Chickenstalker@lemmy.world on 13 Jan 2024 02:32 collapse

Ukraine needs to rebuild its own armaments industry. The Russians are content to turtle up. This is good, provided Ukraine uses this lull to build a war economy. The US is the most fickle and unreliable ally. Ukraine must be able to stand alone.

Jwin@lemmy.world on 13 Jan 2024 13:53 collapse

In theory you are right, but in practice it’s damn near impossible to do this while fighting a world power. Only hope is support from allies.