President Biden is preparing to announce a new massive military aid package for Ukraine that will be about the same size as the previous $800 million one, Reuters reported Tuesday.
If announced, the new package would bring the total military aid for Ukraine pledged by the Biden administration since Russia invaded on February 24 to well over $3 billion. Two US officials told NBC News that the new aid will include artillery and tens of thousands of artillery rounds.
President Biden also said Tuesday that the US will give Ukraine more artillery. The US is giving Ukraine heavy artillery for the first time as part of the $800 million weapons package that was announced last week, which includes howitzers and 40,000 artillery rounds.
Other military equipment the US has sent to Ukraine since Russia invaded includes thousands of Javelin anti-tank missiles and Stinger anti-aircraft missiles, armed switchblade drones, armored vehicles, helicopters, and sea drones. The US is pulling most of the weapons from its own stockpiles, and the Pentagon is scrambling to replenish them, which means long-term profits for US arms makers.
The flow of US weapons into Ukraine shows no sign of slowing down. Matt Miller, a White House official on the National Security Council, told MSNBC on Tuesday that the US is “always” preparing new weapons packages for the Ukrainians. “The question about another package is really the easiest one you could ask me. The answer is yes, of course, we are always preparing the next package of security assistance to get into Ukraine,” he said.
War is nothing but the waste of Treasure and Blood. Nothing good will come from this. Make Peace you fools.
The global food price index has reached historic highs as wheat prices rose by 20% in March. No one is getting those 76 grain & oil seed container ship out-of Ukrainian ports. This is possible, but neglected.
More graft and corruption for the Joe Biden crime family, in an $800 million swag bag!
Com on Joe, your buddy Clown Zelensky wants a couple aircraft carriers, a few ballistic missile submarines with nuclear weapons, and $50 Billion in cash. Your the “big guy” so do don’t you get 10%?
We don’t have money to fix inflation and gas prices but we sure have tons of money to fund war in Ukraine.
It’s such a tiny, tiny, tiny fraction of the US budget that it’s not even measurable.
Irrelevant.
Exactly, the USD 800 million are totally irrelevant.
That we know of, Don. Do you really think the full expense would be revealed???
It’s just such a tiny fraction of the US military budget, let alone the total US budget.
Don’t you worry about that, think about the orcs destroying Ukraine instead.
That same tired excuse used for all of our waste. And like you said Don, you aren’t a Yankee so it really shouldn’t concern you. Just like Biden getting us to the precipice of WW3 won’t affect you either. Tell us Don, exactly what client state do you live in and how our actions aren’t affecting, or won’t eventually affect, your life?
Wars, I don’t believe for one second that the fool is not Amerikkkan. He uses Amerikkkan vernacular, and he doesn’t spell like a Canadian.
I don’t know what his trip is, but he’s a liar.
I thought the same.
You might be right. But Senate Republicans are already pushing for a 5% increase in Biden’s military budget to offset the decreased value of the dollar they attribute to inflation. Biden is adding fuel to a fire that is already causing some economists to worry about stagflation.
https://www.defensenews.com/congress/2022/03/29/inflation-sparks-new-fight-over-bidens-military-budget-request/
Sure, but USD 800 million is about 0.1% of the defense budget, so not much to worry about there.
The big driver is the inflation, which mostly is related to post-Covid recovery.
US economy is $24 trillion so 800 million is about 3%. We actually spend far more as extra spending is squirreled away in all kinds of other budgets.
Correct. That is why I say the defense budge numbers are what we know of.
It’s actually a lot less than that:,
800 million is 0.8 billion, which is 0.0008 trillion.
0.0008 trillion is about 0.0033% of 24 trillion.
800 Million might be a drop in the bucket, but the bucket is too damn big.
That might indeed be the case, but saving a drop or two won’t make a difference.
And the millions that we have killed, as well as the millions we have made refugees is so, so small, so, why not keep doing it. For the MIC is is cost free. There is zero return on the “investment” in the MIC. Zero.
I assumed you have served multiple tours in the military forces, as you constantly refers to we.
Do you feel conflicted?
The definition of inflation is having too much money.
No, the small and constant increase of prices is necessary for profitable business. It is baked into the exiting system.
No it’s not. Capital formation from savings is necessary for profitable business. That has nothing to do with increasing prices. In fact, constantly increasing prices caused by monetary inflation is much more likely to cause capital consumption, which will cause unprofitable businesses.
Yup Thomas…printed on thin air.
If Biden does spend another $800 million, the amount he will have spent comes to about $3.4 billion. I consider every penny to be borrowed money that will be paid to the US military-industrial complex.
Is it new money (a budget increase)? Or is it coming from one of his existing slush funds? I don’t know. But if it is new money, it will worsen the inflation problem we already have (by pumping more dollars into the US economy.)
Classical: too much money chasing too few good and services. With regard to the MIC, it is inverted.
Yes, it’s bizarro economics in MICland.
All those blown up weapons represent a growth opportunity!
And extradite Jullian Assange.
I saw that headline this morning. Disgusting.
Dangerous.
Sure but reducing Russia to ruins for a few billion is a bargain, our military spending dedicated to countering Russia can be reduced. The Ukrainians take out a $1 million dollar tank with a 100k missile we supplied and now we don’t have to build a $5 million dollar tank to counter the Russian one. A savings of 4.9 million dollars. Plus the whole affair will hopefully discredit the military option within the Russian leadership, post Putin.
“Sure but reducing Russia to ruins for a few billion is a bargain, our military spending dedicated to countering Russia can be reduced.”
Besides being some sick sh!t, you’ve already been proven wrong. The proposed budget is already a bloated $813 billion with both parties screaming for MORE. But sure, the pentagon will pass that $4.9 million in savings, in your ridiculous assessment, right on to the taxpayer.
It is $813 billion THAT WE KNOW OF. We are heavily involved in Africa. Everywhere, actually. The is much that is off books.
Uncle Sammy considers arming Naxis a vital security interest.
Yeah, there’s babi yar and all that, but that’s the past.
And all those Naxi arm bands are really just a fashion thing, like a Che tee.
And anyway, the Azovs are really heroes, ya know?
Yikes!
2 minutes ago
Half of whatever gets over the border, guns, ammo, MANPADS and whatnot, to this infamous Nazi black hole goes to the black market and will eventually come back to bite EU’s arse and end up with Muslim terrorists, white extremists and different fascist groups. The consequences are unimaginable, civil wars, race wars you name it.
The other half gets bombed very successfully i must say, at this rate, by Russia and very little actually make it to the front lines. The performance of Javelins f.ex are so bad that Russia finds tons of them untouched in their boxes..
white extremists.. LOL About as common as a unicorn.
Not in Ukrainazia, doofus.
Black Market!
OSCE’s mission in Donbass is a lie. The Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics have banned the organization and ordered it to leave their territory.
The OSCE has used high-resolution cameras, originally placed to conduct ceasefire monitoring, to relay DNR and LNR positions to the Ukrainian military which would then use the provided data to target or correct their artillery fire at the DNR and LNR forces. The OSCE mission in Donbass provided the Armed Forces of Ukraine with their observation data, captured by cameras and other monitoring equipment they installed over the last 8 years.
The OSCE was waging war on the side of the post-Maidan Kiev regime. The OSCE monitoring data also included the movement of regular Russian military personnel in the last 50+ days. Russia, an OSCE member state, has pointed out that the organization’s actions have contributed to the death of Russian and DNR/LNR troops.
“Is”, a lie or ” became” a lie?. When a female OSCE member died from artillery early in the war, I took note. The establishment has no probem with antiwar, as long as its antiwar Russians, as they love to have English written media domination. / You are either for peace & the Minsk Ceasefire Accords or not. That means you don’t allow Turkish bought Drones to fire over the Line-of-control. Its (the OSCE or Peace ) not suppose to be gamed.
How can I verify what you have said here?
“tens of thousands of rounds” – which will be used up in an hour, literally (although the hour might be spread over a day) assuming it even gets to the battlefield. Utterly meaningless. All the usable stuff that is captured is given to the LDR forces. That’s why those helicopters trying to rescue the Azov Battalion in Mariupol were shot down with Stingers. LOL
I had heard that Ukraine helicopters were shot down last week. But I didn’t realize they were shot down by US manufactured Stingers. How ironic.
The sudden increase this week in missile strikes in western Ukraine suggests to me that Russia is destroying most of the equipment before it can get to the east. I wonder if that’s a reason Biden is so anxious to send more.
Very easy to track.
Given the certainty that global warming, regardless of the exact cause, is a menace for all of mankind, then Putin’s start of a war was a crime against all of mankind because it detracts from the urgent need of actions to mitigate the effects of the global warming. Efforts to prolong this war by all means are also crimes against mankind and for the same reason. Today, every dollar expended on warfare by any state takes one dollar away from a real threat to mankind. Today, any effort to keep people separated and antagonistic is a sin.
Is stupidity the reason why mankind was driven out of Eden?
There was no Eden, but humankind will indeed perish..all for the betterment of Mother Earth.
I know of course that in reality there was no Eden. However, ask yourself “why were the animals other than Adam and Eve not forcefully driven out of Eden?” My answer: because Eden is a metaphor for a state of harmony with nature. We humans are perpetually violating that state of grace.
That is, among others, why we have developed weapons which can kill not only most if not all people but also most if not all animals. An original sin.
I believe that this is what the writers of “Eden” knew. They warned us. We have not listened.
Very nicely stated DH and goes along with my way of thinking. I have no desire for either myself or our species to expire, I prefer for us all to carry on and do the best we can to affect the change we need for the betterment of our world.
But we aren’t, Donna.
Consider the proliferation of mass shootings in this godforsaken country.
Consider the extinction of non-human species that occur every day because we destroy their habitat for greed.
Consider how the people who work the hardest are often the most poverty-stricken.
Consider war.
I’ve always maintained that the meaning of life is to leave this world a better place than if you hadn’t been here. Sadly, in first-world nations, the meaning of life is frequently how much money one can make through the exploitation of subordinates.
Yes, I believe the earth would be better off without our terrible species.
Nicely stated Gypsy… About out species…. Some might say that G-d is a sadistic a-hole for having created the current paradigm… But, I am not prepared to go that far… There are some very good people out there, working for peace and the betterment of humanity…
Yes Donna there are; but they are too few and far between 😟
That’ll make Russia stop. Right? Dead Ukrainians and more money for the MIC and everyone cheers. Because in the end Russia will just give up on its security issues and bend over for Uncle Sam.
The Russians seem unconcerned about dead Ukrainians, dead Russians will eventually make them stop. I think maybe one more month and it is over. Regime collapse back in the motherland.
You don’t seem concerned about dead Ukrainians yourself. Russia won’t lose this war before Ukraine is completely destroyed. And when that happens, diplomacy will still be the only answer. No push for that, just more death. Add Sweden and Finland to NATO and it will be even worse. Russia’s initial demands will look pretty good by that point.
They were demands that were acceptable. Really acceptable. One was enforcing Minsk. Putin was peeing into the winds by attempting to stop the inevitable. This war began with the Clinton administration. None of the bright eyes in the MIC or congress listened to George Kennan. We wanted this war. It is not Ukraine’s war, it is our war.
You don’t seem concerned about dead Russians, see how everybody can play the “concern troll” game. Russia and Ukraine had a treaty and the border was agreed on, the Russians have clearly violated that agreement. In the end this is looking like a might makes right game. The Russians aren’t strong enough to win, the Ukrainians are willing to fight and with military supplies from everybody including Australia, they are equipped to win. So the sum total of human suffering will be lowest if the Russians accept defeat now and go home.
What are you basing me not caring about dead Russians? Nothing. You on the other hand are calling for more war. Russia will not lose this war without Ukraine being destroyed and you are OK with that. Your obvious acceptance of US propaganda has skewered your objectivity into believing otherwise. The only way for the death to end is at the negotiating table and the US won’t allow that because they want to use Ukraine to destroy Russia. Just like you, apparently.
I am calling on the Russians to leave. The amount of war required is entirely up to them.
The last year was a busy one for Russia’s military and civilian artificial intelligence efforts. Moscow poured money into research and development, and Russia’s civil society debated the country’s place in the larger AI ecosystem. But Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine in February and the resulting sanctions have brought several of those efforts to a halt—and thrown into question just how many of its AI advancements Russia will be able to salvage and continue.
Ever since Putin extolled the development of robotic combat systems in the new State Armaments Program in 2020, the Russian Ministry of Defense has been hyper-focused on AI. We have learned more about the Russian military’s focus on AI in the past year thanks to several public revelations. But talk of AI has been muted since the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Apart from the widespread use of UAVs for reconnaissance and target acquisition and a single display of a mine-clearing robot – all of which are remote-controlled – there is no overt evidence of Russian AI in C4ISR or decision-making among the Russian military forces, other than a single public deepfake attempt to discredit the Ukrainian government.
The sudden pull-out of major IT and high-tech companies from Russia, coupled with a rapid brain drain of Russia’s IT workers, and the ever-expanding high-tech sanctions against the Russian state may hobble domestic AI research and development for years to come. While the Russian government is trying to prop up its AI and high-tech industry with subsidies, funding, and legislative support, the impact of the above-mentioned consequences may be too much for the still-growing and evolving Russian AI ecosystem.
One of the most-felt sanctions aftereffects has been the severing of international cooperation on AI among Russian universities and research instructions, which earlier was enshrined as one of the most important drivers for domestic AI R&D, and reinforced by support from the Kremlin. For most high-tech institutions around the world, the impact of civilian destruction across Ukraine by the Russian military greatly outweighs the need to engage Russia on AI.
Every time someone mentions AI in terms of military strategy, I think of the movie “Terminator”. Sky Net (from the movie) decided that humans were the problem to be solved. Sky Net might have been right.
Biden’s sanctions have seriously harmed Russia. But they have not had their intended effect, and they have hurt us too. The head of the IMF reported yesterday that “disruptions to Russian supplies of oil, gas and metals, along with Ukrainian exports of wheat and corn, will ripple through commodities markets and across the global economy like seismic waves.” and that 𝑠𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠 𝑖𝑚𝑝𝑜𝑠𝑒𝑑 𝑏𝑦 𝐴𝑚𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑐𝑎 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑖𝑡𝑠 𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑖𝑒𝑠 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑚𝑎𝑖𝑛 𝑓𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑜𝑟 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑡𝑟𝑖𝑏𝑢𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑑𝑜𝑤𝑛𝑤𝑎𝑟𝑑 𝑟𝑒𝑣𝑖𝑠𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐼.𝑀.𝐹.’𝑠 𝑔𝑙𝑜𝑏𝑎𝑙 𝑔𝑟𝑜𝑤𝑡ℎ 𝑜𝑢𝑡𝑙𝑜𝑜𝑘.
An attack on Russia’s AI development will likely backfire as well.
I was upset that Trump worked so hard to attack global trade. Biden has already done far worse. The belief that the US is indispensable is a conceit. The sooner we realize that, the better.
I saw a news story earlier today suggesting that both the Russian and Iranian regimes might just start monetizing their excess oil and gas by using it to power cryptocurrency mining.
That would certainly advance the global death of fiat currency schemes. Which, while entailing a lot of pain for pretty much everyone, would be a long-term gain for freedom.
Sure, but we can’t let countries like Russia invade its neighbours without consequences.
Then Poland, the Baltics, Finland etc would be next. It’s better to stop this before it becomes even worse.
And what message would that send to China, they would invade Taiwan, Vietnam etc.
Way to stop the war, Bye-Done!
But you’ve always been a whore for the munitions industry. And a warmonger, even though you never served a minute of your life.
( Must have had a hangnail.)
You expect thousands to die for your skewed “principles”.
Yet you have refused to so much as speak to Putin since the inception of the war. Now, that’s what I call diplomacy!
By now it should be clear to all, Russia is fighting the US, not Ukraine. As with its previous “global wars on terror”, the US is exploiting a civil conflict, potentiating (Maidan coup) the extremist fraction, to destabilize and overthrow the legit regime (Kremlin) and install a pliant stooge. The only difference is magnitude. But here is where quantity rises to quality. Left to its own (i.e., Neocon/lib0) logic it will engross the entire planet within an easily foreseeable time-span, …and not just the destruction of western Civilization.
Well that isn’t clear at all, if they are they better stop as so far 0 US troops have died against probably 20,000 Russians.. We can certainly keep this up. The US is suppling weapons to the country of Ukraine, that is allowed. The Russians supplied weapons to the country of Vietnam during our special military operation there.
The Kiev political leadership takeover was funded, and its personnel chosen, put in place, and directed by Washington. The Ukra-Nazi army is funded, supplied, trained, and provided surveillance and targeting co-ordinates by US AWACS and satellites , and is wholly and completely (in all but name) an army of the US Military.
During the Viet Nam war it would have been the Soviets supplying weapons not the Russia of today.
And during the Russian Civil war it would have been the Wilson administration, not the Biden administration, supplying weapons to the “Whites” to fight the “Reds.” So? Same White House. Same Kremlin.
Look up who financed the Bolshevik Revolution.
You really don’t value life much, do you? No mention of dead Ukrainians just glee over no US deaths. We certainly can keep this up. Wow.
And, in Nam, the Soviets were on the side of the angels; while the US created, supported, and eventually took over the fighting to maintain its corrupt client regime. Believe me, I recognize the parallel.
Was that suppose to be a reply to john?
Yes. of course. You and I agree on all this. John is just a nazi troll, insipid talking points; but, does at times jog the memory of germane history which by comparison with the current sharpens the focus on both current events and the bigger historical picture. For example, if Putin should be criticized for anything it is his lack of support (no troops or weapons) for the separatist provinces through the previous 8 years, … which, mutatis mutandis, parallels Brezhnev’s “support” for Hanoi.
Yeah, that was “special”, all right.