Day: September 8, 2022

As he arms Ukraine, Biden readies new weapon pipelines for Eastern Europe

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)1 Comment

Top U.S. officials on Thursday unveiled $2.8 billion in new military and humanitarian aid for Ukraine and Eastern European allies, marking a shift from just-in-time weapons transfers to Ukraine to a longer-term effort to equip nations all across NATO’s eastern front.

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“At some point, particularly if House Republicans win in the elections, I don’t know how we do this in December or in January, it’s going to be really, really difficult,” to get more aid packages passed, one Republican staffer admitted. The staffer spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive political matters.

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“If there were a war in the Taiwan Strait right now, [there are] very serious concerns the U.S. would have sufficient munitions for any kind of prolonged conflict,” Jones said. “The industrial base right now is being severely tested.”

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Thursday’s transfer will pull more material from those stockpiles, including artillery and armored vehicles, bringing total U.S. drawdowns to $8.6 billion, and leaving about $2.9 billion left from the overall amount that Congress authorized to be sent to Ukraine in May. The Pentagon will need to use the funds by the end of this fiscal year on Sept. 30 or else require a waiver from Congress to extend the authority.

As he arms Ukraine, Biden readies new weapon pipelines for Eastern Europe

Related:

Most-accurate US artillery shell Excalibur quietly added to Ukraine aid

Belgium PM: “Next 5-10 Winters Will Be Difficult” As Energy Crisis Persists

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo might have spilled the beans about the duration of Europe’s energy crisis. He told reporters Monday, “the next 5 to 10 winters will be difficult.” “The development of the situation is very difficult throughout Europe,” De Croo told Belgium broadcaster VRT.

Belgium PM: “Next 5-10 Winters Will Be Difficult” As Energy Crisis Persists

Washington’s Africa Strategy Seeks to Counter Russia and China

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

Geopolitical competition has no limits. This is especially the case when superpowers with global ambitions compete. As long as the competition is fair, it could drive development (although it might still have its socio-political and economic discontents). But when competition itself is projected as a phobia, it becomes more of an anomaly than a driver of growth and development. The most recent example of the super-power rivalry being framed in terms of ‘Sinophobia’ and ‘Russophobia’ is Washington’s newly revealed ‘Africa Strategy’ – a document that seeks to insert the US in Africa not as a competitor but as a country solely responsible for imparting ‘democracy’ and ‘openness’ to the so-called ‘backward’ societies of Africa. This is classical colonial statecraft reframed as a strategy for ‘engagement’ and ‘development.’ The document stipulates a US strategy to “foster … open societies”, “deliver democratic and security dividends”, and “support conservation, Climate Adaptation, and a Just Energy Transition.” This is an ambitious agenda with very ambitious objectives. But are these the real objectives?

Washington’s Africa Strategy Seeks to Counter Russia and China

Most-accurate US artillery shell Excalibur quietly added to Ukraine aid

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

Most-accurate US artillery shell Excalibur quietly added to Ukraine aid

Source

The Defense Department will spend $92 million in congressionally approved supplemental funds “for procurement of replacement M982 Excalibur munitions transferred to Ukraine in support of the international effort to counter Russian aggression,” according to a budget document last month that wasn’t previously disclosed.

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“The $92 million addition to Excalibur more than doubles the program’s budget, adding about 900 projectiles in fiscal 2022, up from $56.7 million that Congress approved this fiscal year,” according to Mark Cancian, a defense analyst with the Center for Strategic and International Studies who’s monitoring Ukraine-related spending.

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“This also confirms what had long been suspected, that the United States is providing this advanced weapon to Ukraine,” Cancian said. Each round currently cost from $98,700 to $106,400 in fiscal 2021 and 2022 dollars depending on the quantities purchased, according to Army budget documents.

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In addition to the previously undisclosed Excalibur, the budget documents also spell out supplies of well-known items such as conventional 155mm artillery rounds, Javelin anti-armor and Stinger anti-air missiles, the HIMARS mobile rocket system and its Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System, or GMLRS, missiles. There are also smaller purchases of MK-19 grenade launchers, “precision sniper rifles” and “spotting scopes” and “replacement battery coolant units” for Stingers.

Putin Threatens To Halt All Gas To Europe If Prices Are Capped

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

Retaliation, grain, trade, gas prices, gasoline prices, national interests, liquefied natural gas, LNG, concessions, food crises,

Russian President Vladimir Putin has threatened to retaliate against any move by the European Union to cap the price of Russian gas by halting flows completely and suggesting a deal allowing Ukrainian grain to be exported to world markets could be disrupted.

Putin Threatens To Halt All Gas To Europe If Prices Are Capped