Tag: lethal aid

Why Is the Biden Administration Rewarding Elliott Abrams?

Ms. Cat

Why Is the Biden Administration Rewarding Elliott Abrams?

The United States owes other nations something different, something new. Democracy is in peril at home and abroad partly because of the impunity that keeps Abrams employed. Though his latest role may be somewhat ceremonial, his appointment is out of step with the demands of our time. There should be consequences for someone like Elliott Abrams. At minimum, it ought to be possible to fail out of public service, but for that to happen, we have to change the way we define failure. The massacre in El Mozote was one such failing — not a regrettable historical footnote but a catastrophic atrocity that indicts the administration Abrams served. His reward must be ignominy. The world deserves nothing less.

Previously:

Biden Nominates Elliott Abrams to Public Diplomacy Commission

TGIF: “America First” Need Not Be Antiwar

Ms. Cat

Today’s Trump-inspired “America First” faction cannot be counted on to be consistently noninterventionist and antiwar. That it may lean that way because its chief rival faction is so enthusiastic about foreign adventurism is hardly a firm assurance that it will remain antiwar in the future.

TGIF: “America First” Need Not Be Antiwar

*Disclaimer: The views expressed herein are solely those of the author and may or may not reflect those of Ms. Cat’s Chronicles.

Watch: Austrian Lawmakers Stage Mass Walkout During Zelensky Speech

Ms. Cat

As we and others have observed recently, Western populations have grown weary of “sacrificing” their hard-earned money and tax dollars for Ukraine. Volodymyr Zelensky himself has this week acknowledged that ‘Ukraine fatigue’ is setting in, and waning enthusiasm and support for the war effort against Russia, which is clearly evident even to him, apparently.

Watch: Austrian Lawmakers Stage Mass Walkout During Zelensky Speech

[3-8-22] Trump Calls Out ‘Fake News’ Over Reports He Did Nothing for Ukraine

Ms. Cat

Trump Calls Out ‘Fake News’ Over Reports He Did Nothing for Ukraine

“The fake news media refuses to report that I was the one who, very early and strongly, gave the anti-tank busters (Javelins) to Ukraine, while Obama/Biden was giving blankets, to great and open complaints,” Trump said in a statement Tuesday.

“Then [President Joe] Biden came in, and canceled the remaining military equipment that was packed, loaded, and ready to be shipped. Now the fake news media is trying to say that Trump gave Ukraine nothing, and it was Biden who is their great friend and gave them weaponry. The dishonesty is so unbelievable. All I can do is report it!”

…

“When Trump was elected, the first thing they did was send in the Javelin,” U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for European and NATO Policy Jim Townsend said at the time. “It wasn’t exactly high-end, but we were very happy, and they built on a very firm foundation.”

Related:

Trump Says Russia-Ukraine Tensions ‘Would Never Have Happened’ Under His Presidency:

The Russian Embassy in Washington said if the U.S. was “truly committed to diplomatic efforts to resolve the internal Ukrainian conflict” it would “abandon plans to supply new batches of weapons for the Armed Forces of Ukraine.”

On the claim that Obama didn’t send military weapons to Ukraine (supposedly he just didn’t send Javelins)

U.S. officials were concerned that providing the Javelins to Ukraine would escalate their conflict with Russia. Key allies, including Germany, were not keen on sending weapons into the conflict zone, said Michael Kofman, an expert on Russia and senior research scientist at the CNA Corporation.

…

The 2016 National Defense Authorization Act, which became law in November 2015, called for “lethal assistance such as anti-armor weapon systems, mortars, crew-served weapons and ammunition, grenade launchers and ammunition, and small arms and ammunition.”

On the OSCE’s claims of Russian war crimes

Ms. Cat

by Eva K Bartlett

A report is circulating, alleging Russian war crimes in Ukraine. I’ll start by saying I’ve only skimmed the report as I’m in the DPR at the moment and don’t want to waste time reading what I already know to be lies based on dubious sources, much as the UN did in Syria [see: Guilty until proven innocent (again): UN report on alleged Russian ‘war crimes’ in Syria is based on]

On the OSCE’s claims of Russian war crimes