According to the Pentagon, the US has sent 924,000 155mm artillery rounds to Ukraine
US Army Plans ‘Dramatic’ Increase in Ammunition Production as Ukraine Aid Drains Stockpiles
Maybe if the AFU didn’t waste ammunition, on civilians, they wouldn’t have as much of a shortage?!
Macron rejects ‘confrontation’ as he relaunches Asia strategy
“We don’t believe in hegemony, we don’t believe in confrontation, we believe in stability,” Macron said.
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Macron said a coordinated response was needed to tackle the overlapping crises facing the international community — from climate change to economic turmoil triggered by Russia’s war in Ukraine.
“Our Indo-Pacific strategy is how to provide dynamic balance in this environment,” he said.
“How to provide precisely a sort of stability and equilibrium which could not be the hegemony of one of those, could not be the confrontation of the two major powers.”
The Indo-Pacific Strategy doesn’t sound as innocent as Macron makes it out to be:
The new US Indo-Pacific Strategy document released in February has two interesting components, one overt and one covert. The document overtly declares the US is an “Indo-Pacific power.” Covertly, its aim is to “tighten the noose around China.” Arguably, minus the military might, China’s nearly a decade-long “Belt and Road Initiative” cannot be perceived as a grand national strategy aimed at controlling Eurasia or the Asia Pacific or any region for that matter. Yet the BRI is mythologized into such a geostrategic game-changer that it has rattled the US and its allies in the Asia Pacific. The BRI, at best, is nothing more than a mere geopolitical overland and maritime “chessboard” based on trade and investment.
BRI and the ‘Indo-Pacific’ Strategy: Geopolitical vs. Geostrategic
Over the last week or so, I keep hearing about a big push among activists and lawmakers to try to get the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) into the year-end “must pass” omnibus bill. Earlier this week, one of the main parents pushing for the bill went on Jake Tapper’s show on CNN and stumped for it. And, the latest report from Axios confirms that lawmakers are looking to include it in the lameduck omnibus, or possibly the NDAA (despite it having absolutely nothing to do with defense spending).
Bad News For The Internet: Congress Looking To Sneak In Dangerous ‘Save The Kids!’ Internet Bill Into Year-End Omnibus
Related:
KOSA Would Let the Government Control What Young People See Online
Pentagon exploits post 9/11 laws to wage ‘secret wars’ worldwide: Report
The report comes at a time when the US army and its proxy militias are accused of illegally occupying vast regions of Syria and Yemen, looting oil from the war-torn countries, just over a year after their brutal occupation of Afghanistan ended. Moreover, a former US official on Tuesday revealed that anti-Iran militias are being armed in the Iraqi Kurdistan Region (IKR), where both the CIA and the Mossad are known to operate.
The Biden administration on Tuesday laid out its vision for the Senate version of the annual Pentagon policy bill on a range of issues, including a new nuclear missile, visas for Afghans and a lack of funds for military construction projects.
White House seeks more Ukraine weapons support in Senate NDAA
Germany (?) Using Novichok As Leverage With Kremlin Over Pipeline (Nordstream 2):
“We want them to buy from us, not the Russians,” said Robert McNally, president of Rapidan Energy Group, a market research firm, describing Washington’s policy.
From PFYT2’s censored blog.
According to Wikipedia: “During the first term of President George W. Bush, [Bob] McNally served on the White House staff as Special Assistant to the President on the National Economic Council and Senior Director for International Energy on the National Security Council.”
Related:
Who sabotaged the Russia – Germany NordStream2 gas pipeline?
The move came after a report on fake US military-linked accounts that were promoting pro-Western narratives on Facebook and Twitter
Pentagon Opens Review Of Its Clandestine Psychological Operations
Related:
Pentagon Opens Sweeping Review of Clandestine Psychological Operations
With the rise of Russia and China as strategic competitors, military commanders have wanted to fight back, including online. And Congress supported that. Frustrated with perceived legal obstacles to the Defense Department’s ability to conduct clandestine activities in cyberspace, Congress in late 2019 passed a law affirming that the military could conduct operations in the “information environment” to defend the United States and to push back against foreign disinformation aimed at undermining its interests. The measure, known as Section 1631*, allows the military to carry out clandestine psychologic operations without crossing what the CIA has claimed as its covert authority, alleviating some of the friction that had hindered such operations previously.
They make no mention of Hunter Biden’s Burisma dealings but emphasize his business deals with a defunct Chinese business. 🙄
Related:
China’s neighbors are buying US weapons Washington isn’t delivering
Even though the United States views these weapons sales as integral to deterring China from attacking Taiwan, some of the deals were publicly announced as far back as 2017.
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The reasons – government delays, supply chain issues and production requirements – are numerous, and the problem won’t be easy to fix, Rep. Mike McCaul, R-Texas, the ranking member on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, told Defense News.
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The U.S. government has approved the sale of 10 weapons systems Taiwan has yet to receive – some of which are not slated for delivery until the end of the decade.
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The United States has flooded billions of dollars in weapons into Ukraine, including items that are part of Taiwan’s backlog, such as Harpoon anti-ship missiles, Stinger anti-aircraft missiles and High Mobile Artillery Rocket Systems.
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For example, several Middle Eastern and eastern European countries are ahead of Taiwan in Lockheed Martin’s F-16 production queue. In 2019, the State Department approved an $8 billion Taiwan sale for 66 F-16s, but Taipei does not expect to receive the aircraft until 2026.
“Saudi Arabia is still ahead of Taiwan on the priority list in some cases,” Rep. Mike Gallagher, R-Wis., told Defense News ahead of a July meeting with Taiwan’s Washington envoy. “We need to take a look at that.”
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With his refusal to go along with lockdowns and mask mandates during the pandemic, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis emerged as a hero to many in libertarian circles. But as his name is now consistently put forward as a prospective or even likely 2024 Republican Presidential candidate, those who view him favorably should take a sober second look. On foreign policy in particular, DeSantis promises to continue the disastrous policies of his predecessors, which have made us uniformly less free, less safe, and much poorer.
DeSantis and Future Foreign Policy Disasters
Ms. Cat’s Chronicles 
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