US Announces $345 Million in Unprecedented Military Aid for Taiwan

The weapons are being provided through the presidential drawdown authority, the primary way the US has been arming Taiwan

US Announces $345 Million in Unprecedented Military Aid for Taiwan

Related:

China slams first US military aid to Taiwan island under Presidential Drawdown Authority

The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) authorities’ stubborn insistence on the secessionist position of “Taiwan independence,” attempting to seek “independence” by relying on the US and by using force, begging for US arms sales or military aid, and enhancing military collusion with the US are moves that are making Taiwan a powder keg and ammunition depot, and have increased the danger and risk of a conflict in the Taiwan Straits, Chen said.

If the DPP is allowed to follow this path to the end, the youth will only become cannon fodder, the spokesperson said.

But no matter how “Taiwan independence” forces collude with external interference forces, the Chinese People’s Liberation Army is fully capable of crushing their attempts in seeking “independence” or resisting reunification by force, Wei said.

By giving Ukraine cluster bombs, the US is admitting that it’s OK to kill civilians

By giving Ukraine cluster bombs, the US is admitting that it’s OK to kill civilians

The estimated dud rate is disputable. According to the Congressional Research Service, “There appear to be significant discrepancies among failure rate estimates. Some manufacturers claim a submunition failure rate of 2% to 5%, whereas mine clearance specialists have frequently reported failure rates of 10% to 30%. A number of factors influence submunition reliability. These include delivery technique, age of the submunition, air temperature, landing in soft or muddy ground, getting caught in trees and vegetation, and submunitions being damaged after dispersal, or landing in such a manner that their impact fuzes fail to initiate.”

The United States has a huge stockpile of cluster munitions — 4.7 million containing hundreds of millions of bomblets — that it is dusting off to deliver to Ukraine after a “difficult decision” by President Joe Biden.

The U.S. last used these munitions in its military excursion in Afghanistan. Trouble was that the little bombs resembled in color and shape the humanitarian aid packets that the U.S. dropped from planes. This confusion, which obviously left many civilians maimed or dead, led to the curtailment of cluster bombs for our next military adventure.

This did not stop Israel from using cluster bombs in its 2006 campaign against Hezbollah forces in Lebanon. According to a March 2022 Congressional Research Service report, Israel used them in the “last 3 days of the 34-day war after a U.N. cease-fire deal had been agreed to — resulting in almost 1 million unexploded cluster bomblets to which the U.N. attributed 14 deaths during the conflict.” Israel’s use of the bombs “supposedly affected 26% of southern Lebanon’s arable land and contaminated about 13 square miles with unexploded submunitions. One report states that there was a failure rate of upward of 70% of Israel’s cluster weapons,” the agency said.

Related:

The Packaging Color for Air-Dropped Humanitarian Rations was Changed from Yellow to Salmon Since Yellow was the Same Color as Air-Dropped Cluster Bombs.

Stop Biden From Sending Cluster Bombs to Ukraine

CODEPINK’s action alert requesting House representatives co-sponsor the amendment to ban the export license for cluster munitions.”

President Biden may have crossed a new red line for the Democratic Party when he announced he would send banned cluster munitions to shore up Ukraine’s slow counter-offensive against Russian troops.

Stop Biden From Sending Cluster Bombs to Ukraine

Related:

Rep. Gaetz Says He Will Co-Sponsor Amendment to Block Cluster Bombs to Ukraine

Gaetz said that the NDAA will be voted on this week in the House. “We have an opportunity with bipartisanship to stand against the war-mongering Bidens,” he said.

Here’s why supplying Ukraine with cluster munitions would be a terrible mistake

Democrats Denounce Biden’s Decision to Send Cluster Munitions to Ukraine

‘Why are we tempting nuclear annihilation?’ — Transcript of Max Blumenthal’s address UN Security Council

The Grayzone’s Max Blumenthal addressed the UN Security Council on the role of US military aid to Ukraine in escalating the conflict with Russia and the real motives behind Washington’s support for Kiev’s proxy war.

‘Why are we tempting nuclear annihilation?’ Watch Max Blumenthal address UN Security Council

Previously:

All aboard the gravy train: an independent audit of US funding for Ukraine

House Republicans Propose The Study Of An Oil Naval Blockade Of China

The House of Representatives is discussing a move that would effectively amount to an act of war if carried out: a naval blockade on China.

House Republicans Propose The Study Of An Oil Naval Blockade Of China

The following is outdated, especially considering the problems with the US Navy’s LCS ships, but I thought that the bold quote was interesting. I highly doubt that Russia would ever submit to the US!

Related:

[2013] Stranglehold: The Context, Conduct and Consequences of an American Naval Blockade of China

In short, Russia would not only be China’s best hope of overcoming an American blockade, but it would also be the United States’ key to closing China’s transit route through Central Asia and preventing China’s two neighboring oil producers from supplying it with petroleum. In an American blockade of China, Russia’s importance as a swing state cannot be overstated, as is borne out by the observation that “no blockade of China in history has succeeded without Russian acquiescence.”