US set to announce $1.2 billion aid package to Ukraine with counteroffensive looming

[brooklynite]

Source: CNN

The US is set to announce a $1.2 billion aid package to Ukraine as early as Tuesday, according to a US official familiar with the package, with Ukraine’s counteroffensive against Russian forces looming.

The package will include drones, artillery ammunition and air defense missiles, the official said, as well as other capabilities.

The package, first reported by The Associated Press, will fall under the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI), which means it will be contracted and purchased from manufacturers instead of pulled directly from Defense Department stocks in a drawdown. Instead of supplying Ukraine with the weapons it currently needs, USAI packages are intended to create a medium- and long-term supply for Ukraine.

With the new package announcement, the US will have committed $37.6 billion in military aid to Ukraine since the beginning of the Biden administration, including $36.9 billion since the beginning of the war in February 2022.

Read more: https://www.cnn.com/2023/05/08/politics/ukraine-aid-package-counteroffensive/index.html

[peppertree]

1. Good way to give Toddler Greene another tantrum

Two for the price of one, really.

[texasfiddler]

2. Anything that hurts Putin and upsets Greene is good!

Slava Ukraine

[hueymahl]

3. Why are we spending so much overseas

When we have unmet needs here?

[COL Mustard]

4. Um...because there's a war there?

I know, we have problems of our own that we need to solve but other people need our help (and our Allies' help) as well.

[maxsolomon]

5. You forgot to include the

smiley.

[hueymahl]

6. Actually, I did not

I think we have spent far to much on foriegn wars, whether it be Iraq, Afganistan, various hotspots and now Ukraine. We are drowning in debt, have vast unfunded social programs and real struggling families. We need to force as quick an end to this war as possible.

[maxsolomon]

7. I vehemently disagree. I am not an Isolationist.

The continued existence of Ukraine is important to the world order, and most if not all of our allies agree. The amount we are spending there is minor in comparison to the risk of allowing Russia's Autocracy to overrun and conquer Ukraine.

No matter if we fund the Ukrainian military or not, we will continue to drown in debt, have vast unfunded social programs and have real struggling families. It is not a this-or-that situation, and it never is.

If you want a "quick end", your approach appears to be abandoning Ukraine to negotiate territorial concessions, if not cease to exist. That is not happening. This war is not ending quickly.

[hueymahl]

8. Neither am I an isolationist

But I am not for international adventurism. We owe nothing to Ukraine. There have been many opportunities to bring this to a close. Hopefully we will be able to find an compromise before more people are killed over there and we go deeper into debt.

Btw, this is not an indictment of the Biden administration. Our country has a long, frustrating history of letting the CIA and inteligence agencies push us into needless wars and conflicts. Republicans have been the worst at it, but our Democratic leaders have not been blameless.

[maxsolomon]

9. I hear opinions like yours on Amy Goodman's show.

But your focus is on the National Debt? Odd combo.

[hueymahl]

14. Had to go look up who that was

I think I would like her. Thanks for the reference!

[MarineCombatEngineer]

12. Oh, you're one of those.

[hueymahl]

13. Someone who hates war? Yes.

One of those 🤷🏿‍♂️

[Cha]

18. Putin Attacked Ukraine and Ukraine is

Defending their People and Country.

It's about Saving Democracy over there VS the War Criminal Putin taking Over.

Please get your facts straight. Ukraine does NOT like the Criminally Insane Putin Attacking them, either.

[hueymahl]

22. Its more complicated than that

Yes, Putin attacked Ukraine. But its not about "Saving Democracy." That has been the excuse for virtually every proxy war we have engaged in since WW2. There are alternatives, and the Democratic party used to be about avoiding war and engaging in diplomacy (and it still is our core values). But the neocons and the military-industrial operatives have their tentacles everywhere.

We have no formal defense relationship with Ukraine. It has become a proxy war. A very dangerous proxy war. And now 100s of thousands of young men and women on both sides have been killed or maimed.

Ukraine had few easy options, but they did have options. Not insisting on joining NATO was an easy one. But they rightly believed we would have their back, and death and destruction has resulted. They may "win," but is it worth the cost?

[Cha]

24. YES It IS.. you're Wrong.

[hueymahl]

26. Very insightful

[Red Mountain]

45. We can't answer that question.....

ask the Ukrainians.

From what I can gather, they seem to think it's worth it not to be occupied by by the ruthless, lawless and brutal Russians.

[MarineCombatEngineer]

30. No,

someone who would abandon a nation under attack by a tyrant nation.

[hueymahl]

34. Not saying abandon

Saying prayers for a peaceful solution, instead of increasing the pace of war

[MarineCombatEngineer]

37. These are your words:

3. Why are we spending so much overseas

When we have unmet needs here?

A reasonable person would conclude that you want to cut aid to Ukraine in the middle of their fight for the survival of their nation, which this thread is about, making sure Ukraine has the proper tools to fight off this tyranny visited upon them by a maniacal Russian leader who has zero interest in a peaceful settlement.

[bluestarone]

10. For DEMOCRACY!

ok?

[hueymahl]

15. Wars don't create democracy

See, e.g, Iraq, Syria, most of Africa, Central America, pretty much everywhere we have tried to Create Democracy Through Regime Change.

[bluestarone]

16. Welcome to my IGNORE list

[hueymahl]

25. Yeah, living in an echo chamber is always a good idea.

[MarineCombatEngineer]

31. Living in reality is always a good idea also.

Hint, hint.

[Elessar Zappa]

17. We're not going for regime change.

We’re helping defend an innocent democratic country against a brutal dictator and unprovoked invasion.

[Cha]

21. Thank You!!

[hueymahl]

28. Actually, we probably are

Its obviously not an official position, as that would be akin to a declaration of war, but it is absolutely a motivating factor. That and an attempt to degrade Russian military capabilities. You can do your own research, but there is plenty of evidence out there. See, for example:

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2022/03/biden-putin-regime-change-russia/629397/
https://www.rand.org/pubs/perspectives/PEA2510-1.html

I still believe there is a peaceful way out of further bloodshed. We just have to be brave enough to pursue it.

[MarineCombatEngineer]

32. But yet you want to discontinue providing Ukraine the necessary tools

to defend against the unprovoked invasion of their country?

[hueymahl]

35. More complicated than you are making it out to be

If there is a peaceful solution that saves the lives the next 20,000 youth who will inevitably die, and we have a moral obligation to seek that solution

[MarineCombatEngineer]

38. No, it really isn't

more complicated than I'm making it out to be.

This is a clear cut case of good vs evil whether or not you want to believe it, and I'll trust Pres. Biden and his advisors to know what they're doing.

[hueymahl]

41. Lack of critical analysis is rarely a good thing

And everyone on the pro war side seems to not want to address the issues in a critical manner. I wonder why that is?

[MarineCombatEngineer]

43. Nobody here is on the pro war side,

we're on the right of Ukraine to defend itself against an unprovoked attack upon it's sovereign territory by a tyrant nation and we have the right to provide the necessary tools so they can defeat this fascism.

What you fail to grasp is that Russia has no interest in a peaceful settlement unless it's on their terms, they've proven that over and over again with their attacks upon innocent civilians and infrastructure.

[Cha]

19. Ukraine is Defending Themselves!

Democracy VS Fascism. i

[hueymahl]

23. That is a very simple take

It is far more complicated than us vs. them, good vs evil.

[Cha]

27. It's about Fucking Fascism VS Democracy.. Thankfully

the Majority on Democratic Underground see the Reality.

[hueymahl]

29. We have lost our way when we as a party are beating the drums for more war

Instead of demanding a peaceful solution. Our Democratic leaders from decades past are spinning in their graves. The military industrial complex has won.

[MarineCombatEngineer]

33. ......

[hueymahl]

36. Sticks and stones my man

If you have to resort to name calling…

[MarineCombatEngineer]

39. I'm not calling you names,

I'm calling bullshit on your posts here.

[hueymahl]

40. You're saying I am full of shit without any other

Objective response. Frame it however you want to feel good about yourself

[MarineCombatEngineer]

42. If that's how you want to interpret it,

have at it, but you're wrong.

If you think I saying you're full of shit, then alert on it and take your chances with a jury.

[Cha]

20. Mahalo.. some just don't get it.

[MarineCombatEngineer]

44. Mahalo Cha.

You're right, some just don't get it, especially one poster here.

[Cha]

46. And Mahalo right back at you, MCE.🇺🇦 💙💛

[Aristus]

11. Otherwise, because in years to come, people will ask:

"Why did we not help when we were able to?"

That's if our Russian overlords even allowed us to ask the question.