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| On Tuesday night, the House passed a nearly $40 billion bill for new Ukraine aid as Washington continues to escalate its role in supporting Kyiv in its war against Moscow. The measure passed in a vote of 368-57, with only Republicans voting against the bill. The legislation now moves to the Senate, which could hold a vote this week. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) has said the Senate will "move swiftly," although some Republicans in the chamber have complained that the massive aid package is not large enough. President Biden asked Congress for $33 billion for the new Ukraine aid package, but congressional Democrats ramped it up to $39.8 billion. The package includes $11 billion in presidential drawdown authority, which allows President Biden to send Ukraine military equipment from US stockpiles. |
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| Sen. Tom Cotton tried to define what he calls a "conservative foreign policy" in a speech at the National Review Institute earlier this week, and in doing so he demonstrated just how devoid of wisdom and prudence Republican hawks are. "Foreign policy is emphatically not the province of doctrines," Cotton declared, but it would be difficult to find a more doctrinaire and inflexible ideologue than Cotton himself. In much the same way that Mike Pompeo tried to hijack the concepts of realism and restraint to promote the reckless and bombastic foreign policy that he implemented under Trump, Cotton pretends that his hardline obsessions have something to do with prudence. Throughout the speech he dwells on the idea that the government should seek to "preserve the blessings of liberty," but there has been nothing more harmful to the liberties of Americans than the permanent warfare state that Cotton extols and defends. While the United States is extraordinarily secure from physical attack, Cotton has been one of the chief fearmongers exaggerating foreign threats from every direction in order to demand increased military spending. |
| Last week, sources leaked to The New York Times that, in Ukraines targeting and killing of Russian generals and the sinking of Russia's Black Sea flagship, the Moskva, U.S. intelligence played an indispensable role. Apparently, our intel people identified and located for the Ukrainian forces what became the targets of their deadly attacks. Why US intelligence would do this seems inexplicable. By claiming credit for Ukraine's most visible military successes, we diminish the achievements of that countrys own forces. |
| | Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) warned Tuesday that the US is risking war with Russia by "poking the bear" in Ukraine. Tuberville made the comments during a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing with Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines and the director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, Lt. Gen. Scott Berrier. Tuberville told Haines and Berrier the US is risking escalating the war by bragging about intelligence sharing with Ukraine. In recent weeks, US officials claimed to the media that US intelligence has helped Ukrainian forces shoot down a plane carrying Russian troops, kill Russian generals, and sink a Russian warship. |
| The Biden administration is pressing Taiwan to buy more US-made weapons that can be used to fight off a Chinese invasion and is discouraging Taipei from purchasing arms for more conventional warfare, The New York Times reported Monday. The report cited US and Taiwanese officials who said the US wants Taiwan to purchase weapons for "asymmetric" warfare. The idea is to buy arms that are mobile, lethal, and difficult to target. |
| Since Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, the US has significantly escalated its support for Kyiv, both militarily and rhetorically, reflecting a growing mission creep that comes with the risk of provoking Moscow. Early on in the invasion, the US was wary of confirming details of military aid, intelligence sharing, and training of Ukrainian forces. But now, US officials are speaking openly about how Washington is helping Ukraine in its fight against Russia. Last week, anonymous US officials speaking to the media claimed US intelligence had helped Ukrainian forces kill Russian generals and sink the Moskva, the flagship of Russia's Black Sea Fleet. |
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