this post was submitted on 12 Apr 2024
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[–] Gork@lemm.ee 70 points 7 months ago (6 children)

This is sending a giant red flag to America's allies: we will not support you in times of war, do not rely on us since we will drop you whenever it is politically convenient to do so.

Sadly, this shouldn't be the case and it's indicating an abdication of responsibility in being the Arsenal of Democracy for the free world.

[–] Maggoty@lemmy.world 16 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago)

Except if our religious conservatives vouch for you. Then you get the platinum package and a blind eye.

[–] SlopppyEngineer@lemmy.world 11 points 7 months ago (2 children)

Europe better start their own version of NATO.

[–] Omgpwnies@lemmy.world 20 points 7 months ago

They kinda do, EU has a mutual defence policy as well

[–] circuscritic@lemmy.ca 4 points 7 months ago

The primary difference is defense industrial policy and production capacity.

[–] reddit_sux@iusearchlinux.fyi 8 points 7 months ago

That is nothing new, look at Afghanistan.

[–] bradorsomething@ttrpg.network 5 points 7 months ago

I feel Turkey going with the Chinese moonbase instead of the US “moonbase” will come up as a turning point in future history books. Trump hollowed out a great deal of the remaining good will to the US. Biden can’t turn the corner with the potential of trump returning. The US should get ready to be a regional power in 50 years, after people in europe and asia get tired of hosting their bases for no protection.

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[–] Burn_The_Right@lemmy.world 53 points 7 months ago (4 children)

As conservatives cheer. Conservatives did this. Your conservative neighbors, co-workers, family members and acquaintances... They all did this.

[–] Siegfried@lemmy.world 14 points 7 months ago

That pov only has value inside of america. This is a two sided sword, conservatives acted against it, democrats didnt do enough, and from outside, america choosed to let ukraine rot.

Thinking retrospectively, It's a good thing that they stoped their counteroffensive last year and ended up distributing forces in the multiple fronts.

[–] MisterD@lemmy.ca 11 points 7 months ago (1 children)

Then these conservatives should be the first to go fight ww3 with Russia.

[–] bradorsomething@ttrpg.network 3 points 7 months ago

Their kids will probably be honored to die for their country.

A smart soldier focuses on letting the other side die for theirs.

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[–] NOT_RICK@lemmy.world 28 points 7 months ago (19 children)
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[–] notaviking@lemmy.world 27 points 7 months ago (1 children)

I think a lot of people forget how before the war, but after the 2014 annexure, Ukraine begged to be able to buy western weapons, such as the javelin, because one random guy can take out a whole tank (great force multipliers against the russian bear). Great deterrent. But they were not approved because they fought giving arms for Ukraine would provoke and not deter, and that dialog and greater economic integration with Russia would be the solution.

So the west miscalculated, luckily Russia as well and Kiev did not fall, but now Ukraine is in a war, and unlike previously where they could have put resources into acquiring western weapons, they now have to input their resources into fighting and defending their country.

The EU and America have stepped up initially, like 90% of the pledges went straight back into the American economy, since the give Ukraine their old stock and manufacture replacement stock for themselves. EU is close to matching USAs total contributions and if you look at France and their economy's size they are percentage wise out spending the US in contributions.

The nice thing here is most support money gets spend in their own country, stimulating their economy, Ukraine is putting their own citizens and soldiers life on the line and it will weaken a common Nato foe. But not supporting Ukraine will emboldened Russia and now that most of their military ineptitude and corruption has been exposed and is being improved, Russia might calculate further expansion, since that is their modus operandi.

[–] eardon@lemmy.ca 6 points 7 months ago (3 children)

giving arms for Ukraine would provoke and not deter

This rationale is given time and time again for why we shouldn't have supported Ukraine and every time it's completely false.

Hopefully people can learn from this history and not make the same mistakes in the past.

Ukraine should've mined the shit out of their border with Russia.

[–] notaviking@lemmy.world 3 points 7 months ago

Exactly, but hindsight is 20/20. What I wanted to show was that a lack of support for Ukraine was then a win for Russia. But even more so now, that a lack of full continuous support for Ukraine today is just another win for Russia.

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[–] distantsounds@lemmy.world 23 points 7 months ago (2 children)

Well at least the US was able to aid the genocide in Gaza. I’m sure none of this will backfire.

[–] Mrkawfee@lemmy.world 12 points 7 months ago

Maybe the real genocide was the friends we made along the way.

[–] go_go_gadget@lemmy.world 3 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago)

Yep. Strange how Biden was able to figure out how to get weapons to Israel without congressional approval and against the wishes of people he's depending on to get re-elected but can't use that same brain power of his to help Ukraine.

[–] venusaur@lemmy.world 20 points 7 months ago (4 children)

I don’t understand why Israel needs so much money. They’re not a poor country.

[–] Carrolade@lemmy.world 4 points 7 months ago (1 children)

This is actually a fair question. To answer it fairly, wars are extraordinarily expensive.

Remember in the first Captain America movie, how Cap starts off as a showman, trying to sell war bonds to the American public? This bit of the movie is rooted in real history, the government actually did that, just to raise money to help pay for WW2. War bonds are basically just savings bonds, where the govt goes to its citizens and says "give me $100 now to help pay for the war, and we'll pay you back with interest in a few years".

Israel has fewer borrowing opportunities than the massive US did, though, so it's a little harder.

Even Russia's war, relying on huge backstocks of Soviet equipment, is very expensive, and they saved up a huge amount of money over many years to be able to do what they are doing right now.

[–] iarigby@lemmy.world 4 points 7 months ago (1 children)

They don’t need to save up, they get billions from Europe for oil

[–] Carrolade@lemmy.world 3 points 7 months ago

Regardless of level of need, they did. They began the war with a gigantic war chest saved up. Hard to say what its at now, just about no level of income can pay for the level of expenditure a large, full-scale modern war requires.

[–] eardon@lemmy.ca 3 points 7 months ago (1 children)

They see they can get it, so they do.

[–] venusaur@lemmy.world 1 points 7 months ago

Haha but why we send it?

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[–] merthyr1831@lemmy.world 17 points 7 months ago (1 children)

Thing is, even with the massive influx of weapons, Ukraine is going to face a severe risk of mutiny and exhaustion because they just don't have enough people to rotate through the front lines.

Even with the recent news of the expanded draft, the AFU just recently ended the service limit for conscripts and is still outnumbered by Russian troops on the front line.

Either Ukraine will have to extend the draft further, seriously hindering their economy, or another country will have to get involved directly. France was supposedly considering deploying troops to the Ukrainian-Belorussian border to free up troops to fight in the East, but that clearly isn't coming to fruition (yet?).

The opportunity for Ukraine to get any kind of decisive victory and a decent peace deal was within the first year of the war. Russia was always going to have time on their side.

[–] Tebbie@lemmy.world 2 points 7 months ago

Definitely a good idea to secure Ukraine's other borders so that they can focus on their defense.

[–] MNByChoice@midwest.social 12 points 7 months ago

I bet as people die, the amount of weapons needed to fight Russia increases. There will be a point of no return.

Nearly every country dragged its heels.

[–] homesweethomeMrL@lemmy.world 5 points 7 months ago

RepubliQans! MFrs

[–] go_go_gadget@lemmy.world 5 points 7 months ago (1 children)

Biden should go around congress to ship them weapons.

[–] Rapidcreek@lemmy.world 3 points 7 months ago (1 children)

Can't buy weapons without money.

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[–] autotldr@lemmings.world 3 points 7 months ago

This is the best summary I could come up with:


The shortages forced Kyiv’s military to withdraw from a key eastern city in February, and with no progress in Washington, Ukrainian soldiers are now desperately trying to hold on to their positions along some 600 miles of the front line.

Ukrainian leaders, backed up by Western officials, are pushing Republicans to break the logjam before it is too late, fearing the Kremlin could seek to take advantage by launching a new offensive over the summer or sooner.

He told Congress that Ukraine will run out of artillery shells and air defense interceptors “in fairly short order” without new U.S. support, leaving it vulnerable to a partial or total defeat.

Russia has turned its attention back to Ukraine’s energy grid, striking key facilities in missile and drone attacks that have exploited a shortage of air defense systems across the country.

Zelenskyy said last week he was still hopeful for a “positive vote” in Congress, and even suggested that Kyiv would be willing to get the aid in the form of a loan rather than a handout, an idea floated by House Republicans that seemingly originated with Trump.

Just six months out from the U.S. election, the possibility that Trump could cut off Ukraine completely or try to force it to cede territory as part of a truce deal with Russia may be focusing minds in Kyiv.


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