Ukraine
mark94
Arizona
Several senior Ukrainian officials, including five front-line governors, lost their jobs Tuesday in a corruption scandal. They’ve been skimming millions of dollars from money pouring into the country, primarily from the US.
This follows a Christmas shopping spree in Paris by President Zelensky’s wife where she spent $50;000 in a few hours.
There have been lots of rumors that much of the military equipment we send to Ukraine is sold in a black market.
Congress is pushing to audit how our dollars are used by Ukraine. The firing these officials is an attempt to get ahead of the audit.
This follows a Christmas shopping spree in Paris by President Zelensky’s wife where she spent $50;000 in a few hours.
There have been lots of rumors that much of the military equipment we send to Ukraine is sold in a black market.
Congress is pushing to audit how our dollars are used by Ukraine. The firing these officials is an attempt to get ahead of the audit.
135 comments
Massive corruption in Ukraine was present well before the war and Zelensky's role as president. It's why foreign investors and governments have been wary of doing business with Ukraine for a very long time. Whenever the U.S. sends aid anywhere, there's a built-in expectation that a percentage of what is sent won't land on target (because the U.S. doesn't send aid to countries that are high functioning). In this instance, it's the price we pay given that the alternative is the Soviet Union annexing all of Ukraine by force. That doesn't mean we ignore it. The U.S. should put pressure on Zelensky. There should be an audit. And if several corrupt officials get ousted as a result, then that's a move in the right direction. I have no problem with Zelensky feeling some heat.
"This follows a Christmas shopping spree in Paris by President Zelensky’s wife where she spent $50;000 in a few hours."
You say that as if it's an established fact, but point to a solid journalistic source that presents any evidence of that shopping spree. By the way, most of the "sources" I looked at gave $40,000 as the figure, so it looks like you gave her a raise...
"There have been lots of rumors that much of the military equipment we send to Ukraine is sold in a black market."
Right...rumors. From where? From who? How much and what kind of equipment? Reliable non-Twitter sources?
The only people who are surprised by systemic corruption in Ukraine is people who know nothing about Ukraine. I hope that the pressure stays on and grows, but this is the price being paid to show the Soviet Union that it can't grab back all of its former satellite states by force.
Here’s another about the shopping spree
https://www.newsweek.com/zelenska-zelens…
Now with that said, I would agree that it was in poor taste given everything that's happening right now. Appearances definitely matter when you have your hand out asking the taxpayers of other countries to foot the bill for billions in aid.
This does not chamge the dynamics of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, but should be factored into decisions of how to spend American taxpayers' money.
Why would these be mutually exclusive? Why can't we do both?
What happens when a half million Russian soldiers enter Ukraine ? What will be America’s response ? Will we escalate our involvement ?
The only people who are surprised by systemic corruption (inequality and injustice) in the USA is people who know nothing about the USA…
~ Call.Me.Ishmael
~ Jan 25 2023
“In this world, shipmates, sin that pays its way can travel freely, and without a passport; whereas Virtue, if a pauper, is stopped at all frontiers."
~Father Mapple via Herman Melville's "Moby Dick".
There is always an economic motive underlying USA made-up conflicts, even if the stated aim of the war is presented to the public as something more noble.
The 1%, the Robber Barons in the USA and their criminal accomplices all over the world, are constantly clamming that they are “protecting our strategic interests abroad” and creating “conflicts/wars” than ultimately serve to protect the large amount of money and assets of wealthy American Criminals and their accomplices all over the world.
America’s manufactured Wars usually creates a shortage in the supply of “commodities” for the war efforts which results in higher prices and higher revenues.
“It is the sufferings of the many which pay for the luxuries of the few.”
~ Greta Tintin Eleonora Ernman Thunberg
~ Born: 3rd January 2003 Stockholm, Sweden
~ Occupation: Student, environmental activist
Awards:
~ Fritt Ord Award (2019)
~ Rachel Carson Prize (2019)
~ Ambassador of Conscience Award (2019)
~ Right Livelihood Award (2019)
~ International Children's Peace Prize (2019)
~ Time Person of the Year (2019)
https://www.the-sun.com/news/7215815/put…
Policemen and Firefighters whom should be compensated for the extra risks they take on. Not excusing any corruption going on because it should be minimized, however politics is the breeding ground for corruption so why is this any different than Biden or Trump or any other local corruption that has taken place?
https://www.politico.com/news/2022/07/09…
However, the optics are horrible when considering the pleas Zelensky has made for funding. I am looking a bit more skeptically at his lecture to American regarding more funding. His own citizens should be very unhappy with him and his administration - as they are suffering - and this likely adds to the pain of their situation.
It was well known that Ukraine was quite corrupt prior to Zelensky being in office. I would like to believe that the bad apples have been discovered and are now out of office, but I think that is likely naive.
The optics of a Paris shopping spree, while fellow Ukrainians suffer without heat through the winter, is beyond bad!
In many cases - the only way to not uncover government corruption is to avoid looking for it. That is likely true here in the USA as well. But it’s very different in other countries, as many do business very differently.
Why do you think all these people try and move to America, Canada, UK, South America, Australia. Hell even Mexico is a wealthier and easier country to make it in than Ukraine I've heard from actual Ukrainians. Welcome to reality, guys.
Are you surprised we’ve sent them $120 Billion ?
Should we send them more ?
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/zel…
“War is never economically beneficial except for those in position to profit from war expenditures”
The nature of American created wars is that huge corporations and the 1% of the world benefit and the rest of the people suffer in America and the world…
U N D E N I A B L E . . .
Let's face a few simple facts, only one sovereign country has invaded another sovereign country, Russia has invaded Ukraine, that is what is what is UNDENIABLE.
Next fact nothing NATO is doing, nor planning to do can be defined as an act of war, by any existing definition.
Third lets stop giving credence to Russia's threats, Russia knows as well as we do if they follow through on any threats, that actually sucks NATO into this war, they will be anihilated, and Putin's regime will be over. They aren't that stupid.
So let's stop the hand wringing over bullshit, and do what we need to do, so this adventure by Putin ends in failure.
“It is a revolving door for all government officials. For any industry. So like in the pharma industry, all the government officials who like, you know, review our drugs, eventually come work for pharma companies. And the military, all the Army and defense government officials eventually go work for the defense companies afterwards. It’s pretty good for the industry, to be honest. It’s bad for everyone else in America.”
This helps to explain what happened with Covid but also what is now happening with the Ukraine. The defense companies make bigger profits if the U.S. government is buying weapons from them and then shipping them over to the Ukraine. The government officials who implement this will then later be rewarded with jobs in these defense industries.
For most of my life, the selling out of Czechoslovakia to Hitler was a mistake that shaped US foreign policy in a big way. But it was referenced improperly to get the US into the Vietnam War. It does, however, seem very applicable to the Ukraine situation. There just aren't so many of us left whose parents lives were greatly impacted by World War II.
At one time, the Soviet Union was on the march across the world and was an existential threat to the US. It made sense to oppose them. It was the foundation of our foreign policy. Now, it is China, not Russia, that poses the greatest threat.
Russian is a dying nation making a final, desperate attempt to capture past glory. Our sanctions have accelerated Russia’s decline. A million young Russians have fled the country. Their energy and mining industry is literally crumbling without western technical assistance. Their airlines are failing without replacement parts. They pose no direct threat to the U.S. unless we goad them into nuclear war.
If Russia somehow manages to capture all of Ukraine, it is estimated they would need 2 Million troops to maintain order in the territory. They don’t have 2 Million troops. Russia has no path to a lasting victory. Their fate is already sealed.
There is a much stronger argument that this is an extension of the cold war. Western and Eastern proxies fighting for land, resources, and ideology. You need to look at the larger scheme of things and loop in Chinese influence-peddling, Iran's increasing regional threat, and the ever-present threat of global nuclear holocaust.
The military industrial complex really does exist. Eisenhower was right.
Russia is not an existential threat. They are a short term regional threat. The only thing keeping their economy going was energy and mineral exports. Sanctions have crushed that.
Similarly, China is not a long term threat. Their economic system is failing. Their population has aged to the point their population will be half as large by 2050. From 1.2 Billion to 600 Million, relatively few of them working age. Their economy is dependent on western technology, oil and food imports. If we imposed the same sanctions on China as we have on Russia, hundreds of millions of Chinese would starve within months.
The Cold War is over. We won, though it will be a few more years for the proof to be obvious. We need to stop fighting an 80 year war that we’ve already won.
All armies prepare for the last war. When a new threat appears, they are unprepared. The current threat is largely economic as globalization ends and populations shrink. We should restate our military’s goal as protecting American borders, not being the World’s policeman.
The last thing we should be doing is threatening Russia’s survival by sending F-16s and Abrams tanks to Ukraine.
Incidentally, Russia’s nuclear force is 40 years old at this point. We really don’t know what its capability is after 4 decades of deferred maintenance.
China is at least a peer adversary, and they are running laps around us in the grey area of cyber war and intelligence. Furthermore, if all of these sighted UFOs are terrestrial in origin, whose are they if not ours?
If we learned anything in the last 120 years of western civilization, it is that isolationism does not work. Having said that, we should not be cutting blank checks for Ukraine,ROK, Taiwan, NATO, and others. We need to partner with responsible regional allies to share thr burden.
That’s what they said about the Soviet Union. It was only after the Berlin Wall came down that we realized it was a Potemkin Village.
One US destroyer positioned between India and the Middle East could shut down the flow of oil to China. Their Navy is really just a Coast Guard without the range to operate more than 1,000 miles from its border. China knows that and we know it.
So how’s about stopping the political propaganda and face the facts, we cannot allow the Russians to accomplish what they’re trying to do, and if we all pull together this will be over quicker and you can go back to your partisan politics and conspiracies.
Here’s the real issue, when Putin realizes the gig is up, he’s gonna try to pass his nukes around like an insurance policy to every bad actor he can , in an attempt to stay in power, I don’t think he uses them himself I think he’s planning on creating chaos, that’s the more likely scenario.
I appears that Russia would be the solution to all your problems
You could become a cosplay commie pimp
You're a cosplay jew cosplay millionaire cosplay man. But a real troll and senile bitch.
You have to be retarded to not believe this is just bidens proxy war against Russia.
Meanwhile tye senile bitch in the white house ignores the problems facing Americans
I guess you support bidens war coz senile bitches flock together
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.aljazee…
How Joe Biden suckered Europe
Russians are very good at mind games -- they have fooled more than half their population that Ukraine government is nazi. Hope none of you are qanans.
"Claims that the first lady of Ukraine Olena Zelenska went on a shopping spree during her visit to Paris this month are not supported by credible evidence. They appear to stem from a single tweet posted by an unverified and low-engagement Twitter account, which provided scant details about the alleged purchases, simply citing an anonymous "source.""
https://www.newsweek.com/zelenska-zelens…
Good chance it was started by a pro-Russia individual, seeking to divide the West. The fact that mark94 and others lap it up as truth, without bothering to fact check it, only demonstrates how GULLIBLE they are.
Russia’s nuclear weapons are a threat to our existence
Therefore, we should throw every weapon we have to defeat them in Ukraine
What's really happening here is you always make it impossible to have a reasonable discussion, any time a reasonable point is brought up you try to mischaracterize and twist it to completely mic=characterize the legitimate points that were stated. It's a shame, but it's impossible to have any conversation when you are so dishonest.
“guess what happens if either China or Russia and even Iran and North Korea falls apart they’ll become existential threats to every country on this planet including the USA.
So how’s about stopping the political propaganda and face the facts, we cannot allow the Russians to accomplish what they’re trying to do, and if we all pull together this will be over quicker and you can go back to your partisan politics and conspiracies.”
I could be as dishonest as you and put forth the claim that you are pro Russian, anti-American, based on your continued promotion of Russian propaganda, but that would require me to be as dishonest as you. I probably could, based on your talking points claim you are a communist yourself, but again that would require me to stoop to your level of dishonesty.
Where did I advocate throw every weapon we have, that was you pretending that was what was said, again pure dishonesty.
Joe Biden
March 2022
Today, I am announcing that the United States will be sending Abram tanks to Ukraine
Joe Biden
January 2023
Yeah I know you're not rumdum but doubtless you're from the same kool aide factory that has you claiming a leftist rag like newsweek is centrist. Lol
There are many examples of legislation passed in recent administrations that clearly show that Republican policies and positions largely benefit the rich, while Democrat policies and positions largely benefit the poor and middle class. Mark's got that totally backwards. Wall Street Billionaires loved the Trump tax cuts.
Trump’s tax cuts helped billionaires pay less than the working class for first time
https://www.theguardian.com/business/201…
Will they succeed ?
Will the US escalate our involvement ?
https://www.the-sun.com/news/7288882/war…
Will the US escalate our involvement?
Holy smokes Batman
Will Robin escape from the clutch of the diabolical Putin
Tune in tomorrow, same time same channel
Kapow Bazoom
To be continued.
If Russia captures territory, will we send even more deadly weapons ? Advisors ? Would we allow missile attacks on Russian territory ? How would Putin respond ?
Ukraine says Russia faced its deadliest day in the war yet, with over 1,000 troops killed in a 24-hour period
https://www.businessinsider.com/ukraine-…
I wonder if people in Russia were able to see any of yesterday's Super Bowl. The half time show was also impressive. The Super Bowl is a great showcase of American sport, exceptionalism and freedom. What a contrast between our countries. We are still the greatest country in the world.
Russian aircraft and troops are massing on the border for the expected offensive on the eastern front.
Top US general says Russia has already 'lost' the Ukraine war and has paid an 'enormous price on the battlefield'
https://www.businessinsider.com/top-us-g…
I put more stock in independent analysts without a dog in the fight.
In the short run, Putin will pay any price for victory in Ukraine. He tried to win with 100,000 troops in a quick victory. Now, he is committing 500,000 troops in a long term slugfest. Millions will die, on both sides. The carnage and failure in Ukraine will make our abandonment of Afghanistan look like a cake walk.
Maybe NATO knew that all along. They were willing to sacrifice the Ukrainian people to weaken Putin. If so, shame on them. It’s going to get ugly.
We are about to see that again in Ukraine. The Russian troops are poorly trained, unmotivated, badly equipped, and incompetently lead. Yet, they will keep throwing bodies at the front line until Ukraine can longer defend itself.
or until we get sucked all the way in.
America Has Sent Over $100 Billion Dollars To The Ukraine Yet They Are Running Out Of Bullets, Where Did The Money Go?
What an idiotic and laughable comment. Just because there was a voluntary seminar on the topic, and Milley's comments actually made total sense if you bothered to read what he said, doesn't mean he considers it more important than fighting wars.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.theguar…
Sounds like a topic worthy of some attention, and a military leader on top of his game looking to examine influences that could affect US troops. It's a touchy subject for some people on the right I understand, risking shining more light on their bad behavior.
Wokes ruin all they touch.
Woke peaked in 2020 after the Floyd tragedy. Now it's been exposed for the grift that it is. BLM admitting it was about collecting penance from dumb woke whites. At the corporate level it's about using it to distract from their use of Chinese slave labor.
Once we're in a real military confrontation, even Milley isn't going to give two squirts of piss about white rage within his ranks
Politico reports of his words that "A Ukrainian attempt to retake Crimea would be a red line for Vladimir Putin that could lead to a wider Russian response, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a Zoom call with a group of experts Wednesday."
The war with Ukraine will be over unless the EU finds a way in weeks to speed up the provision of ammunition to Ukraine, Josep Borrell, the EU foreign affairs chief, warned on the final day of the Munich security conference.
He said a special meeting of EU defence ministers slated for 8-9 March will provide a chance for countries to offer ammunition from their existing stocks, adding it is taking up to 10 months for European armies to order and receive a single bullet.
“The Powell Doctrine states that a list of questions all have to be answered affirmatively before military action is taken by the United States:
Is a vital national security interest threatened?
Do we have a clear attainable objective?
Have the risks and costs been fully and frankly analyzed?
Have all other non-violent policy means been fully exhausted?
Is there a plausible exit strategy to avoid endless entanglement?
Have the consequences of our action been fully considered?
Is the action supported by the American people?
Do we have genuine broad international support?”
I would argue that none of these questions were answered before entering war with Russia over Ukraine. Nor, have they have yet to be answered.
Mr. Biden's visit to …..( Ukraine )…amid concerns first publicized over the weekend by America's top diplomat that China may be on the brink of providing Russia with weapons to bolster its assault.
Biden makes surprise Ukraine visit, pledging more U.S. aid as war’s anniversary nears
https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/sto…
@docsavage the Ukrainians who left were women and children seeking refuge as their country was attacked. The only significant numbers of men leaving either country are the tens of thousands of men who fled Russia to avoid being drafted. I think you should provide a link to your claim that millions of Ukrainians don't support Zelensky.
The U.S. has a 31 trillion-dollar national debt and almost a hundred trillion dollars in unfunded liabilities for the Social Security and Medicare system. It can no longer afford to play policeman for the world. The Europeans have a GDP several times that of Russia. They can afford to pay for their own defense instead of what we have now, military welfare for Europe paid for by the U.S. taxpayer.
We often end up misreading the issue and the result is things turn out worse after we intervene.
We should take care of our own security and issues.
Seymour Myron "Sy" Hersh (born April 8, 1937) is an American investigative journalist and political writer. He gained recognition in 1969 for exposing the My Lai massacre and its cover-up during the Vietnam War, for which he received the 1970 Pulitzer Prize for International Reporting. During the 1970s, Hersh covered the Watergate scandal for The New York Times, also reporting on the secret U.S. bombing of Cambodia and the CIA's program of domestic spying. In 2004, he detailed the U.S. military's torture and abuse of prisoners at Abu Ghraib in Iraq for The New Yorker. Hersh has won a record five George Polk Awards, and two National Magazine Awards. He is the author of 11 books, including The Price of Power: Kissinger in the Nixon White House (1983), an account of the career of Henry Kissinger which won the National Book Critics Circle Award.
Not exactly “ some blogger “
“Putin withdraws from nuke pact with US, Xi prepares to visit Moscow”
So far, our $100 Billion has brought us closer to WWIII while sparking an alliance between Russia, China,and Iran.
"In total aid (military, financial and humanitarian combined), the European Union and its countries have provided the most to Ukraine, whereas the United States has by far provided the most in military aid. The Kiel Institute has tracked €108.8 billion from 46 countries in financial, humanitarian, and military aid, from 24 January to 20 November 2022. Out of that €108.8 billion, €51.8 billion came from the European Union and €47.8 billion from the United States, with most of the remaining coming from the United Kingdom, Canada and Norway, and significant but smaller amounts from several other countries."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_mi…