Ukraine ping
mark twain: [Much of the pro-Russian, anti-Ukraine, anti-Europe, anti-NATO messaging seems to be:
The Russians are invincible.
They can never lose.
Although the Russians (Soviets) took considerable territory, especially while allies of Germany, they very likely would have lost the war without US aid. US aid was critical in vehicles, steel for making tanks, cold weather boots, food, and much more.
It was a fairly close thing, as it was. Hitler had to start making as big of mistakes as Stalin for the Germans to lose.
Even so, as I recall, the Russians had about 3-5 casualties for every German casualty on the Eastern Front.]
Germany used horse-drawn transport because fuel for horses grows everywhere. Diesel, gasoline and kerosene for airplanes was barely enough even with horse-drawn transport. Their logistics problems would have multiplied if they had used fleets of trucks for resupply.
Fuel from the US was just as vital for Russian advances as the weaponry. Without that fuel, the Russian war effort would have sputtered to a dead stop. And the astonishing thing is that it supplied a Russia that was just as territorially aggressive as its Tsarist predecessor, that had colluded with Germany to start WW2. When Churchill said “if Hitler invaded hell I would make at least a favourable reference to the devil in the House of Commons”, he was referring obliquely to Russia.
Lend-Lease also sent aviation fuel equivalent to 57 percent of what the Soviet Union itself produced. Much of the American fuel was added to lower-grade Soviet fuel to produce the high-octane fuel needed by modern military aircraft.
The Lend-Lease program also provided more than 35,000 radio sets and 32,000 motorcycles. When the war ended, almost 33 percent of all the Red Army’s vehicles had been provided through Lend-Lease. More than 20,000 Katyusha mobile multiple-rocket launchers were mounted on the chassis of American Studebaker trucks.
In addition, the Lend-Lease program propped up the Soviet railway system, which played a fundamental role in moving and supplying troops. The program sent nearly 2,000 locomotives and innumerable boxcars to the Soviet Union. In addition, almost half of all the rails used by the Soviet Union during the war came through Lend-Lease.]
ROLLCALL UPDATE:
Aid finally set to flow as Senate clears $95.3B emergency bill: Action ends months long stalemate over whether to provide more money for Ukraine war effort
https://rollcall.com/2024/04/23/aid-finally-set-to-flow-as-senate-clears-95-3b-emergency-bill/
The measure would also authorize the seizure of an estimated $5 billion in frozen Russian assets to help pay for Ukraine assistance and toughen sanctions on Russia, Iran and China.
And it would force the divestiture of Chinese-owned TikTok or else ban the social media app in the U.S., and prohibit data brokers from selling Americans’ personal information to countries such as China, Russia, Iran and North Korea or organizations controlled by those governments.
But for Ukraine, in particular, the package comes as a godsend for thousands of weary troops still trying to hold off Russian forces after a February 2022 invasion.
Kyiv has been forced to ration its arms in recent weeks as it waited for Congress to clear the emergency spending bill, and the measure’s all but certain enactment, probably this week, will mean the arrival soon of sorely needed weapons.
The Pentagon told reporters Tuesday it could begin funneling weapons to Ukraine within days of the bill becoming law.
In the House, Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., sought to make the package more palatable to restive Republicans by adding provisions to initial Senate legislation that included the seizure of frozen Russian assets and converting some of Ukraine’s economic aid into a loan.
Those tweaks helped convince some reluctant GOP senators who opposed the measure in February to support it this week.
“It’s just so much easier to go back home and say ‘listen, we’re asking people to pay us back when they can, if they can. We’re also going after the bad guys’ assets.’” said Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., who switched his position to back the measure. “This is just a much better package. It’s more robust for Israel. So it’s good.”
Democrats had long been united on Ukraine aid, but Israel’s offensive in the Gaza Strip led to some fissures among progressives as the death toll of Palestinians climbed to the tens of thousands.
The path for final approval was cleared late Tuesday after Senate leaders abandoned efforts to reach agreement on amendment votes. Adoption of any amendments would have sent the package back to the House, which had already left town for the weeklong Passover recess.
Long road to passage
The initial effort to secure more foreign aid stretched back to August, when President Joe Biden first proposed a $40.1 billion emergency package for Ukraine, the Indo-Pacific, disaster relief and additional migrant resources at the U.S. southern border.
But the effort in the Senate began in earnest last fall and gained more urgency after Oct. 7, when Hamas militants invaded Israel from the Gaza Strip and slaughtered 1,200 Israelis while seizing hostages.
While Israel aid enjoyed strong bipartisan support, Republicans in both chambers sought to use Ukraine aid as leverage to push through new security measures at the U.S.-Mexico border.
But a hard-fought, bipartisan border compromise reached in the Senate in February collapsed after former President Donald Trump denounced it. The Senate then voted 70-29 for a $95.3 billion aid package that largely mirrors the final version it cleared Tuesday with some notable tweaks.
Some GOP conservatives who opposed the final bill said they felt betrayed by its lack of any new border security measures. [EXCERPT]