28 SEPTEMBER 2023
The US Department of Defence (DoD) and the State Department differ in their views on providing one or another weapon to Ukraine.
Source: European Pravda, citing Politico
Quote from an anonymous official: “State is looking at opportunities, DOD is looking at threats. Folks at DOD would say they need to think about the pros and cons of each weapons decision, and that responsibility falls on them.”
Details: Thus, when assessing the need to deliver weapons to Kyiv, the State Department and the Pentagon come from different points of view and move at different speeds, Politico’s source says.
The article says that ATACMS long-range missiles, which President Joe Biden agreed to send to Ukraine last week after more than a year of debate, are a fresh example of how decisions are made in Washington because the Pentagon initially resisted their delivery because the US did not have a single free missile in its own arsenal.
Unnamed US officials told the media that Pentagon leadership is taking a balanced approach to assessing Ukraine’s needs on the battlefield in the context of the broader conflict.
It is said that for now, US officials are still concerned about the escalation of the conflict, but they are increasingly focusing on ensuring that the Pentagon has enough weapons in its warehouses to protect against other contingencies.
Background:
- It was previously reported that the administration of US President Joe Biden decided to provide Ukraine with long-range ATACMS missiles even before the visit of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to the US but decided not to announce it publicly. According to the Financial Times, the US will send missiles in the near future, initially in small quantities, the media’s sources said.
- NBC News says that Biden told Zelenskyy in a meeting at the White House that Washington would deliver a small number of ATACMS missiles to help in the war with Russia.
- Washington previously explained its refusal to deliver long-range missiles because the United States does not have sufficient stocks of these weapons. Another reason, which American officials did not publicly voice, is the fear of escalation on the part of Russia.
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https://www.pravda.com.ua/eng/news/2023/09/28/7421774/
“It is said that for now, US officials are still concerned about the escalation of the conflict, but they are increasingly focusing on ensuring that the Pentagon has enough weapons in its warehouses to protect against other contingencies.”
Sorry, but this Dumbo-type explanation doesn’t fly for me.
We spend around 700 billion dollars for defense … every year, that is. And they’re trying to make everyone believe that we don’t have enough ATACMS to give Ukraine?
We are short of artillery ammo, and we are short of this, and we are short of that, too. What in the hell are we spending all this money on? Where is our ammunition?
Besides all that, we are getting our most dangerous enemy demolished without sacrificing a single American soldier. Is the investment not worth it? Even if it’s true, about the limited supply of ATACMS, it’s well worth it to send them ALL to Ukraine.
Our Pentagon has shown a great level of competencies in the past. A good example is our crappy Afghanistan exit, which is partially their fault. Another is their failure to see a successful Ukrainian defense and, concurrently, vastly overestimating mafia land’s capabilities. We’ve bumbled badly in the secrecy department, too, with a simple airman releasing for months top secret material. A very serious issue is that America’s defense-industrial base is failing our soldiers and the taxpayers, as the Pentagon has willfully and with foresight created today’s monopolistic, overregulated and costly defense marketplace.
I could go on, but this illustrates sufficiently a desperate need to fix things in our defense complex, and this ASAP.
On the political level, we’ve already displayed cowardice, incompetence, hypocrisy, and weakness, in particular what pertains to helping Ukraine and resisting mafia land.
China will be a whole different ballgame!
“Unnamed US officials told the media that Pentagon leadership is taking a balanced approach to assessing Ukraine’s needs on the battlefield in the context of the broader conflict.”
The Pentagon are not fighting this war, they are just prolonging it. Ukraine know what they need to defeat the orcs, just cut the crap and get this war over with.
Once you reach a certain position in the Pentagon, the military mindset is replaced by a political one, including its doublespeak, lies, and obfuscation efforts.
For any hopes of a swift victory, Ukraine needs a minimum of 1000 maximum range ATACMS, with clusters. This is even more crucial now that Scholz has done such a cruel flip on Ukraine. Why build up people’s hopes only to dash them? Bastard.
Up until 2022, Germany and France had a large pro-putler bloc. I don’t just mean Le Pen in France or AfD in Germany; their major parties are crawling with putlerites and that is reflected in their voter base.
That is one of many reasons why Macron and Scholz are acting in such an unreliable/borderline treacherous way.
@scradgel
from a former NATO member, the USA would have 4,000 ATACMS which are no longer produced, and which, moreover, as China has supplied jamming equipment to the Russians, might need updating. so before they have an operational successor, the USA will certainly not get rid of them to your liking, and hypothecate the deterrent they constitute.
Besides, if you look at the whole scene, China is making provocation after provocation in front of Taiwan at the moment, and Rocketman is playing his part too… (by the way, Boris’s attack submarines are all docked at the moment…)
Germany is hand in glove with the USA, not France. and is scared to death of armaments, plus it has to deal with the AFD bastards.
… or else the fog of war…
French support for Ukraine is around 60 per cent.
There’s a campaign of appeasement in the West, and in France a former far-right european deputy relayed fake news from the Kremlin, saying that German soldiers in German tanks were operating in Ukraine. in a hybrid war I call it “intelligence with the enemy”…
There was an arms fair in Ukraine where the Europeans tried to make Ukraine self-sufficient in terms of its armaments so that it could defend itself in the long term… what’s the problem, Boris? what’s Macron got to do with your delusion – does he have Taurus? do you really have first-hand information? be nice, wait until he betrays before you spit on him. (when you promise 28 tanks and only give 14, is that cruel and is it a betrayal?) we all know very well that in the end everything will come out…
https://en.desk-russie.eu/2023/07/26/the-russian-lobby-in-the-usa.html
PC’s should not be allowed on the psych ward.
Why are pc’s with an internet connection still being allowed on the psych ward?
“so before they have an operational successor, the USA will certainly not get rid of them to your liking, and hypothecate the deterrent they constitute.”
This is wrong thinking. Very wrong.
We’re having our worst enemy eliminated without losing a single soldier. We should do everything possible to assure a successful, victorious conclusion of this endeavor. This includes handing over all our ATACMS. This will indeed have a deterrent effect on the chinks. Besides that, they are not yet ready to invade Taiwan, despite their saber-rattling. The waters between the two countries are a very serious barrier.
In the meantime, we could put all that money for defense to good use for once and build new ATACMS or an analogy. This should pose no problems for us.
Sometimes I’m really surprised by the discrepancy between what I express and what you seem to understand.
let us clarify that what the truths of today are especially valid today and that for tomorrow very clever one who knows…
In terms of analyzing the situation, I have the choice between a former NATO member whose relevant analyzes I know and people who react strangely to what I say – perhaps even attributing malicious intentions to me. Who do you think I choose?
I will learn tomorow that 1000 said by scradgel will be given?
– successors exist but in number, nor in stock, it seems to me not.
– not giving in large numbers does not mean not giving or doing nothing…
– you’re talking about the strategy of weakening an opponent without losing a soldier. ok we agree but I don’t see the connection with what I’m saying. we know it costs you 5 percent of your military budget – what’s the connection? you gave 500 tanks? 200 planes?
you can see, for example, that Saudi Arabia, despite its “diplomatic steps for peace”, maintains a high oil price and that it is not very “Western-frendly”, it contributes to weakening us and increasing the risks implosion of our public opinions and our political systems – and to prolong the war – as China probably also wants, while buying grain from Ukraine…
in short, there is no shortage of people who dream of weakening us and who only understand strength at the moment, and there is a certain number of homes that are smoldering, just waiting to be restarted…
I’m also not saying that Ukraine must capitulate and give up ground or other bullshit!
as for scradgel since you are talking about psychiatry:
I read comments from you who said you wanted to kill the children of Russian fascists… please can you help me differentiate yourself from the Russian propagandists and other dishonest ? because sometimes I have trouble doing… tell me which pill I should take 😉
I’ve never said that I want to, or want to have, children killed.
If you feel misunderstood, perhaps it would help to stay on topic and not amble all over the landscape with your text.
My response to you above was related to ATACMS.
Your quote: “…the USA would have 4,000 ATACMS which are no longer produced, and which, moreover, as China has supplied jamming equipment to the Russians, might need updating. so before they have an operational successor, the USA will certainly not get rid of them to your liking,”
I wonder; do you write your comments in English, or in French and let Google (or whatever) translate them?
Reluctance to deliver the atacms, reluctance to deliver evidence of crimes to the ICC, leak of top secret information…
At a given moment you have to ask yourself the right questions.
Ukraine should agree to dumping Nato membership in exchange for peace, since Nato is obviously not interested in Ukraine. It’s like a teen gurl fleeing from her mom’s home to live with her father who doesn’t show any interest in her.
I agree. NATO is not what it used to be anymore. Its worth has been vastly reduced by jellyfish in Germany and France, fascists like Hungary, and a muslim shithole called Turkey.