10 Jul, 2023 18:11

Biden accused of spilling military secret

The president has admitted in a CNN interview that US forces are running low on artillery shells

US President Joe Biden has sought to justify his controversial decision to send cluster bombs to Ukraine by revealing a potentially sensitive fact about America’s military: It’s running low on artillery shells.

Biden made the admission in a CNN interview that aired on Sunday, saying it was necessary to give cluster munitions to Kiev because 155mm artillery rounds are in short supply.“This is a war relating to munitions, and they’re running out of that ammunition, and we’re low on it,”Biden told CNN’s Fareed Zakaria. The host had pointed out a previous White House claim that the use of cluster bombs by Russian forces could be a “war crime.”

Conservative critics, such as US podcast host Steve Guest, argued thatBiden blurted out what should have been a state secret. “Joe Biden broadcasts to the world that the US is low on 155mm shells. Does President Biden not care that our adversaries in communist China are listening?”

WATCH: Joe Biden broadcasts to the world that the U.S. is low on 155mm shells. Does President Biden not care that our adversaries in communist China are listening? pic.twitter.com/SxaI6jHo49

— Steve Guest (@SteveGuest) July 9, 2023

Former US Senate staffer Logan Dobson agreed, saying, “Love when the president of America goes on CNN to tell everyone we’re low on ammo.”

Biden made his comments as the US and its European allies prepared to gather for this week’s NATO summit in Vilnius, where members of the Western military alliance plan to discuss the Russia-Ukraine conflict. Republican lawmakers argued that his statement to CNN proved that the US-led campaign to provide billions of dollars’ worth of weaponry to Kiev has weakened America’s defenses.

Senator J.D. Vance (R-Ohio) called the remark a “stunning admission from Biden, something I’ve been warning about for over a year. He says the Ukrainians are running low on 155mm artillery shells, and so are we. The Ukraine war is a massive drain on our national security.”

Representative Andy Biggs (R-Arizona) said that in light of Biden’s admission about dwindling artillery stockpiles, “we cannot be sending any more to Ukraine. America comes first.”

An unidentified White House official contradicted Biden’s claim, telling Fox News that military aid to Ukraine had not strained US ammunition supplies. “The military has specific requirements for the numbers of weapons systems and ammunition we maintain in our reserves in case of contingencies or military conflict. Everything we send to Ukraine is in excess of that, so the US is not running out of ammunition ourselves.”

Some US lawmakers have called the Ukraine conflict a “proxy war” against Russia. Podcast host David Sacks, a US technology entrepreneur, said Biden’s strategy appears to be backfiring, even as Washington vastly outspends Russia on defense. “The point of the proxy war was to weaken Russia, but the US ran out of ammo first,” he said. “So who’s weakening whom?”

https://www.rt.com/news/579501-biden-admist-us-ammo-shortage/

10 Jul, 2023 20:33

German tank factory to open in Ukraine this fall

Moscow has already warned it will target the facility with cruise missiles

German arms manufacturer Rheinmetall will open a tank and armored vehicle plant in Ukraine within the next 12 weeks, CEO Armin Papperger has told CNN. The company claims it will be able to produce 400 tanks per year at the facility, but Russia has already threatened to halt production with missile strikes.

The factory will be located in western Ukraine and jointly operated by Rheinmetall and Ukrainian state weapons firm Ukroboronprom, CNN reported on Monday, citing an interview with Papperger last week.

“[Ukrainians] have to help themselves,” he said. “If they always have to wait [for] Europeans or Americans [to] help themover the next 10 or 20 years… that is not possible.” (Is he saying they plan on extending this war for that long?)

Rheinmetall first announced its plans to develop such a facility in March, with the company stating at the time that the plant would cost $200 million to build, and would be capable of turning out 400 of its latest ‘Panther’ tanks per year.

Papperger told CNN that Rheinmetall’s ‘Fuchs’ armored personnel carriers would be the first vehicles to roll off the factory’s production lines. He added that Ukrainian workers would be trained to build and repair these as well as Rheinmetall’s other products, which include Marder infantry fighting vehicles, Leopard 2 tanks and Panzerhaubitze 2000 artillery systems.

Russia regularly strikes military targets in western Ukraine with drones and cruise missiles, and considers stockpiles of foreign weapons and military vehicles to be legitimate targets. Rheinmetall’s factory would be no exception, Russian Security Council deputy chairmanDmitry Medvedev warned in March.

“If [the] Krauts still go on with it for real, they’re very welcome,” he wrote on social media. “The decision should be greeted with fireworks by Kalibrs and other Russian pyrotechnic devices.”

Papperger insisted to CNN that Rheinmetall could protect its factory. “There are a lot of factories at the moment which are producing military goods [in Ukraine]. It is just another one, and we can protect that also,” he said, without elaborating on how he would achieve this.

The conflict in Ukraine has boosted Rheinmetall’s earnings to record levels, with the firm making €6.4 billion ($7 billion) last year, an increase of 27% from 2021.

As well as building a plant in Ukraine, Rheinmetall plans on expanding its factory in Lower Saxony and hiring hundreds of new workers as it works through a €28.2 billion backlog of orders, German newspaper Die Welt reported earlier this month.

(So their true intent is finally being revealed, the US, UK & EU went into this war backing, because they all knew that their countries could make billions, who cares if the last Ukrainian is dead!)

https://www.rt.com/russia/579503-rheinmetall-tank-factory-ukraine/

10 Jul, 2023 15:23

NATO is ‘malicious poison’ – former Australian PM

Paul Keating has argued that the military bloc should remain confined to Europe and the Atlantic and not try to expand into Asia

NATO has no place in Asia and should stick to its original focus, that is the security of the Transatlantic region, former Australian Prime Minister Paul Keating has argued. The Labour politician, who served in office from 1991 to 1996, also warned against attempts to “circumscribe” China.

In his statement published on Sunday, Keating appeared to refer to a recent report in Politico, which claimed French President Emmanuel Macron had blocked NATO’s plans to establish a liaison office in Japan.

The former premier lauded the French head of state for “doing the world a service” by apparently emphasizing the military bloc’s focus on Europe and the Atlantic.

According to Keating, the alliance’s very existence past the end of the Cold War “has already denied peaceful unity to the broader Europe.”

Exporting such “malicious poison to Asia would be akin to Asia welcoming the plague upon itself,” he insisted. The former prime minister warned that NATO’s presence on the continent would negate most of the region’s recent advances.

Keating went on to describe NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg as the “supreme fool” on the international stage who is conducting himself like an “American agent.”

He cited a comment Stoltenberg made back in February when he called for the West not to repeat the “mistake” it had made with regard to Russia, suggesting it should work to contain China.

The former Australian leader noted that the NATO chief conveniently ignored the fact that “China represents twenty per cent of humanity and now possesses the largest economy in the world.” He added that Beijing, unlike Washington, “has no record of attacking other states.”

Over the weekend, Politico cited an anonymous Elysee Palace official who claimed that Paris is against NATO expansion beyond the North Atlantic. “NATO means North Atlantic Treaty Organization,” the French presidential staffer reportedly emphasized.

Back in May, the Japanese ambassador to the US, Koji Tomita, revealed that his country was working toward opening a NATO liaison office in Tokyo, which would become the bloc’s first in Asia. Prime Minister Fumio Kishida confirmed the plans to Japanese lawmakers, noting that Tokyo did not intend to join the US-led organization.

Commenting on the news, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning advised NATO against “extending its geopolitical reach.” The diplomat pointed out that the “Asia-Pacific does not welcome bloc confrontation or military blocs.”

https://www.rt.com/news/579485-ex-australian-pm-nato-malicious-poison/