29 Sep, 2023 16:28

West can’t define Ukraine ‘victory’ – security chief

Aleksey Danilov says it is unclear how long the US and its allies will support Kiev

The West does not have a clear picture of what a Ukraine victory would entail, Secretary of the Ukrainian National Security and Defense Council Aleksey Danilov lamented in a TV interview on Friday.

Danilov noted that the US and its allies have repeatedly stated that they will stand with Kiev “for as long as it takes.” However, the security chief said that the country’s Western backers have never specified that this would be until Ukraine is victorious.

“No one can clearly answer us what our victory means. They tell us: We will support you until… and then I have never heard them say the word ‘victory.’ They say, ‘Until you choose to make decisions yourself.’”

Danilov stressed that Kiev needs to know whether the West will stand by Ukraine until it wins the conflict or if its support will expire after a certain amount of time.

The security chief’s comments come after Ukrainian Finance Minister Sergey Marchenko admitted that thenumber of those willing to give Kiev money “is growing smaller and smaller”and that “there are many questions about how much taxpayers in those countries are willing to finance us.”

Previously, Marchenko reported that the government’s monthly deficit is about $5 billion, with the budget receiving two-thirds of its funds from foreign loans and grants.

Meanwhile, White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby claimed this week that the Pentagon could only support Kiev for “a few weeks” if Congress failed to pass a new funding bill.

This comment came after some Republican lawmakers opposed President Joe Biden’s request for an additional $24 billion for Ukraine and have threatened a government shutdown unless funds for Kiev are dropped from the latest government funding bill.

“If leadership insists on funding another country’s government at the expense of our own government, all blame rests with their intransigence,” said Kentucky Senator Rand Paul, one of the Republican leaders opposing the bill.

Nevertheless, the US House of Representatives, the lower chamber of the US Congress, managed to approve $300 million in new aid to Ukraine on Thursday despite over half of GOP members opposing the move. (Not true)

Earlier this month, Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky told The Economist that he was “sensing” weakening support from Western leaders. He warned that failing to support Ukraine was equivalent to siding with Russia.

The Ukrainian leader cautioned Western governments that they could lose elections and face trouble from outraged Ukrainian refugees that they have housed if they do not maintain their assistance to Kiev.

(More threats from Mafia does not engender loyalty or support. Ukraine always knew what the deal was, they failed at producing the outcome of the west, so now the accusations are flying. Anons said from day one, the West actually wanted the destruction of Ukraine, because it was where all the bodies were buried.)

https://www.rt.com/russia/583785-west-cant-define-ukraine-victory/

He should be tried for treason

29 Sep, 2023 19:34

America’s top general takes parting shot at ‘wannabe dictator’

Mark Milley has marked his last day at the Pentagon by taking an apparent swipe at former President Donald Trump

Outgoing US Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley has capped his 44-year military career by taking an apparent shot at his former commander-in-chief, Donald Trump, suggesting that the ex-president is a “wannabe dictator.”

“We are unique among the world’s militaries,”Milley said at a ceremony marking his retirement on Friday in Arlington, Virginia. “We don’t take an oath to a country, we don’t take an oath to a tribe, we don’t take an oath to a religion. We don’t take an oath to a king, or a queen, or a tyrant or a dictator, and we don’t take an oath to a wannabe dictator.”

CNN, Reuters and other media outlets inferred Milley’s comment to be a reference to Trump, with whom he has feuded for years. “We don’t take an oath to an individual,” the US Army general added. “We take an oath to the Constitution, and we take an oath to the idea that is America, and we’re willing to die to protect it.”

In contrast to his jab at Trump,Milley praised current President Joe Biden, who spoke earlier at Friday’s ceremony. He thanked Biden for “unwavering leadership” and claimed that the president had made the US military stronger than ever. “I’ve seen you in the breach, I’ve seen you on the watch, and I know firsthand that you’re a man of incredible integrity and character,” Milley told Biden.

Milley’s acrimonious relationship with Trump was brought back to the forefront in recent days as he did multiple media interviews marking the end of his stint as the top-ranking US military officer. Those discussions focused largely on the general’s conflicts with Trump. He told The Atlantic in a profile published last week that Trump will be looking for vengeance if he’s elected president again in 2024: “He’ll start throwing people in jail, and I’d be on the top of the list.”

The former president suggested in a Truth Social post on Friday that Milley committed treason when he placed secret calls to his Chinese counterpart about the then-president’s military intentions during his last few months in office. “This is an act so egregious that, in times gone by, the punishment would have been death,” Trump said.

Milley responded in a CBS News interview by acknowledging that he had taken extra security precautions for himself and his family because of Trump’s attack. He argued that the ex-president’s criticism was directed not only at him, but also at the entire US military. While extolling the military’s virtues in Friday’s speech, he said, “We are not easily intimidated.”

The general was appointed as chairman of the joint chiefs by Trump in 2018. The relationship apparently began to sour in 2020, when Milley apologized for appearing with Trump as the president walked to a church near the White House that was damaged by Black Lives Matter rioters.

As Trump’s term in office wound down in late 2020 and January 2021, Milley made calls to Chinese General Li Zuocheng and other foreign military leaders to allay fears that the president might instigate a war. He also assured then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi that safeguards were in place to prevent Trump from launching a nuclear attack.

https://www.rt.com/news/583798-us-general-milley-takes-parting-shot-at-trump/

29 Sep, 2023 05:35

Pentagon discloses military deal with Elon Musk

The billionaire entrepreneur continues to insist that the Starlink network should not be a “participant to combat”

SpaceX has signed its first contract with the Pentagon to provide satellite services as part of its new ‘Starshield’ program. CEO Elon Musk described the effort as a military alternative to the “civilian” Starlink system, although it will apparently rely on the existing constellation of satellites.

In a post on X (formerly Twitter) on Wednesday, Musk weighed in on reportsthat SpaceX had reached a deal with the US Space Force, confirming that the Starshield project would be “owned by the US government and controlled by [the Department of Defense].”

“Starlink needs to be a civilian network, not a participant to combat,” he said, referring to the use of the satellites in Ukraine throughout the conflict with Russia, adding “This is the right order of things.”

However, despite Musk’s stated reluctance to be involved in the fighting, the new Space Force contract will see SpaceX effectively lease out part of its Starlink network to the Pentagon, providing service over the same satellites, according to Bloomberg.

With a $70 million price ceiling, the deal “provides for Starshield end-to-end service via the Starlink constellation, user terminals, ancillary equipment, network management and other related services,” Air Force spokeswoman Ann Stefanek told Bloomberg News.

The outlet noted that Musk’s aerospace firm is now competing for nearly $1 billion in Pentagon contracts extending into 2028, as theSpace Force seeks to repurpose existing communications satellites for military use as part of its “Proliferated Low Earth Orbit”program.

Musk has come under fire from US officials for SpaceX’s decisions in Ukraine, after allegedly refusing Kiev’s demands to use the Starlink network to aid strikes on Russia’s Black Sea fleet last year. The billionaire’s biographer, Walter Isaacson, revealed earlier this month that Musk had developed a “military version of the Starlink” as a way to wash his hands of the project.

“I've talked to him during this whole thing, and late one night, he said, ‘Why am I in this war?’ He said, ‘I, you know, created Starlink so people could chill and watch Netflix movies and play video games. I did not mean to create something that might cause a nuclear war,’” the author recalled in comments to the Washington Post.

Isaacson went on to say that Musk “decided to sell and give total control over a certain amount of Starlink equipment…to the US military so that he no longer controls the geofencing,” referring to geographic limitations that can be imposed on the satellite network.

Musk previously claimed that American sanctions on Russia had prevented SpaceX from extending Starlink coverage into Crimea, insisting the company is “not actually allowed to turn on connectivity to… the country without explicit [US] government approval.” However, he has also said that he did not wish to be “complicit in a major act of war and conflict escalation,” suggesting the decision was not solely due to US restrictions.

https://www.rt.com/news/583746-pentagon-musk-satellite-deal/

>>19634191

Not much once in a while at night

>>19634617

The first, the rest didn’t call Bidan a man of integrity and character. He’s so comped even comped people don’t want to hang out with the asshole

“Milley praised current President Joe Biden, who spoke earlier at Friday’s ceremony. He thanked Biden for “unwavering leadership” and claimed that the president had made the US military stronger than ever. “I’ve seen you in the breach, I’ve seen you on the watch, and I know firsthand that you’re a man of incredible integrity and character”

>>19634257

Anons if we had to vote to put Milley or Schiff in Guantánamo to be tried for treason which would you choose first?