U.S. Response to Russia's Invasion of Ukraine

[rj1]

Probably politically impossible but the US Navy should be demanding bids by domestic shipbuilders in competition with foreign based firms for at least some repair and (whisper it softly) new construction work. The threat alone might be the shot in the arm the domestic industry needs to get its act together.

It's not just politically impossible, it's probably impossible. This isn't Silicon Valley, it's complicated high-level manufacturing. You can't just snap your fingers and have demonstrated capability overnight. To even get a lot of domestic shipbuilders to bid would require months of work to bring them to a level to meet government contracting requirements.

[TopHatter]

"I'm for Ukraine, but I don't want to support them with weapons, and I'm not going to make a decision which isn't mine to make anyway."

the good people of Alabama could have kept Doug Jones but decided on this intellectual giant to represent them.

Imagine if this assclown was able to stop the highest-level military promotions....

[astralis]

"I'm for Ukraine, but I don't want to support them with weapons, and I'm not going to make a decision which isn't mine to make anyway."

the good people of Alabama could have kept Doug Jones but decided on this intellectual giant to represent them.

[TopHatter]

Tuberville says Ukraine can’t win war: ‘It’s a junior high team playing a college team’



Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) said Monday he did not think Ukraine could win the war against Russia and compared Ukraine’s efforts to a junior high team trying to defeat a college team in a hypothetical sports match.

In an interview with Fox News’s Laura Ingraham on Monday night, Tuberville touted his record voting against funding for Ukraine and said that, while he supported the country’s efforts over Russia, he thought Ukraine was outmatched and that no amount of funding would change that.

“I haven’t voted for a dime to send Ukraine,” Tuberville told Ingraham. “I’m for Ukraine. Russia should have never done this. I was in Ukraine three months with President [Volodymyr] Zelensky before this started. They were already fighting to that point.”

“But, at the end of the day, it’s a junior high team playing a college team,” he continued. “They can’t win. We can throw all the money we want to, but unless we send NATO and our troops over, which we’re not going to do, if I have got anything to do with it, then there’s no chance.”

Tuberville’s comments come amid increasing concern that support for Ukraine might be waning among American voters and among Republicans in Congress.

The Alabama senator offered his comments in response to a recent CNN poll showing that 55 percent of Americans thought Congress should not authorize additional funding for Ukraine.

Other polls, however, have struck a different note. In late June, a Reuters/Ipsos survey found an uptick in the percentage of Americans who supported arming Ukraine, from 48 percent in May to 65 percent in June.

President Biden has remained steadfast in his support for Ukraine, and the United States has authorized tens of billions of dollars in aid to Ukraine since the war began in 2022.
________

[TopHatter]

Opinion: Why Republicans are turning against aid to Ukraine

Editor’s note: Adam Kinzinger is a CNN senior political commentator and a former Republican congressman from Illinois. He served 10 years on the House Foreign Affairs Committee. Kinzinger is also a lieutenant colonel and pilot in the Air National Guard. The opinions expressed in this commentary are his own.

After two months of grueling combat, Ukraine’s counteroffensive in its war against Russia is finally showing some signs of progress.

The Ukrainians are slowly retaking territory lost when Russia invaded in February 2022, and last week a waterbornedrone attack crippled an important Russian warship. Now, a majority of Americans — and a more sizable number of Republicans — want to abandon the fight, according to a new CNN poll conducted by SSRS. It’s a bad idea that’s gathering steam at the worst moment and marks a low point for the party of Reagan.

Now, a majority of Americans — and a more sizable number of Republicans — want to abandon the fight, according to a new CNN poll conducted by SSRS. It’s a bad idea that’s gathering steam at the worst moment and marks a low point for the party of Reagan.

In the CNN poll published Friday, 55% of all respondents said that Congress should stop authorizing new military aid for Kyiv. Worse, from my perspective, is the shameful fact that Republicans are far more likely to favor an end to aid than Democrats.

The survey found that 71% of Republicans told pollsters Congress should stop sending more assistance. Among Democrats, 62% favor more funding for Ukraine.

From where I stand, the poll’s findings reveal that many in my party would turn their backs on friends who are risking their lives in a fight for democracy. They would do so just when Ukrainians are beginning to push the Russians out of the areas they occupied early in the war. Little could be more demoralizing for an army and a country that has fought so valiantly for nearly 18 months and depends on US aid.

Two factors seem to be at play here. The first is the slow progress Ukraine is making on the battlefield. Hopes that Kyiv’s summer counteroffensive would see its forces taking back huge swaths of territory have crashed against the reality of Russian fortifications. Instead of “shock and awe,” we’re seeing the trench warfare of World War I.

The second factor driving Republican sentiment could be called “the Trump effect.” Now campaigning to return to the White House, the former president so dominates the party’s consciousness that his doubts about Ukraine aid have had an enormous effect on Republicans as a whole.

Before Donald Trump, Republicans were not the type to abandon a fight for a strategic partner’s democracy, handing a potential victory to Russian President Vladimir Putin. We were the warriors of the Cold War who brought about the collapse of the Soviet Union.

With Trump, who has embraced Putin, some Republicans are learning to let go of America’s role as the bulwark of democracy and freedom. These Republicans are choosing, instead, the tragic isolationism of those who opposed joining the fight against Hitler. Back then, radio priest Charles Coughlin had a powerful voice among do-nothings. Today, they find comfort on Fox News.

Trump has framed his position in a way that is typical of his petty approach to policy. He said he would threaten to halt war funding to get documents from the federal investigation into the business dealings of President Joe Biden’s son, Hunter. The US should “refuse to authorize a single additional shipment of our depleted weapons stockpiles,” Trump said last month, until “the FBI, DOJ and IRS hand over” evidence in congressional Republicans’ Biden family investigation. He also has said the US should prioritize school safety over Ukraine aid.

The idea that, somehow, school safety and Hunter Biden should have anything to do with helping Ukraine is, on the surface, absurd. But in making these statements, the former president pressed on two hot-button issues that would make his followers take notice.

From my conservative Republican point of view, I find it remarkable that, as the CNN poll shows, Democrats are standing firmly behind Ukraine. It reflects a longer-term trend of the left becoming more comfortable with America’s military.

In 2022, Dominic Tierney, a political science professor at Swarthmore College, noted in The Atlantic that during the Trump administration, Democrats adopted a more favorable view of the military because it stood with the rule of law and tradition. Tierney’s argument is speculative, but I tend to agree with him.

Certainly, the CNN poll suggests a measurable level of Democratic support for military solutions to geopolitical crises.

As a former member of Congress who focused on US obligations abroad, and an Air National Guard pilot who served in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, I have seen how America helps stabilize the world in a way isolationists don’t appreciate.

Through treaties, foreign aid and trade, we help others develop solid and prosperous societies. Our direct military aid was especially vital in Afghanistan, where, in our absence, the repressive Taliban have returned to power. Our withdrawal was bad for the people of Afghanistan and for the world.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, Trump’s chief rival for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, said in March that America has no vital interest in Ukraine and called the war a “territorial dispute.” DeSantis walked back the comments about the territorial dispute, but as I see it, GOP voters understand he’s skeptical about funding the war.

This position may spare him the boos that another Trump rival, former Vice President Mike Pence, received last month when he told a conservative gathering in Iowa he supported helping Ukraine. Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie was in Kyiv on Friday, where he showed his support for the fight. However, it’s unclear if anyone may be listening to him.

Official opposition to Ukraine aid is most significant in Congress, which does play a role in what happens to the flow of assistance. In July, 70 House Republicans voted to cut off Kyiv entirely. This number is not enough to change things yet, but the opponents come from the party’s extreme right wing, which plays an outsize role in primaries. This power means candidates are being pressured to join the anti-aid crowd.

With the rank and file of my party losing faith in the fight for democracy, I see yet another example of how the conservatism I once knew, and that America relied on, is disappearing.

Gone is the party of Reagan, which was steadfast in its stand against tyranny. In its place is rising a GOP that seems immune to the world’s need for American leadership and uninterested in the suffering of a country we should aid until the fight is over.
_________

[TopHatter]

Speaking of which, how wonderful is Jacksonville, FL now 10 years later?

Speaking for myself? Just fine. Best move I've ever made in fact.

[tbm3fan]

What's kinda amusing at this artist's impression is that it "vanishes" the bridge that I drive over twice a day to and from work.

Speaking of which, how wonderful is Jacksonville, FL now 10 years later?

[TopHatter]

The Mare Island Dry Dock LLC is indeed hoping more ships will come in after announcing $13 million in new private investment to expand its repair capabilities to include U.S. Navy vessels.

Fincantieri (the builders of the forthcoming Constellation-class frigates) is putting $30 million into a 500' drydock here in Jax, on the St. John's River...just a relative stone's throw from Naval Station Mayport.

Pretty sure we can guess where several of those new FFG's are going to be homeported.

What's kinda amusing at this artist's impression is that it "vanishes" the bridge that I drive over twice a day to and from work.

Yep, the same bridge that the USNS 1st Lt. Harry L. Martin clobbered 10 years ago

[tbm3fan]

That's the case in a lot of places, not just the US.

In Germany pretty much all Bundeswehr-owned naval repair facilities in the Baltic were closed down around 2013-2015, with the equipment like float docks and float cranes - granted, all from the 60s - at the time sold off either to private shipyards or donated to other countries (in particular in North Africa). It only took them a few years to notice by around 2018 that that was a pretty bad idea, because after some smaller shipyards went into insolvency there were suddenly exactly zero repair facilities left in the Baltic in German waters. Ships had to be re-based over to the North Sea coast for every single small repair.

They bought an insolvent shipyard last year to rectify that situation. For the sole reason that it came with a drydock. At least it was relatively cheap.

LBNSY used to have large enough dry docks to handle CV's and BB's. Now they have been filled in for parking lots for cars from overseas. Hunter's point still has dry docks and the Gantry Crane untouched but will never be used for anything again However, Mare Island, still has all four dry docks, which have been used when cleaning ships bound for Brownsville. Cranes still there.. Mare Island could once again be used if so desired by the nation.

and....

MARE ISLAND — The Mare Island Dry Dock LLC is indeed hoping more ships will come in after announcing $13 million in new private investment to expand its repair capabilities to include U.S. Navy vessels.

The investment is new turn at the shipyard after it was closed in 1996. What was once the proud home of shipbuilding could now be repurposed into one of the largest ship repair docks on the West Coast.

Rep. John Garamendi, D-Walnut Grove, joined Mare Island Dry Dock President Steve DiLeo and many local and county leaders in announcing the new project. A press conference took place Wednesday morning next to the sail memorial of the historic Mariano G. Vallejo submarine

“I’m just plain excited about what we are doing today,” Garamendi said. “Mare Island has long been a part of American West history. This place is fantastic and can’t be replicated anywhere on the West Coast. It will be able to service the naval combat ships of today and tomorrow.”

The investment will allow the Mare Island Dry Dock to upgrade its facility and put itself in prime position to make bids on Navy contracts. More important to the local economy, the workforce that now numbers 220 at the dock will be able to grow to two or three times its current size.

“It would be similar work to what we do now,” DiLeo said. “It would just be a different scale in overall structure. We would just take it another step up to be able and serve combat-type vessels. We are hiring now and expect the expansion to happen fully within 18 months.”

The investment is being made to help the shipyard prepare for MIL-STD-1625D dock certification.

What’s important for potential workers is that these are good-paying jobs. The average salary for positions at Mare Island Dry Dock is more than $100,000 per year and only requires a high school diploma or relevant experience.

One group the dock is hoping to target for employment is veterans. The company wants to play a key role in helping veterans shift from military to civilian careers.

“This is a big, big deal for Vallejo and the surrounding communities,” Garamendi said. “There’s just not enough repair facilities on the West Coast. This is an opportunity for employment and re-enhancing what used to be one of the key facilities on the West Coast.”

Garamendi is the chairman of the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Readiness. The Readiness Committee oversees in excess one-third of the Department of Defense’s annual budget, has jurisdiction over 1,100 military installations and bases worldwide and oversees all U.S. military training, logistics and equipment maintenance.

One of Garamendi’s responsibilities is to help the Navy find locations for ship repairs. Though they have an advocate in Garamendi, the Mare Island Dry Dock would still be required to put in its own bid and compete with other docks for contracts.

The channel could require dredging for the new ships coming into dock, but Garamendi said it would not serve the large nuclear ships. Garamendi said he and Rep. Mike Thompson, D-St. Helena, have met with other leaders and that dredging in the Bay Area and the Delta is “critically important” and they are prepared to make money available for the work.

More information on Mare Island Dry Dock is available online at middllc.com.

This is cool since Mare Island is a short 20 minute drive for me.

[kato]

Sadly it has atrophied so much. We shut down a lot of capabilities in the 1990s and doubled down in the 00s. No dollars for anything but GWOT. A lot of that industry is gone...not sure if it can be replicated or resurrected.

That's the case in a lot of places, not just the US.

In Germany pretty much all Bundeswehr-owned naval repair facilities in the Baltic were closed down around 2013-2015, with the equipment like float docks and float cranes - granted, all from the 60s - at the time sold off either to private shipyards or donated to other countries (in particular in North Africa). It only took them a few years to notice by around 2018 that that was a pretty bad idea, because after some smaller shipyards went into insolvency there were suddenly exactly zero repair facilities left in the Baltic in German waters. Ships had to be re-based over to the North Sea coast for every single small repair.

They bought an insolvent shipyard last year to rectify that situation. For the sole reason that it came with a drydock. At least it was relatively cheap.

[Albany Rifles]

Probably politically impossible but the US Navy should be demanding bids by domestic shipbuilders in competition with foreign based firms for at least some repair and (whisper it softly) new construction work. The threat alone might be the shot in the arm the domestic industry needs to get its act together.

Sadly it has atrophied so much. We shut down a lot of capabilities in the 1990s and doubled down in the 00s. No dollars for anything but GWOT. A lot of that industry is gone...not sure if it can be replicated or resurrected.

[Monash]

I hope part of the wakeup call includes looking at the shriveled state of our shipyards for building & repair. And, I know you get it, all of this needs to be tied to law & budgets...not sure where any of that is going anymore with this House.

Probably politically impossible but the US Navy should be demanding bids by domestic shipbuilders in competition with foreign based firms for at least some repair and (whisper it softly) new construction work. The threat alone might be the shot in the arm the domestic industry needs to get its act together.

[Albany Rifles]

Depends on what “the rest is up to Ukraine” means.

They’re doing the dying and the killing here, after all. Even Zelensky has stopped with the whole demand to “close the sky” with NATO.

The Ukrainians acknowledge that beyond ATACMS, their qualitative wish list is fulfilled. The rest is quantity, and I for one am damn happy that this war is FINALLY forcing the West to confront how small their war stocks are, and how brittle defense industry is.

I hope part of the wakeup call includes looking at the shriveled state of our shipyards for building & repair. And, I know you get it, all of this needs to be tied to law & budgets...not sure where any of that is going anymore with this House.

[Albany Rifles]

Still in Putin's pocket, still spinning tales of alternate facts...nice to know that some things never change.

Death, taxes and fawning towards his master in Moscow...

[TopHatter]

Trump urges pause on Ukraine aid until agencies turn in ‘every scrap’ of evidence in Biden probe
Former President Trump called for a pause on all aid to Ukraine until several federal agencies provide “every scrap” of evidence they have on alleged “corrupt business dealings” from President Biden and his son, Hunter Biden.

Trump said at a rally in Erie, Pa., on Saturday that Biden has been “dragging” the country into conflict with the war between Russia and Ukraine and referenced the copy of the unverified tip that congressional Republicans released last week purporting to show evidence of a scheme to bribe Biden.

The form included secondhand allegations that the Bidens were sent millions of dollars from the CEO of Ukrainian energy company Burisma, which was being investigated by the Ukrainian prosecutor general’s office. Hunter Biden served on the board of Burisma at the time.

Biden, while serving as vice president in the Obama administration, argued that Ukrainian Prosecutor General Viktor Shokin was corrupt and should be fired, threatening to withhold $1 billion in funding for Ukraine unless he was dismissed.

No hard evidence has been shown to demonstrate that Biden pushed for Shokin to be fired to help his son, but Trump and other Republicans have repeatedly alleged a bribery scheme occurred.

“In light of this information, the U.S. Congress should refuse to authorize a single additional payment of our depleted stockpiles … until the FBI, [Justice Department] and [Internal Revenue Service] hand over every scrap of evidence they have on the Biden crime family’s corrupt business dealings,” Trump said.

Trump has previously pushed back against the U.S. providing financial aid to Ukraine in order to oppose Russia’s full-scale invasion of the country. He has claimed that if reelected as president, he could end the war between the two countries in 24 hours.

The former president also referenced reports that have indicated that U.S. stockpiles of missiles and ammunition have become depleted as the country continues providing weapons to Ukraine. The Pentagon has requested additional funding compared to last year to help grow its munitions.

According to Trump, he often hears complaints that Republicans learn of information like what has been alleged in the form on Biden and “do nothing about it.” He argued that any Republican who does not act on “Democrat fraud” should face a primary challenge for their reelection.

“They don’t fight the way they’re supposed to fight,” he said.

“’Oh, that’s too bad, but we have to worry about other things,’” Trump said, referencing what he claimed some Republicans have said in response to these types of allegations. “You don’t have to worry about other things. You got to stop it.”
______

Still in Putin's pocket, still spinning tales of alternate facts...nice to know that some things never change.