On 11/9/24 7:42 AM, Marcus Daniels wrote:

Trump’s reads the room.  If he feels his people would tolerate Russia using chemical weapons at a massive scale in Ukraine, then he’d be fine with that.   Remember he was fine separating immigrant children from their parents.   This property may well cause some deals to be made because they are afraid of the consequences.   That’s not a skill in negotiation, that’s just the kind of terror that an organized crime boss might elicit.

And some would conflate the two.   I resist.

The U.S. doesn’t have a boundless number of Tomahawk missiles to give Ukraine, even if we authorized firing into Russia.   They run a couple million U.S. dollars each.

Most of which flows into US arms-manufacturer's corporate pockets and a little into the communities where they are manufactured (e.g. good jobs).


         1. *Tomahawk Missiles*

     * *Raytheon Missiles & Defense* manufactures Tomahawk missiles
       primarily in *Tucson, Arizona*. This facility focuses on
       producing a variety of precision-guided missiles, including the
       Tomahawk.


         2. *Javelin Anti-Tank Missiles*

     * The *Javelin Joint Venture*, a partnership between *Raytheon and
       Lockheed Martin*, manufactures Javelin missiles. The main
       production occurs at *Lockheed Martin’s facility in Troy,
       Alabama*, and Raytheon’s production support in Tucson, Arizona.


         3. *HIMARS (High Mobility Artillery Rocket System)*

     * *Lockheed Martin* manufactures HIMARS at its facilities in
       *Camden, Arkansas*. This location is dedicated to the production
       of various missile and artillery systems, including HIMARS and
       its associated rockets.


         4. *Patriot Missiles*

     * *Patriot missile systems*, which have been promised to Ukraine,
       are manufactured by Raytheon primarily at facilities in
       *Andover, Massachusetts*, and *Tucson, Arizona*.


         5. *Switchblade Drones*

     * *AeroVironment Inc.*, the manufacturer of Switchblade drones,
       produces these loitering munitions in *Simi Valley, California*.


         6. *Other Small Arms and Ammunition*

     * Several small arms and types of ammunition come from multiple
       facilities in the U.S., especially those associated with
       *General Dynamics Ordnance and Tactical Systems* (with locations
       in *Marion, Illinois*, and *St. Petersburg, Florida*), and
       *Winchester Ammunition* in *Oxford, Mississippi*.


   We aren’t even keeping up with Russia’s artillery manufacturing. Putin knows all this.

Not too long ago, a dark-spirited friend of mine used the phrase "an atmospheric river of drones and missiles".   I don't know what the material comparison is in the Ukraine war to past regional/global conflicts but the amount of Lead, Depleted Uranium, Nitro Compounds and Oxidizers must be significant.

Vietnam scholars might remember the AC-47 (Puff the Magic Dragon) which could lay down a "carpet of lead" (nominally one round per square foot?) followed by napalm if desired.   And the "bomb trains" moving Napalm across the US from manufacturing locations (rust belt?) to Pacific shipping ports (CA/OR/WA)?

While I would love to see an opportunity for the cessation of warfare/death in Ukraine, I don't know what to do about the inhumanity that Putin (and his boys and girls) were allowed to impose on the Ukrainians.  Geopolitics of "NATO and Western encroachment) aside, I don't know how that translates into the wickedness wrought against the people.  And how was/is any of this particularly good for Russians?   I was prepared to leave my country (for good) when I turned 18 to avoid being made into a killer (murderer in some cases) against my will.  What is to become of those Russian soldiers who survived being foddered into the Ukrainian front lines and will return "shattered heroes" at best (see. Tom Cruise in /Born on the 4th of July/).   At least the Ukrainian dead and surviving soldiers will have a somewhat clear sense of what they were fighting (and dying) for?

And need I even reference Israel/Palestine?

Similar to the inhumanity of our flawed "gated community" immigration policies and our own (US/W. Europe) expansionaism/exploitation/empire only baldly more brutal?  Trump aleady did the kids-in-cages thing and has proposed (shoot them in the legs) to deter border crossings...  Two "kids" I went to high school with (1 and 3 years older) were tried/sentenced for torturing (binding, branding and forcing them to walk naked back to the border) young men seeking employment on their ranch within a few miles of the border.   And this was in the 70s before the current MAGA style rhetoric was afoot.

It would seem we are "wicked turtles all the way down"?

(I'll go back to drinking my own acidic liberal tears of rage and grief now and try not to spill too many over here).  And btw, it isn't clear that "the other side" would actually have resolved all or much of this nonsense we are about, so maybe the "in your face" version has it's own charms?

- Ack!
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