Helping Ukraine is “a relatively modest investment with significant geopolitical returns,” the CIA director wrote.
Western allies must continue providing assistance to Ukraine in its war with Russia this year, or risk a mistake “of historic proportions,” CIA Director William Burns wrote in a column published Tuesday.
Burns laid out his case in a Foreign Affairs column, noting that less than 5 percent of the U.S. defense budget — “a relatively modest investment with significant geopolitical returns” — is all that Washington sends to Kyiv.
If an opportunity for serious negotiations to end the war emerges, he wrote, providing arms to Ukraine will put it in a stronger bargaining position. Ukraine’s military would also be able to continue fending off Russian troops while rebuilding its infrastructure, while Moscow spends massive amounts of money to keep the war going, Burns added.
“For the United States to walk away from the conflict at this crucial moment and cut off support to Ukraine would be an own goal of historic proportions,” Burns wrote, referencing a soccer term for scoring a goal for the rival team by putting the ball into a player’s own net.
Solid points all around but I’d also like to add “it’s also the right thing to do”
the only lawmakers that don’t agree, do so because their opinions are bought and paid for.
It’s one thing to be evil, but it’s another thing to be evil AND incompetent. Do one or the other, never both. Don’t do a Russia worse than Russia. People are counting on us to do the right thing after we exhaust all of the alternatives.
Anyone with an ounce of common sense: Ya don’t say
Right-wing useful idots on social media: [Continue to echo Russian propaganda they’ve been saturated with]
Have you been around lemmy even? It’s hardly just right wingers pushing Kremlin propaganda! I mean hexbear, lemmygrad ffs, they shill that shit wholesale like it’s their bread and butter.
I blocked those communities a long time ago.
I was using jeroba unlogged in for several months, which defaults to lemmy ml. I logged in a couple of weeks ago which defaults to lemmy world which I’m guessing defederated those two so I haven’t had my bid pressure go up from seeing all the hypocrisy. I know it may give me a view from a walled garden, but technically every lemmy instance is more or less a walled garden. If I understand it right even an instance that tries to federated everything will be one, albeit one that expands their walls to the edge whenever possible.
It’s so weird too considering what sort of state Russia is.
I guess it’s just USA bad, so Russia good, even when they’re invading other countries and annexing parts of them for land and resources
Sometimes campists are even more annoying than right-wingers. They’re this close to getting it right, and yet they somehow completely miss the mark.
I will say it is crazy how fast the parties have rotated policies
My dad used to listen to rush Limbaugh when I was a kid because for some reason he liked hating it so much. When Obama was president, the narrative was always anti Russia, pro defense like feds/CIA (“hard on crime”)
Then trump becomes president, and the party slowly shifts to pro Russian, and the liberal lefts that used to hate the feds/CIA are now more on the same page with those agencies
“slowly”? It was pretty much warp speed as soon as Trump asked the Russians to get Hilary’s emails.
Right-wing useful idots on social media: [Continue to echo Russian propaganda they’ve been
saturated withpaid for]At this point, the contrarian nature of being a conservative in North America has reached self-sustaining levels of saturation. If Democrats want it, no matter what it is, Republicans have to be against it.
As in, failing to do so will alter the global course of history? Obviously.
Why are some of our leaders in a race to establish Russia as the single world superpower?
Why are some of our leaders in a race to establish Russia as the single world superpower?
They see it as a short term way to get into power, and a long term way to establish authoritarianism.
They get media support in the form of social media propaganda which can get them into office now.
Long term, they schill for Russia and enact authoritarianism wherever they are.
If successful, both are successful long term, but its an all or nothing play. If they fail, or Russia fails (Putin will die some time), they uh… go to jail.
Why are some of our leaders in a race to establish Russia as the single world superpower?
Kompromat.
They’re being paid to do so. Indirectly, of course, but I’d bet my aggregate lifetime income that some solid forensic accounting of campaign contributions to these assholes - not to mention a LOT of the PACs affiliated with them - ultimately lead to addresses in Moscow.
It seems like I’ve heard of the strategy of “appeasement” having been attempted before - how did that work out for them again?
Last I heard they were doing pretty well, I think the government is supposed to be in power for around 1,000 years.
Peace in our time!
All in for another 1000-year Reich 🤦♂️
I genuinely can’t fathom how anyone other than Russia and their buddies can look at this situation and think they’re better off not helping Ukraine right now. What do they expect? That Russia will say “Ah, gobbling up Ukraine hit the spot, I’m good now. Thanks guys!” and stop their aggression forever?
Ukraine is just the first step. Eventually, Russia will gain more power and influence and encroach into more European territories. You have to be either deluded or directly stand to benefit from Russia’s invasion to think just because Russia cannot physically invade the US as easily, that the US won’t hurt badly because of it. I really don’t get it.
their buddies
This is the key to it - Republicans are their buddies.
Imagine any other reason getting 5% of the us military budget.
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Just throw it on the pile.
Well now I’m suspicious.
As long as the israel genocide money is bundled in, KEEP BLOCKING IT!
That money will likely mean the difference between victory and defeat for Ukraine, and all the geopolitical fallout that entails. It is however unlikely to change Israel’s stance on Gaza as long as Netanyahu remains in power.
Netanyahu can’t wage his Genocide without these 15 Billion extra free American taxpayer dollars. Israel is massively hurting financially right now.
You realise Israel doesn’t get cash, right? The cash goes into the American military industrial complex. All they get are free weapons, which they can live without for a while.
You realize that weapons cost money right?
Israel cannot finance their iron dome system or F35’s if they aren’t free.
That would mean that israel would need to pull money from other sectors to finance their genocide.
Israel is usurping a tremendous portion of the American GDP.
Again, Netanyahu is not going to back down from this war, because if he does he goes to jail. This is his only ticket to staying out. If he needs to pull money from other sectors, he will (also, you’re overstating the impact on the Israeli economy).
As compared to Ukraine, where the US’s decision is of critical importance right now.
Again, Netanyahu is not going to back down from this war, because if he does he goes to jail.
Exactly why all aid to them must be stopped. There is absolutely no other way to stop israel’s genocide. When the pockets start hurting they will start acting differently. These people don’t care about Palestinians but they care about money.
Also, you’re overstating the impact on the Israeli economy
Worldwide boycots are already hitting israel hard. Their genocide has been going on for such a long time that it is starting to hurt them, along with the Houthis blocking their shipping.
Which part of `this will not stop the genocide’ did you not understand?
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I don’t disagree, but also the existence of the CIA is a mistake of historic proportions so I don’t really care what this guy has to say.
While CIA has done horrible shit, having a foreign intelligence agency seems like a reasonable thing to have.
I mean tell that to the countless people murdered or living in countries that had their democratically elected government overthrown for no good reason in favor of violent rightwing nut jobs because the CIA wanted to do it.
I think it would be better if we just didn’t have an intelligence agency in the US given the absolutely incomprehensibly careless way the CIA and other clandestine US agencies have caused massed suffering around the world.
Those countries have their own intelligence services. I’m betting every country has one, in one form or another. USA not having one during Cold War would’ve been insanity, it would’ve just ceded ground to KGB
What was insanity was the stupidity of the fear of a red communist wave taking over the planet like some kind of cartoon, what was insanity was the Vietnam war that even when it became unpopular the US government basically just refused and colluded to keep us there.
Sure would’ve made USSR’s job easier to not have any kind of intelligence service. I can’t take it as a serious suggestion for a country larger than Monaco not to have one. Even if for nothing else than self-protection
I don’t think you understand how just because you can’t comprehend a state without a rightwing security apparatus that engages in disastrous manipulation of the sovereignty of other nations with literally zero oversight from voters doesn’t magically justify the incredible amount of suffering and hardship caused by giving those rightwing, ignorant nutjobs the power to wreck and overthrow democratically elected (or not) governments of countries because they felt it was a slippery slope for them to be talking about socializing healthcare or whatever…
I don’t care that you can’t visualize it, that doesn’t justify the awful impact the CIA has had on the world.
Intelligence service isn’t inherently a right-wing security apparatus. Hell, the other example here was KGB.
