"Blinken confirmed President Biden has approved use of US provided weapons for Ukraine to defend against Russian forces amassing on border and striking into Kharkhiv from Russian territory" , this is not escalatory but purely defensive, some people just don't understand that... #ukraine#russia#geopolitics#kharkiv
The worries about escalation are justified but it's crazy to expect from Ukraine to let Russia destroy Kharkiv and not allow them to defend themselves, also by hitting targets in Russia from where attacks are launched on Ukraine. Ofcourse they will use supplied weapons for that. #geopolitics#ukraine#russia#eu#escalation@geopolitics
The #UnitedStates is actively weighing whether to lift one of #POTUS#Biden’s longest-held precautionary measures of the #Ukraine war: a ban on the use of #US provided #weapons for offensive strikes inside #Russia.
The reassessment is a byproduct of Russia’s renewed cross-border assault on #Kharkiv, a chorus of pressure from #EU ofcls & a visit to Kyiv by Secy of State #Blinken that reinforced the peril facing Ukraine….
The Israeli military has lifted a ban on the sale of food to Gaza from Israel & the occupied #WestBank as its battlefield offensive chokes international aid, acc/to #Palestinian officials, businessmen (sic) & international aid workers.
Israeli war cabinet minister #BennyGantz's #centrist party has proposed holding a vote to dissolve #parliament in a bid to bring about an early #election, his party said in a statement on Thurs.
#AI#GenerativeAI#AIHype#GeoPolitics: "A popular view of generative AI is that it’s unjustifiably expensive, chronically wasteful, rarely useful, and is being foisted on the general public for ideological reasons even though it makes the services they rely on worse. Governments are sure to be all over it.
Israel will not fully eliminate Hamas in Gaza only weaken them, in the process too many innocent civilians will die, a lot of infrastructure and buildings will be totally destroyed. Israel will have lost many allies and credibility worldwide, nobody denies Israel the right to strike Hamas and destroy them but current Israëli strategy is clearly self defeating. Or not ? #israel#hamas#geopolitics@geopolitics
For years, Michael West has been one of Australia's most insightful and far-sighted investigative journalists.
In this 14 minute piece of geopolitical commentary, he again confirms why independent investigative media is so crucial in age where corporate media continues to serve a dying genocidal order.
A career #State Dept ofcl involved in the #Biden admin’s debate over #Israel’s conduct in #Gaza resigned, citing disagreements w/a recently published #US govt report that claimed Israel was not impeding #humanitarian assistance to Gaza, per 2 ofcls.
Stacy Gilbert, served in the State Dept’s Bureau of Population, #Refugees & #Migration (#PRM). Gilbert emailed staff Tues explaining her view that State was wrong in its conclusion.
ATACMS must be a frustrating weapon system for Russia, precise , destructive, difficult to intercept. It seems Ukraine can strike at will with this weapon. #Ukraine#ATACMS#Russia@Geopolitics#geopolitics
The effectiveness of ATACMS in Ukraine now, illustrates how dumb it was to wait so long to deliver them, so many unnecessary lives lost , also the current Russian offensive could probably have been stopped earlier. #ukraine#geopolitics@Geopolitics#ATACMS
The #IJC ordered #Israel on Fri to “immediately halt” its offensive in #Rafah in south #Gaza. The court cited “exceptionally grave” developments for the already “extremely vulnerable” population in Rafah…,& said it was “not convinced that the evacuation effort” for #Palestinian#civilians in Gaza is sufficient to “alleviate the immense risk.” Israel, which has rejected the genocide charges,…described the case as “divorced from the facts.”
The #UnitedStates is preparing a $275M #military#aid package for #Ukraine, which will include 155mm artillery shells, precision aerial munitions & ground vehicles….
The weapons aid, which could be announced as soon as Fri, will utilize Presidential Drawdown Authority, which authorizes the president to transfer articles & services from US stocks w/o specific congressional approval during an emergency.
As a part of the $95B aid bills, #Congress authorized $60.8B worth of various forms of #aid to #Ukraine, including $8B worth of presidential drawdown authority items.
While the package mainly includes munitions, it also includes vehicles that are designed to recover disabled tanks & other heavy equipment from the battlefield, a sign that the #UnitedStates expects attacks & equipment losses to continue.
#Taiwan's military mobilised forces & said it was confident it could protect the island, after #China started 2 days of #punishment drills around Taiwan in what it said was a response to "separatist acts".
The exercises in #TaiwanStrait & around groups of Taiwan-controlled islands…,come 3 days after #Lai Ching-te took office as Taiwan's new #president, a man Beijing detests as a #separatist.
China, which views democratically governed #Taiwan as its own territory, has denounced Lai's inauguration speech on Mon, in which he called on #China to stop its threats & on Tues Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi called #Lai "disgraceful".
Lai has repeatedly offered talks w/ China but been rebuffed. He says only Taiwan's people can decide their future, & rejects Beijing's #sovereignty claims.
The Eastern Theatre Command of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (#PLA) said it had started joint military drills, involving the army, navy, air force & rocket force, in areas around #Taiwan at 7:45AM.
The drills are being conducted in the Taiwan Strait, the north, south & east of Taiwan, as well as areas around the Taiwan-controlled islands of Kinmen, Matsu, Wuqiu & Dongyin, the command said in a statement.
After a sobering trip to #Kyiv, Secy of State Antony J. #Blinken is urging #POTUS#Biden to lift some restrictions on how Ukraine can use American arms.