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<div class="moz-cite-prefix">On 11/9/24 7:42 AM, Marcus Daniels
wrote:<br>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt">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. <br>
</span></p>
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And some would conflate the two. I resist.<br>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt">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.</span></p>
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</blockquote>
<p>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).</p>
<blockquote>
<h3><font size="1">1. <strong>Tomahawk Missiles</strong></font></h3>
<ul>
<li><font size="1"><strong>Raytheon Missiles & Defense</strong>
manufactures Tomahawk missiles primarily in <strong>Tucson,
Arizona</strong>. This facility focuses on producing a
variety of precision-guided missiles, including the
Tomahawk.</font></li>
</ul>
<h3><font size="1">2. <strong>Javelin Anti-Tank Missiles</strong></font></h3>
<ul>
<li><font size="1">The <strong>Javelin Joint Venture</strong>,
a partnership between <strong>Raytheon and Lockheed Martin</strong>,
manufactures Javelin missiles. The main production occurs at
<strong>Lockheed Martin’s facility in Troy, Alabama</strong>,
and Raytheon’s production support in Tucson, Arizona.</font></li>
</ul>
<h3><font size="1">3. <strong>HIMARS (High Mobility Artillery
Rocket System)</strong></font></h3>
<ul>
<li><font size="1"><strong>Lockheed Martin</strong> manufactures
HIMARS at its facilities in <strong>Camden, Arkansas</strong>.
This location is dedicated to the production of various
missile and artillery systems, including HIMARS and its
associated rockets.</font></li>
</ul>
<h3><font size="1">4. <strong>Patriot Missiles</strong></font></h3>
<ul>
<li><font size="1"><strong>Patriot missile systems</strong>,
which have been promised to Ukraine, are manufactured by
Raytheon primarily at facilities in <strong>Andover,
Massachusetts</strong>, and <strong>Tucson, Arizona</strong>.</font></li>
</ul>
<h3><font size="1">5. <strong>Switchblade Drones</strong></font></h3>
<ul>
<li><font size="1"><strong>AeroVironment Inc.</strong>, the
manufacturer of Switchblade drones, produces these loitering
munitions in <strong>Simi Valley, California</strong>.</font></li>
</ul>
<h3><font size="1">6. <strong>Other Small Arms and Ammunition</strong></font></h3>
<ul>
<li><font size="1">Several small arms and types of ammunition
come from multiple facilities in the U.S., especially those
associated with <strong>General Dynamics Ordnance and
Tactical Systems</strong> (with locations in <strong>Marion,
Illinois</strong>, and <strong>St. Petersburg, Florida</strong>),
and <strong>Winchester Ammunition</strong> in <strong>Oxford,
Mississippi</strong>.</font></li>
</ul>
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<p></p>
<br>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"> We aren’t
even keeping up with Russia’s artillery manufacturing.
Putin knows all this. </span></p>
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<p>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.<br>
</p>
<p>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)?<br>
</p>
<p>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 <i>Born on the 4th of July</i>). At
least the Ukrainian dead and surviving soldiers will have a
somewhat clear sense of what they were fighting (and dying) for?</p>
<p>And need I even reference Israel/Palestine?<br>
</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>It would seem we are "wicked turtles all the way down"?</p>
<p>(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?<br>
</p>
<p>- Ack!<br>
</p>
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