[FRIAM] How democracies die

[steve smith]

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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