19 Comments
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Donald Sinclair Richardson's avatar

Very glad you have clarified the arms delivery background, and Zelensky’s positive response to his people’s demand for a reversal of his mistake. Not just a democracy, Ukraine is a high functioning democracy.

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Robert Honeyman's avatar

The problem the legislation tried to address is the continued existence of Russian agents both in the government and in the anti-corruption system. The public clearly disagrees with that as justifying the extreme measures in the first legislation.

The compromise that Zelenskyy has brokered does essentially take the law back to its original form, but all government officials - including members of the anti-corruption regime are now subject to periodic lie detector tests..

Not a perfect solution, but a proactive one designed to weed out the traitors without losing the independence of the anti-corruption units.

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Shankar Narayan's avatar

The protests have stopped. That's a big relief..

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Stephen ONeill's avatar

Shankar, the reports were that he told Der Spiegel that: "Pistorius said European NATO members needed "watertight" guarantees that any American-made Patriot air-defence systems sent to Ukraine would be replaced within about six to eight months."

So, what is the truth here?

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Shankar Narayan's avatar

The paper work is still pending. That is what it means. That is very normal. Not a problem. From what I hear, full control has come to Rubio. Discussions are on. For now the DOD has pushed the switzerland order down the queue, but the problem is some of those systems have components manufactured with swiss needs in mind and some components are actually built in switzerland.

This is a big headache and one that needs fixing. It will take some time for those wrinkles to be ironed out. Only after those calculations are made, will the Trump admin be able to sign the papers. Pistorious is pushing the them to do it faster. He is on the right track. But I am not worried about the transfer. No need to be worried but that is exactly where some publications will try to drag you. They need negativitiy to sell. It is ok.

Main source of my confidence is none other than Pistorious. He will get this done.

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Andrew's avatar

Nice one Shankar … Героям слава!

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Stephen ONeill's avatar

"By July 11, Trump had personally promised German Chancellor Merz that Patriot missile systems would be made available for Ukraine. The deal moved quickly: German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius announced on July 23 that five Patriot systems were headed to the Ukrainian front."

But...

On Wednesday (July 23), Boris Pistorius stated that despite Trump's "promise" to sell weapons to Ukraine through Europe, he hasn't given them a timeline for delivery of air defense systems like Patriot. "Germany needs firm US assurances that it will quickly receive replacement Patriot anti-missile systems if it sends two of its own units to Ukraine" he said.

Those guarantees have not been forthcoming.

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Pamela Frazier's avatar

Go Zelensky! 🇺🇦

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Monika Prost's avatar

I do not understand that current administration is walking a tightrope?

It’s a business deal.

No one should except anything for free. That’s how communism started…

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RNDM31's avatar

A) that literally has nothing to do with Communism or its genesis

B) why the heck are you even bringing up something so utterly irrelevant in the first place?

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Monika Prost's avatar

That’s how the thread evolves.

And are you OK, such an answer 🙄.

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RNDM31's avatar

To reference a meme image popular not long ago, "excuse me but what the actual fuck?"

You're making less sense by the comment.

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Robert Honeyman's avatar

That is literally *not* how communism started ("communism" refers to a economic/political system to run a country). Communism started as a political philosophy powered by the inhuman excesses of the Tsars. Given the excesses and extreme wealth and income concentrations in the West, it was viewed as a very real alternative and cure for the robber baron era.

We are back where we started in this country.

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RNDM31's avatar

...agrarian, backwater Imperial Russia had pretty much zero role in the birth of the ideology tho. That's merely where the first, eventually as-such successful, Communist revolution *broke out* quite contrary to Marx's predictions in no small part because the chronically reactionary and inept regime had failed to defuse socioeconomic and -political tensions (getting their asses kicked in the Great War largely due to the same chronic regime ineptitude was the last straw).

The more rapidly industrialised countries where Marx had presumed the urban proletariat subjected to Dickensian exploitation would eventually revolt, conversely, had for the most part "saved capitalism from itself" by legislative intervention that curbed the worst excesses and addressed the most pressing grievances of the working poor.

"Those who make peaceful revolution impossible make violent revolution inevitable" as it were.

Lest we forget some of, if not *the*, first "welfare state" policies in Europe were implemented by that notorious rabble-rouser and Socialist firebrand Otto von Bismarck, Chancellor of the Kingdom of Prussia (later the German Empire), a bonafide pedigreed East Prussian junker landowner.

And he was quite candid he did it to "buy peace at home" so that domestic discontent would not interfere with the grand imperial project abroad.

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Phil Kuhn's avatar

I presume you meant “expect” or “accept” instead of the “except” that you used. I suspect you meant the former, but the latter could lead to very different results.

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Monika Prost's avatar

You are right!

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Jacqueline Powell's avatar

I hope they get their weapons they need to fire as much as Putin is so they came maintain and gain ground.

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Michael Ann Ochs's avatar

Thanks for this clear explanation. Are there levers that be used to move Switzerland along?

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Judith Auerbach's avatar

"But that doesn’t give anyone the green light to label him a dictator."

Thank you!

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