As the Republican Party’s blockade of aid to Ukraine drags into its fourth month, the U.S. government under Pres. Joe Biden has found a clever new way to give Ukraine’s forces the weapons and ammunition they need to defend their country.
It is, in essence, an American version of Germany’s circular weapons trade—the so-called Ringtausch. The United States is gifting older surplus weapons to Greece with the understanding that Greece donates to Ukraine some of its own surplus weapons.
Greek media broke the news last week. According to the newspaper Kathimerini and other media, the Biden administration offered the Greek government three 87-foot Protector-class patrol boats, two Lockheed Martin C-130H airlifters, 10 Allison T56 turboprop engines for Lockheed P-3 patrol planes plus 60 M-2 Bradley fighting vehicles and a consignment of transport trucks.
All this hardware is U.S. military surplus—and is available to Greece, free of charge, under a U.S. legal authority called “excess defense articles.” Federal law allows an American president to declare military systems surplus to need, assign them a value—potentially zero dollars—and give them away on the condition that the recipient transport them.
If you haven’t, read Chomsky’s “Manufacturing Consent”. Just as applicable today, just the science on how to manipulate people got more advanced. Newspapers are full of bias, and it made me feel isolated until I understood the mechanisms (see propaganda model) of why this is so. But I’m at a bit of a loss too why reddit has been “taken over” this rabidly. Pacifist notions are now buried in “controversial”.
And 43, wow. I would have thought that as long as the US and Europe are pumping weapons into Ukraine the war will keep going.
Social media is even more of bias. Literally the last comment is that I need to leave this thread because “and we’re getting complaints of you trolling this post. After dozens of comments, maybe you’ve had your say and it’s time to stop threadsitting on the conversation. I approved your account request this week, please don’t make me regret it.” Literally you cant dissent from the standard narrative.
Well, one can get a bit frustrated and shitpostery among all this warmongering. It’s a kind of gaslighting. “Oh you want peace? Compromise? You fascist!” :D