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2022-10-22 Home Front: Politix

[DaytonDailyNews] U.S. Rep. Mike Turner, R-Dayton, met with President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine along with fellow members of Congress in an unannounced visit Friday.

An English language message on the service’s web site says: “I welcome members of the House of Representatives of the U.S. Congress Mike Turner, James Himes and Eric Swalwell in Kyiv.

“Your visit at this time is a bold step that demonstrates strong bicameral and bipartisan support for Ukraine. It confirms that the United States is our strategic partner.”

The message adds: “We discussed the situation on the frontline, Ukraine’s preparation for winter and the need to rebuild the energy infrastructure that was destroyed, the strengthening of sanctions against the aggressor country, and the priority needs of the armed forces. It is important for Ukraine to receive air defense systems in the necessary quantity to create an ‘air shield.’ ”

Turner said his goal was to get an update on the war and its direction. He serves on the House Committee on Armed Services’ Strategic Forces and Tactical Air and Land Forces subcommittees as well as on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence.

Turner is the ranking Republican on Intelligence, and observers see him as the likely chair of that committee if Republicans win a new House majority next month.

The visit came days after Rep. Kevin McCarthy, the top House Republican, told Punchbowl News that if Republicans win a majority in next month’s midterm elections, members would be unwilling to “write a blank check” to Ukraine. Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii later said he expects continued U.S. support no matter what the outcome of the election is.

“I actually had this conversation with President Zelensky,” Turner said Friday. “He understands that the goal is not diminishing at all our commitment to Ukraine. It’s ensuring that we’re not wasting dollars.”

He added, “We need to make sure we get them exactly what they need in the most cost-efficient way, so we can defeat (the Russians).”

David Esrati, the Dayton Democrat running against Turner for the 10th District congressional seat in the Nov. 8 general election, said: “I find it fascinating that Mike Turner can go and meet with the president of Ukraine but can’t meet with his constituents. He has refused to have a town hall for 20 years. I hold one daily on You Tube.”

“No matter what his party says, Mike Turner will always vote in the best interest of his defense contractor backers,” Esrati added.

Himes, D-Conn., serves on the National Security, International Development and Monetary Policy Subcommittee of the House Financial Services Committee. Swalwell, D-Calif., sits on the Intelligence Committee.

Posted by The Walking Unvaxed 2022-10-22 00:00|| || Front Page|| [9 views ] Top

#1 Your visit at this time is a bold step that demonstrates strong bicameral and bipartisan ~~support for Ukraine~~ foolishness.

Posted by Dron66046 2022-10-22 12:06|| 2022-10-22 12:06|| Front Page Top

#2 Turkiye and Russia are far from foolish. They’re working together to make Turkiye the natural gas hub for Europe. A huge win for Turkiye, Russia and Europe, and a huge smack in the face for Joe Biden and his neo-con warmongers.

The shrewd Indian diplomat Bhadrakumar has a nice summary:

Putin’s proposal appeals to Turkiye’s longstanding dream to become an energy hub at the doorstep of Europe. Unsurprisingly, Erdogan instinctively warmed up to Putin’s proposal. Addressing the ruling party members in the Turkish parliament this week, Erdogan said, “In Europe they are now dealing with the question of how to stay warm in the coming winter. We don’t have such a problem. We have agreed with Vladimir Putin to create a gas hub in our country, through which natural gas, as he says, can be delivered to Europe. Thus, Europe will order gas from Turkey.”

Apart from strengthening own energy security, Turkiye also can contribute to Europe’s. No doubt, Turkiye’s importance will take a quantum leap in the EU foreign policy calculus, while also strengthening its strategic autonomy in regional politics. This is a huge step forward in Erdogan’s geo-strategy — the geographic direction of Turkish foreign policy under his watch.

From the Russian viewpoint, of course, Turkiye’s strategic autonomy and its grit to pursue independent foreign policies works splendidly for Moscow in the present conditions of western sanctions. Conceivably, Russian companies will start viewing Turkiye as a production base where western technologies become accessible. Turkiye has a customs union agreement with the EU, which completely removes customs duties on all industrial goods of Turkish origin. (See my blog Russia-Turkey reset eases regional tensions, Aug 9, 2022)

Posted by Palermo 2022-10-22 20:00|| 2022-10-22 20:00|| Front Page Top

#3 A brilliant analysis by the great conservative writer, Christopher Caldwell — a talk delivered recently at Hillsdale College.

The largest problem America faces is distrust, both at home and abroad. Thus far the war’s most important world-historical surprise has been the failure of the U.S. to rally a critical mass of what it used to call “the world community” to punish Russia’s contestation of the American-led world order.

In the past few decades the U.S. has developed a method of intervention against those it considers ideological adversaries. The U.S. first expresses moral misgivings about a country and then tries to rally other countries to pressure it economically and to isolate it until it relents. This time, India and China did not join us in isolating Russia. It seems they fear that this same machinery can easily be cranked up against them if they’re not careful. And in fact it is being cranked up against China.

Another factor is surely that, after the Iraq War, other countries have less trust in the judgment of the U.S. as to which territories are likely to be suitable candidates for “spreading democracy.”

Finally, the big transformation that has been predicted for a generation now—that power would shift from the U.S. and Europe to Asia and other places—is now measurably underway. In the 1990s, between the Gulf War and the Iraq War, the U.S. and its Western European allies controlled 70 percent of world GDP; that number is now 43 percent. The West still does relatively well, but not so well that it can count on the rest of the world to rally behind it automatically. Whether in victory or defeat, Americans may be about to discover that you cannot run a twentieth century foreign policy with a twenty-first century society.

Posted by Palermo 2022-10-22 21:09|| 2022-10-22 21:09|| Front Page Top

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