Russia Invades Ukraine 2022

[temporal1]

Jan 2023: NO / Biden: U.S. will not send F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine / 4min


May 2023: YES / Biden backs plan to provide F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine / -2min

[Szdfan]

Jan 2023: NO / Biden: U.S. will not send F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine / 4min


May 2023: YES / Biden backs plan to provide F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine / -2min

It's a bit more nuanced than that.

The US is not directly sending F-16s to the Ukraine. Other countries would source the aircraft. The US is willing to provide training to Ukrainian pilots.

https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/u ... -countries

It doesn't seem clear yet where these F-16s would come from.

The countries currently agreeing to be a part of this are: United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Belgium, and Denmark. This is where it gets ambiguous.

• The UK doesn't have any F-16s, so maybe they're going to help with training?
• Belgium is set to start replacing its F-16s with the F-35s at the end of the of year. They have stated they can't currently send any F-16s, but they're willing to help with training.
• Denmark is gearing up to replace its F-16s with F-35s, but this could still take a while. The F-16 is their only combat jet and they only received their first one in April.
• Other possible candidates are Holland and Norway, though neither country has agreed yet. It seems remote that Poland and Romania would send any F-16s

The other issue is training. It takes 69 days to train a pilot who is familiar with Western aircraft on the F-16. Most Ukrainian pilots are largely familiar with Soviet built aircraft.

So while this is a big deal, to me it seems that it could still take a couple of years before Ukraine receives any F-16s. And maybe this is all a distinction without a difference.

[Bootstrap]

Jan 2023: NO / Biden: U.S. will not send F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine / 4min

May 2023: YES / Biden backs plan to provide F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine / -2min

Biden changed his mind. Presidents do that.

Biden said the United States would provide American-made F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine, and train its pilots. He also said Ukraine has pledged not to use F-16s to attack Russia.

[temporal1]

Jan 2023: NO / Biden: U.S. will not send F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine / 4min

May 2023: YES / Biden backs plan to provide F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine / -2min

Biden changed his mind. Presidents do that.

No kidding. This was a quick turnaround. Counting on poor memories.
In the second video, he (once again, “sternly” promises) Ukraine will NOT use these jets to cross into Russia.
O.yeah. Count on it.

[Ernie]

And now the country with the most guns per capita is supplying the Russian military. Shouldn't be a surprise I guess.
Sometimes things come back to bite.

https://www.politico.eu/article/how-us- ... raine-war/

[Ernie]

Jan 2023: NO / Biden: U.S. will not send F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine / 4min

May 2023: YES / Biden backs plan to provide F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine / -2min

Yes, a change of mind like this could probably be listed for every US Pesident. (and for every person in the world for that matter)

[temporal1]

Jan 2023: NO / Biden: U.S. will not send F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine / 4min
May 2023: YES / Biden backs plan to provide F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine / -2min

Yes, a change of mind like this could probably be listed for every US Pesident. (and for every person in the world for that matter)

True, human nature, and circumstances change.
However, this strikes me as rash and extreme.

I don’t have necessary math skills to even estimate what a tiny part of the population ever serves as POTUS, now and in history.
With that job comes heavy responsbility, part of the job is being Commander in Chief.

Certainly, mainstream media thinks nothing of his “about-face.” Different presidents are treated differently.

Evidently, biden doesn’t have enough on his plate with Ukraine.

US-China tensions: Biden calls Xi a dictator a day after Beijing talks
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-65969802

US President Joe Biden has called Chinese President Xi Jinping a dictator at a fundraising event in California.
His remarks came a day after US Secretary of State Antony Blinken met Mr Xi for talks in Beijing,
which were aimed at easing tensions between the two superpowers.

Mr Biden also said Mr Xi was embarrassed after an alleged Chinese spy balloon was shot down by the US.
China said it "firmly opposes" Mr Biden's comments.

personally, “i am not amused.”

[Ken]

US-China tensions: Biden calls Xi a dictator a day after Beijing talks
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-65969802

US President Joe Biden has called Chinese President Xi Jinping a dictator at a fundraising event in California.
His remarks came a day after US Secretary of State Antony Blinken met Mr Xi for talks in Beijing,
which were aimed at easing tensions between the two superpowers.

Mr Biden also said Mr Xi was embarrassed after an alleged Chinese spy balloon was shot down by the US.
China said it "firmly opposes" Mr Biden's comments.

personally, “i am not amused.”

Do you agree or disagree with Biden that Xi is a dictator? Are opposition parties and opposition candidates allowed in China?

And do you think we should pay particular attention to everything Chinese leaders say about the US when speaking to internal audiences? They say the same sort of thing about Americans and the American government all of the time. We mostly just ignore it.

[Soloist]

It comes at an odd time on the heels of China agreeing not to supply Russia with weapons. A deal the US made.

[Ken]

It comes at an odd time on the heels of China agreeing not to supply Russia with weapons. A deal the US made.

China has more to gain by not supplying Russia with weapons.

The war will eventually end and there will literally be HUNDREDS OF BILLIONS of dollars of construction contracts to rebuild Ukraine with western money, money sanctioned from Russia, etc. China is not stupid and Chinese firms will want to get in on those billions of dollars of contracts to rebuild dams, highways, railroads, power plants, subways, etc. That is what the Chinese do. And getting into Ukraine reconstruction and forming joint-partnerships with Ukrainian firms will give them a foothold into Europe, especially if Ukraine joins the EU which seems likely. China is going to want to build the next version of high-speed rail in places like Poland and Norway in addition to Ukraine. Which is worth a LOT more than selling munitions to Russia.

The Chinese are not stupid and they play a long game. If they overtly ally with Russia in this war they will be closing the door to access to post-war Ukraine and lose their foothold in Europe. They can do the math. The EU is has an economy with a GDP in the 16 trillion range. Russia is a 10th of that.