The More Things Change

In a week full of pretty good news, this was just one more nice white pill….

State Department issues immediate, widespread pause on foreign aid

It appears to go further than President Donald Trump’s recent executive order, which instructed the department to pause foreign aid grants for 90 days pending review by the secretary. It had not been clear from the president’s order if it would affect already appropriated funds or Ukraine aid.

The new guidance means no further actions will be taken to disperse aid funding to programs already approved by the U.S. government, according to three current and two former officials familiar with the new guidance.

Of course the Usual Suspects are upset because it appears to mean that even funds that were allocated to Ukraine are on hold. That makes perfect sense, Trump’s stated goal in Ukraine is not to “defeat Russia”, a hopeless goal that was never going to happen short of a regional conflagration involving direct NATO combat boots on the ground (and probably not even then). His stated goal is an end to the war, and quickly, and that of necessity will mean Russia keeping what territory she has taken.

What is interesting to me is that Rubio, a man no one will accuse of being a free spirit, has been directed to expand Trump’s executive order. He didn’t do that without direction from The Orange Man. I have been pleasantly surprised to see how rapidly Trump is working this time out, doing more in the first week than I expected. A Blitzkrieg, shock-and-awe approach is just what the doctor ordered. I’ve been saying he has a small window to make things happen and he seems to be moving quickly with that in mind.

The fact is that Ukraine would have fallen a long time ago without the massive investment by the U.S. and the willingness of Zelenskyy to shove Ukrainian men into the meatgrinder to provide a show for his Western benefactors. As noted here previously, the demographic calamity that has been inflicted on Ukraine will take generations to fix. What is worse, as we have seen with the pre-emptive “pardons” extending back to 2014, is that this whole thing has been a giant money printing machine for certain Ukrainians and the Western military-industrial complex. Whatever Hunter Biden was promising back in his Burisma days has been paying dividends for the last few years.

In Ukraine itself, the situation is dire. With Ukrainian forces being slowly pushed back but apparently told to hold positions even after they become untenable, Russia is very patiently grinding down the Ukrainian armed forces to the point that Ukraine is considering lowering the age of conscription to 18-25, and that will be incredibly unpopular. Whenever military decisions are being made with public perception as the primary consideration, it is the grunts on the ground that suffer the most. With U.S. “aid” being temporarily halted and Trump talking about “ending the war” instead of “defeating Russia”, the clock is running out on Ukraine and Zelenskyy. I would love to see the Ukrainian people string him up from a lamppost but I am sure he has an extraction plan in place and can bolt to Israel at a moment’s notice.

If Trump can push to end this war soon it will save hundreds of thousands of lives and eliminate a distraction he simply doesn’t need. Ukraine falling will be pinned on him if They can pull it off and the longer it takes to come to a conclusion, the more likely an unwinnable war facilitated by the Biden regime will get hung around Trump’s neck. I imagine he understands this.

Alas, all is not well as we see in the same article linked above:

Still, the document leaves room for interpretation and does provide some exceptions. It specifies that foreign military financing for Egypt and Israel will continue and allows emergency food assistance and “legitimate expenses incurred prior to the date of this” guidance “under existing awards.”

Well of course it does. You didn’t think Trump was going to cut off Our Greatest Ally, did you?

Still there are other slightly more encouraging signs: Pentagon’s New Mideast Policy Chief Wants To Scale Down US Presence In Region

The Trump administration has appointed a new Middle East policy chief in the Pentagon who believes the US should scale down its military presence in the region.

Michael DiMino, a former CIA analyst, was sworn in early this week as the deputy assistant secretary of defense for the Middle East. Before taking the job, DiMino was a fellow at Defense Priorities, a think tank that calls itself the “hub of realism and restraint” and advocates for a less interventionist foreign policy.

Jewish Insider reported that DiMino’s appointment has alarmed pro-Israel Republicans due to his views on the region. The report cited comments DiMino made during a webinar last year where he said the Middle East does “not really matter” for US interests.

“Vital or existential US interests in the Middle East are best characterized as minimal to non-existent. And I think if you look at America’s experience as the primary security broker for the region… it has not rendered any lasting political, economic, or security benefits in service of US interests or the American people,” he said.

DiMino has opposed attacking Iran’s nuclear facilities and war with Iran in general and has repeatedly called for the withdrawal of US troops in Iraq and Syria, citing their vulnerability to attacks.

I don’t know how much influence the “deputy assistant secretary of defense for the Middle East” wields but he sounds far better than some typical neocon “Bomb Iran” chickenhawk. I like this language: “Vital or existential US interests in the Middle East are best characterized as minimal to non-existent”. Amen to that. The Middle East should be a region we engage in trade with, specifically oil, and that ought to be the extent of our involvement. Ancient squabbles over sand between two different primitive religious systems isn’t our concern.

Of course this week would have been drastically different if Cacklin’ Cumala had “won” so we can take some pleasure in that. The first week is in the books, we will see what happens next. Lots of wheels within wheels are turning. The tariff threat is looming for Canada and Mexico. Canada at least is in panic mode and the issue is causing chaos and strife within Canada from what I see in the canuck press, just as I assume Trump intended. Canada needs U.S. markets far more than the U.S. needs Canadian goods so I expect them to buckle, with Mexico to follow closely behind no matter what Claudia ((Sheinbaum)) has to say about it.

Whatever else you can say about Trump, it is rarely boring when he is around.