US approves first-ever military aid to Taiwan through program typically used for sovereign nations
cnn.com
The Biden administration has approved funding for the first-ever transfer of US military equipment to Taiwan under a program typically saved for sovereign nations, according to a notification sent to Congress on Tuesday.
The package – which is part of the State Department’s foreign military financing (FMF) program – totals $80 million and will be paid for by US taxpayers.
“FMF will be used to strengthen Taiwan’s self-defense capabilities through joint and combined defense capability and enhanced maritime domain awareness and maritime security capability,” the department wrote in its notification to Congress that was reviewed by CNN.
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$80 million is not very much when it comes to military aid. We've spent billions on Ukraine.
I'm confident that if China did decide to invade the amount of aid would ramp up exponentially. You can't expect to come anywhere near as close to what we have given Ukraine since they're not in the middle of an invasion.
Not to mention that everything Ukraine has been asking for from the US, Taiwan already bought in numbers and has had in the country years ago. Patriot, F16, ATACMS, and the list extends below to HIMARS and artillery and Abrahams, and above to apaches, black hawks, Phalanx, a wide range of torpedos and ground and air launched missiles, and even entire submarines.
China would also have to attack across the Taiwan straight, and amphibious landings are insanely difficult to pull off for anyone let alone for the PLA which hasn’t actually had meaningful combat experience since the Vietnam war - their Vietnam war in 1979. Any military buildup would also be obviously spotted months in advance, meaning anything from propositioned US carrier strike groups, all the way to enough time for Taiwan to build a dirty bomb or small nuke if they felt like they needed the ultimate deterrent.
The money spent in Ukraine is money well spent. They have hugely damaged a major belligerent power, forever destroyed the myth of Russian strength, unified Europe and NATO and learned much about Russian military capabilities all while using last generation western hardware
It's also not just cash, most of the money is from arms we had basically laying around. It's not like we wrote them a check and handed it over.
Oh absolutely. I'm not saying it shouldn't have been spent. I'm saying this is a drop in the bucket in comparison before anyone gets worked up about it.
Forever destroyed the myth of Russian strength? That's funny. If that were going to happen, it'd have happened after the Winter War. Or maybe the Russo-Japanese War.
In a world where people don't all learn the same things, a myth of military strength is very easy to build from nothing. Just takes some consistent propaganda over time.
War is never money well spent. It may be necessary, but it is not well spent; churning over war machines isn't a positive. Defending Ukraine is important, but thinking it's a good thing seems like you are glad there is a war. Are you suggesting that you are glad Russia invaded?
Very few people WANT a war in Ukraine. But as China keeps adding dashes to their map, it's pretty clear there's a reasonable chance to be an even bigger war around the corner, whether we want it or not.
The Ukraine war woke the west up from its slumber, and it has allowed us to put the old stuff stuff cluttering our closets to good use, as well as test some new weapons concepts, and to get ourselves ready for the bigger conflict on the horizon.
If we are really lucky, China is looking at Ukraine and having second thoughts about kicking the hornets nest at all, saving a lot of lives on both sides.
If we are not that lucky, then Ukraine has allowed us to be much better prepared for the coming conflict.
So am I glad Ukraine happened? Not a bit. Can I see the silver lining thru the clouds? For sure.
You're a delusional warmonger, hundreds of thousands dead, and you are bragging about being able to see past it. That's pretty clearly deranged.
Lol, really? One can't control the fact that bad things happen. The west isn't forcing either China or Russia to claim territory that doesn't belong to them.
However, one can control how one reacts to said events. Help out where we can, and strengthen ourselves for the future.
There's that whole proverb about crisis=danger+opportunity. The danger is there regardless...if you fail to seize the opportunity presented, well, you are pretty much guaranteed to come out the other side worse off.
idk you seem like the delusional one with the idea that someone is gonna go " please mister Putin, please stop war?" and that he would listen
Yeah, that's not what i said but you do you and make up things.
ok so what DO you mean, I mean you are the one putting words in peoples mouths saying they are glad Russia invaded, so what exactly do you mean by it, that Ukraine should just let them take what they want?