Tanks a Lot

They needed that.

After months of reluctance, Germany reportedly plans to send tanks to Ukraine. Reports suggest German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has decided to send at least 14 Leopard 2 tanks. He is set to speak in parliament on Wednesday morning. Ukrainian officials say they are urgently in need of heavier weapons, adding that they hope German tanks will be a game-changer on the battlefield.

Factbox: Tanks for Ukraine: who is lining up to send them to Kyiv? | Reuters:

Jan 25 (Reuters) – Germany, the United States and more allies are poised to announce plans to send tanks to Ukraine, officials and sources say, after Britain said it would send its Challenger 2 tanks and Poland pressed Berlin for approval to send German-built tanks.

Ukraine has until recently faced resistance to its requests for main battle tanks to fight against invading Russian forces.

U.S. officials say Washington is poised to send dozens of its M1 Abrams battle tank, reversing its previous position. The tank has a 120 mm smooth bore gun.

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28 thoughts on “Tanks a Lot”

  2. https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/01/25/germany-leopard-tanks-abrams-ukraine/?itid=hp-top-table-main_p001_f001

    BERLIN — German Chancellor Olaf Scholz is poised to deliver more than a dozen of his country’s Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine, opening the way for other countries to do so, according to German press reports and a senior European official, ending months of debate among Western allies and potentially helping to shift the balance on the battlefield.
    The Biden administration is also due to announce Wednesday that it will send the main U.S. battle tank, the M1 Abrams, though probably not until at least the fall, a senior U.S. official with knowledge of the situation said, speaking on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue.
    Ukrainian officials are counting on the Leopard 2 tanks — which are fast, relatively easy to operate and plentiful in Europe — to help their forces gain an advantage on the battlefield. It is unclear when the German tanks could be delivered, along with others from a consortium of European countries that are preparing to send their own.
    […]
    As manufacturer of the Leopard 2, one of the most widely used tanks in Europe, Germany holds the key to the entire package the tanks being prepared for delivery to Ukraine because Berlin’s approval is required for reexport. Poland and a number of other European members of NATO have indicated they are prepared to send them. Finland, Greece, Poland, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and Turkey all own at least 100 of them.
    “The decision to release and deliver the Leopard 2 was a tough one, but inescapable,” Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann, chair of the German parliament’s defense committee . “It is redeeming news for the battered and brave Ukraine.”
    As Germany dragged its feet, Poland, which is planning to send a company of Leopards, or 14 tanks, had threatened to do so with or without Berlin’s permission. On Tuesday, Poland formally requested German authorization to reexport the tanks, ramping up pressure on Berlin to come to a decision.
    Top national security advisers from Germany, France, Britain and the United States are also set to meet Wednesday in Washington to discuss Ukraine. Britain has said it would send a small number of its Challenger 2 main battle tanks.
    Ukrainian officials and U.S. lawmakers had urged the Biden administration to approve even a small number of Abrams tanks, arguing it would provide Berlin with the cover it needed to feel comfortable sending its own tanks.
    […]
    The addition of more modern tanks into Ukraine’s military raises questions about how the United States or its allies might train Ukrainian forces to use them and incorporate them into battlefield formations with other recently provided Western equipment.
    One possibility might be training a larger number of Ukrainian forces at the Grafenwoehr Training Area in Germany’s Bavarian countryside. The U.S. facility, the largest of its kind in Europe, began hosting a battalion of more 600 Ukrainian troops this month to learn how to incorporate artillery, infantry fighting vehicles, and other Western weapons into “combined-arms” warfare to go on the offense. The facility also is used for tank training.
    The Leopard, at about 55 tons, is slightly smaller than the 65-ton-plus Abrams. The German tank runs on ubiquitous diesel fuel, while the Abrams has a multi-fuel turbine engine that commonly runs on JP-8 jet fuel but can accept other kinds.

  3. in other news

    Jan 24, 2023

    Apparently everybody in the U.S. government has classified documents laying around their houses. Elsewhere, more people who participated in the Jan 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol were found guilty yesterday including four Proud Boys, who follow a bizarre set of membership guidelines.

  4. McCarthy says Santos will be removed from office if Ethics panel finds he broke law | The Hill

    […]
    “If for some way when we go through Ethics and he has broken the law, then we will remove him,” McCarthy told reporters during a press conference just outside his office.
    “The American public in his district voted for him. He has a responsibility to uphold what they voted for, to work and have their voice here, but at any time, if it rises to a legal level, we will deal with it then,” he added.
    Democratic Reps. Ritchie Torres (N.Y.) and Daniel Goldman (N.Y.) filed a complaint with the Ethics Committee earlier this month, calling on the panel to investigate Santos for failing to file timely, accurate and complete financial disclosure reports. The congressman has come under intense scrutiny over his finances amid questions that he may have violated campaign finance laws.
    It is unclear, however, if the Ethics Committee is looking into the complaint. McCarthy on Monday appointed Rep. Michael Guest (R-Miss.) to serve as chairman of the panel, but he has not yet named other members to the group. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) nominated five Democrats to the committee earlier this month.
    The Ethics Committee is known for saying little publicly about its investigations. Santos is also under investigation by prosecutors in New York, and he is the focus of a case in Brazil.
    […]
    McCarthy deferred to the voters in New York’s 3rd Congressional District on Tuesday when asked if he is only standing by Santos because losing him in Congress would cost Republicans a seat.
    “No,” McCarthy responded to the question. “You know why I’m standing by him? Because his constituents voted for him.”
    “I do not have the power simply because if I disagreed with somebody or what they have said that I remove them from elected office. Now I will hold him to the same standard I hold anyone else elected to Congress,” he added.
    [continues]

  7. Pat, i left one for tomorrow, or whenever it fits in. 
    Please let me know if it’s not there.

  8. Poobah, you and me re Santos. I’m sure the luster will wear off, but I think it’s got staying power as long as he can’t shut up. Kev needs to work on his jokes, though – his humor is too dry for me. 
    Glad (?) to see the tanks going over to Ukraine. More quickly, please. 

  9. Santos would be a one night joke, but he keeps coming up with more stuff, almost daily.  No matter the laughter layer, there are very serious questions that have not been publicly answered.  What is his real name? So far the list is somewhere around ten versions, a couple not even in what is supposed to be his formal name. Is he a U.S. citizen? No actual answer, part of this is a marriage, but no notice that it resulted in citizenship. If the marriage was a sham then it should result in revocation of any citizenship or level of visa.  Who is supplying his money? So far crickets.  Who is backing him in his run for office? All that is behind some curtain.  
     
    And, how many local, state and federal agencies are sniffing around?  Why have we not heard of people, KGB/FSB/GRU operatives in propaganda fashion, screaming about investigations and invasion of privacy?
     
    I think there is something exciting coming sometime, I hope much sooner than later.

  10. sturge,  it’s there and it “fits in” and would be appropriate anytime; however, if fearless leader posts a thread tomorrow morning his will take precedence.

    thank you and thanks to any others who might want to post one.  creativity and thread contributions always welcome.

  11. BB, twitter-er gail helt appears to agree with you. last week she tweeted
    “I don’t want to see pics of a George Santos in drag. I want to see his birth certificate and/or naturalization papers.”

  13. this guy too according to rawstory 2 weeks ago:

    Nassau County legislator Josh Lafazan on Friday led a group of demonstrators at a rally outside one of Santos’ district offices to demand his resignation or, failing that, at least showing proof of his United States citizenship.
    “George Santos has made clear that he thinks these two years are going to be a walk in the park,” said Lafazan, a Democrat serving Nassau County’s 18th District. “George Santos believes that people will simply forget about the story, he believes that he’ll weather the storm… I am here to remind you, George, that we will make every single day in this district a living nightmare.”
    Lafazan then noted that Santos doesn’t currently live in New York’s 3rd Congressional District, and he then said he wasn’t even sure that Santos is a citizen of the United States.

  15. And for something different – I feel for those who are not at some level of professional competency with operating systems and Windows in particular (I am not a Apple systems person at any level).  A couple days ago my main computer, a large desktop running heavy duty hardware for photo and video editing, Windows 10, started doing odd slow downs. 
     
    A few reboots, a couple of hours of swearing and finally this morning spotting something strange using Task Manager.  About an hour more troubleshooting and I nailed the problem.  A crummy disk handler program going rogue.  It had to be something installed a while ago, but just now getting turned on.  Over the last ten years this program/application has been known to have some weakness that malware uses to get into computers.  I do not know why it started acting up, perhaps it tried to update and was corrupted.  No matter. It is gone, my computer is perking along just fine.
     
    The bottom line is I do not know how much a computer shop, or Geek Squad, would charge to do what I did to clear out a bad program.  I expect at least two or three hundred dollars, or going out and buying a new computer. 

  17. If 1.3 million Americans have some sort of security classification, per the Jon Stewart clip above, is George Santos one of those Americans?  Is he American?  Where did he get all of that money?   George Santos, or whatever his name is, has somehow become a caricature of himself.   Would he just make up stuff and spill to cause trouble, even if he didn’t have the real info? Odds are, he would.

    Yeah, it’s hilarious, except that he holds office, sits on committees, and will have access to who knows what kind of intel.  It’s time for George Curious to go, possibly to prison or to be exported. He’s somebody’s asset, but not ours. Character flaw or performance art, he can’t be trusted.

    He’s a distraction for the media, too, because this sort of open sociopathy has a hypnotic effect. But, where did he get his money? Is anyone following the trail? Feds?

  18. If George Curious is ousted, but jail or deportation are not involved, how much will he get for his book deal?  Will there be a reality show?  I think there will be.  Does Brazil want him back for fraud?  

    Yeah, that’s the sad thing.  Santos, that lying schmuck, will parlay his seat in office into lucrative career.   Katara will have to change her last name to Kardashian.  Famous for doing nothing substantial except acting like that in public.

  19. BB, we have a small computer network in our office that Is MS Office based –  Citynet is glad because it is constantly having hiccups that it requires someone with training on that platform to correct – training none of us here have or intend to get.  Maybe if I ever retire from practicing law I’ll finally get back around to taking those computer classes I never took.  

  20. https://www.cnn.com/2023/01/25/world/earth-core-turning-scli-scn-intl/index.html

    “Earth’s inner core may have stopped turning and could go into reverse, study suggests”

    “Since 2009, seismic records, which previously changed over time, showed little difference. This, they said, suggested that the inner core rotation had paused.”

    “When you look at the decade between 1980 and 1990 you see clear change but when you see 2010 to 2020 you don’t see much change,” added Song.

    “They believe this is part of a seven-decade cycle, and that the turning point prior to the one they detected in their data around 2009/2010 occurred in the early 1970s.”

  21. lincoln project’s latest

    “I will always take care of her.” – Kevin McCarthy Has he ever said something so loving about his constituents? America? Kevin McCarthy sounds like a man who has been compromised.

     

  22. George Santos could be the one member to call for a vote if Kev doesn’t back him. I can hear the circus music, already.  

  23. I should be able to renew my DL online this year, but thanks to some ridiculous, Greg Abbott stunt, I have to go in with all of my documentation (again), and must schedule an appointment to do so.  However, I’m not allowed to schedule an appointment.  Time to move.

  25. I think a condition that would allow sfb to surface in any universe (he has several that we never see) on any platform, would be to serve six months on the lines in Ukraine.  Let the moron see what he caused – up close and personal.  A bit of blood and brains on his face would be nice experience for him to actually feel something.  I do doubt he “feels” anything other than his anger and rage.
     
     

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