Crimean resistance group Atesh reports Cuban 🇨🇺 mercenaries killed their Russian commander due to “constant humiliation, beatings, and nonpayment of wages” in Donetsk.
Russia is the colonizer it says 🇺🇸 🇮🇱 🇬🇧 🇫🇷 🇩🇪 are.
Russia has recruited 10,000s impoverished men from India, Ghana, Cameroon, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, Jordan, Iraq, China, Serbia, France, and other countries by promising $2,000/month.
☠️ Their survival is measured in hours, not days.
There’s an endless supply.
2/
In Cuba, Russia uses Facebook ads (@jason_kint follows Meta and its abuses closely) to lure men to the front.
The U.S. could do more by investigating @Meta for allowing mercenary recruitment.
3/
According the National Resistance Center of Ukraine, Russia recruits foreign mercenaries because it’s cheaper and causes less domestic upheaval.
The recruits are used in meat wave attacks. But it gets better!
4/
Russia is destabilizing Africa, especially in the Sahel and Central African Republic, by creating an “Africa Corps.”
The goal? Destabilizing and outcompeting the West. Russia supports dictators, exploits natural and human resources, and weaponizes migration against the EU.
5/
Back to foreign mercenaries caught fighting for Russia in Ukraine.
A legal nightmare: if they become POWs, 🇺🇦 must treat them as such under the Geneva Conventions. It’s really hard to prove, under international law, that they’re mercenaries.
So, they can’t be prosecuted.
6/
Finally, a logistical nightmare.
The mercenary “POWs” don’t want to go back home, where they could face prosecution. Ukraine has to take care of them because it’s really resource-intensive to prove they’re mercenaries. And the home countries might not take them.
7/
The sooner Russia is crushed on the battlefields in Ukraine, the sooner this whole ecosystem collapses.
We must send Ukraine what it needs to win! I hope there will be another massive aid bill soon after the election.
Fin!
8/8
(Links are in alt text, btw).
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🧵 Outstanding points made by @RepMcCormick in a hearing 2 weeks ago.
1. The war in Ukraine is obviously winnable.
2. Ukrainian victory is in the U.S.’s strategic security and economic interests.
3. The U.S. isn’t sending what Ukraine needs to win.
1/n
McCormick would know. He spent 20 years in the military, reaching the rank of commander in the Navy. He also was a helicopter pilot in the MarinesC and served in Africa, Afghanistan and the Persian Gulf. He’s also an ER doc, which checks out 🤣
2/n
@RepMcCormick asked whether the war is winnable to @US_EUCOM Supreme Allied Commander Gen. Cavoli, “which is the coolest title ever.”
Cavoli unequivocally answers “yes, with our Ukrainian colleagues.”
$4.888B - Army
$0.997B - Navy
$0.069B - Marine Corps
$0.371B - Air Force
$0.009B - Space Force
$27.931B - General Defense
• Includes $13.772B for USAI, of which ~$300M is used for replenishment, refurbishment, and repair
The House is voting now on H.Res. 149 - Condemning the Illegal Abduction of Children from Ukraine to the Russian Federation. Under Suspension of the Rules, it requires 2/3 majority to pass. It will pass - there are already 360+ votes.
Look at the Polish responses to this post. Most are positive and understanding. Agriculture accounts for just 2.1% of Poland’s GDP. By comparison, it’s 0.96% of the U.S.’s economy and 8.2% (!) of Ukraine’s economy.
USAID estimates that agriculture accounts for 20% of GDP, 40% of Ukraine’s exports, and 17% of the workforce. Russia caused an estimated $6.6 billion in agricultural sector damage, which is ongoing.
Polish farmers’ dumping grain and blockading Ukraine’s borders is criminal.
However, the EU needs to increase its support for its farmers, especially in Poland and Slovakia (Hungary shouldn’t receive any EU subsidies). The first step is banning Russian agro imports.
Trump must come up with $661,502,661 at a MINIMUM within the next 30 days to stop enforcement of two judgments against him (E Jean Carroll I & NY Civil Fraud).
If he doesn’t pay, plaintiffs can start seizing his assets.
I had a beautiful thread and Twitter refused to post it. Thanks Elmo.
I caveated this by saying Trump doesn't lose his appeal rights if he doesn't pay. Just that he can't stay the enforcement of the order while his appeals are pending.
On February 8, a federal judge entered the judgment in this defamation and sexual assault case. Confusingly, this is known as E Jean Carroll I (it concluded after E Jean Carroll II). He has 30 days -- or until March 9 -- to post a bond of 111%. That's $92,463,000.
The prejudgment *interest* is killer, if I’m calculating it correctly. 9% per annum interest. The calculation is judgment amount x 0.09 / year 365 days/year x days of interest owed + leap year days.
There are three judgments against him, with pre-judgment interest starting on different dates.
1. $168,040,168 starting March 4, 2019. Judgment = $168,040,168 + ($168,040,168 x 0.09/365 x 1806 days) = $168,040,168 (civil penalty) + $74,830,818.90 (pre-judgment interest) = $242,870,986.
Don Jr and Eric Trump were both slapped with their own individual penalties:
Each has to pay $4,013,024 (civil penalty) + $640,215 (prejudgment interest starting May 11, 2022) = $4,653,239.
Allan Weisselberg has to pay $1,000,000 (civil penalty) + $99,616 (prejudgment interest starting Jan 23, 2023) = $1,099,616.
Total monetary damages awarded to the state = $453,242,598 + ($4,653,239 x 2) + $1,099,616 = $463,830,692.
In order to appeal the E Jean Carroll (1) judgment, he has to put up 110% of the judgment or $91,630,000 by 3/9/2024. He already put up $5,550,000 in cash for the E Jean Carroll (2) appeal.
In order to appeal the NYS judgment, he’ll need to put up the judgment + 9% per annum. Assuming appeals take 2 years, let’s go with 120% of the judgment. He has to put up $544,159,240. He has 30 days from the date the judgment is ordered, which the AG will move to do swiftly.
In sum, in the next month, he’ll need to put up $635,789,240.