Month: October 2025

No US Tomahawks from the US

by Dave

The decision not to provide Ukraine with Tomahawk missiles weakens Ukraine’s defenses. The war has no quick end. Trump wants to appease Putin, and this is a huge error.

Trump continues a theme that peace could be just around the corner if Putin and Zelensky would just sit down and cut a deal. Putin does not want a third of Ukraine, he wants it all. He wants Zelensky and the elected government gone.

“The massive overnight strike — launched hours before the conversation between Putin and President Trump — exposes Moscow’s real attitude toward peace,” Ukrainian ambassador to the U.S. Olga Stefanishyna said in a statement Thursday.

Olga Stefanishyna was appointed to her post as the Ukrainian ambassador to the US in August 2025. Her message is clear, Putin talks peace, but he means surrender or we will destroy you. The Tomahawks would help Ukraine strike military bases within Russia, and make the war painful to them.

Olga Stefanishyna biography

Representing the US in the latest summit with Putin, is Steven Witkoff, a real estate executive. An excerpt from the Wikipedia post follows.

Steven Witkoff

In the interview, Witkoff spoke positively of Vladimir Putin. He called Putin a “great guy” and “super smart”. Witkoff said “I liked him, I think he was honest” and “I don’t regard Putin as a bad guy”.[72][73][74] According to Witkoff, Putin told him that he prayed for “his friend” Donald Trump following the assassination attempt in Pennsylvania.

Putin sees Steven Witkoff as someone anxious to cut a deal, without an understanding of what is at stake beyond the popularity of Donald Trump. Giving away 1/3 of Ukraine will give Putin a perfect base to continue his war. Ukraine must be defended, and it will take US joining with our allies.

Stay tuned,

Dave

Who is escalating the war in Ukraine?

by Dave

Russia claims Ukraine started the war and now is using the US and NATO to escalate or enlarge the war in Ukraine. There was definitely a “Donbas War” between Ukrainian separatists, wanting self rule for the region and Ukrainian military. But the Russian military was supporting the separatists with military troops. This is why Ukraine claims the invasion of Ukraine began in 2014 on their eastern border, and that the invasion on their northern border in February 2022 was an escalation of a war. The evidence from intelligence sources clearly backs up Ukraine’s perspective. The war is not a 3 year conflict, but an 11 year conflict.

War in Donba

The war started in 2014, with the Russians overtly supporting the separtists in eastern Ukraine and the seizure of Crimea in the south. The invasion in 2022 by Russia, made clear that their objective was control of the entire country, by military force. In February 2022, the Russians sent an armored column of tanks from Belarus to Kyiv, to seize the capitol. They failed.

Now, we are in a different phase of the war. There is a saying that “The best defense is a good offense” originated with George Washington in 1799. It is being used by the Ukraine’s military against the Russian attacks on their cities.

Russia has escalated the war, with a massive attack on Ukraine energy infrastructure. As noted in the AP press release, it is Russia’s strategy to increase the pain of war, by cutting off energy sources during the winter.

“Each year, Russia has tried to cripple the Ukrainian power grid before the bitter winter season, apparently hoping to erode public morale. Winter temperatures run from late October through March, with January and February the coldest months.”

Ukraine has retaliated with attacks on Russia’s energy infrastructure.

Russia attacks Ukraine’s power grid as Moscow worries over US Tomahawk

Ukraine and Russia’s intensifying energy war brings gas shortages and economic pain

Offense is much cheaper than defense. Drones costing $80,000 are shot down by missiles costing over a million dollars. Ukraine has no option but to defend its country and attack Russia. The Ukrainian offense must be well targeted to military and industrial facilities, because it depends on EU and US support. Russia’s allies (China, North Korea and Iran) don’t have the same humanitarian concerns. They will benefit by manufacturing and selling drones and missiles to Russia.

What Ukraine wants is Tomahawk missiles, which will extend the range of Ukraine’s attacks into Russia, and force Russia to use its military resources to defend itself. Talks between Ukraine and US are ongoing as discussed in the AP article. So this is an escalation of the war, but I see no way to stop it.

I support Trump’s initiative to get tough with all countries buying oil from Russia. But extreme tariffs on India and China, result in retaliatory tariffs, hurting the US economy. And we need India’s support.

I feel for the residents of Ukraine and Russia who will suffer the consequences of this war, and I wish this war to end. But, Ukraine must remain a free Ukraine, not threatened by Russia. For this reason, US military and humanitarian aid is vital. Ultimately, it must be part of the NATO alliance, because this is the only way to deter Putin’s expansionary policies.

Stay tuned,

Dave

The Enemy from Within

by Dave

Trump believes sending in military troops into cities is necessary to combat rising crime and what he calls “the enemy from within.” We have our problems. And there are times, where our military troops or reservists need to be called into action. But it must be done with the cooperation with the state government and local police.

The enemies from within are ignorance, misinformation and apathy. Social media, namely Facebook and Youtube, are not news outlets. Anybody can post there (including myself) and unfortunately, people read and share many falsehoods.

I will continue to focus on the war in Ukraine, which includes both military actions and economic sanctions. Global politics are an important part of this, as our most recent post, cited Putin’s attempt to show solidarity among world leaders of his invasion of Ukraine.

Stay tuned,

Dave

Ukraine War: Unity among our Putin’s Partners, Latest developments

by Dave

The Shanghai Cooperative Organization (SCO) Conference and the military parade in Beijing immediately following the conference was to promote solidarity among our adversaries. It took place for just two days, August 31 and September 1. Donald Trump with his fixation on the trade imbalance, made it completely acceptable for India’s Prime Minister Modi to stand along side Putin and Xi Jinping.

The military parade further extended the visit of world leaders to September 3. It was to celebrate the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II. It was much more than this, the conference was designed to push forward economic cooperations with world leaders, and demonstrate China’s military power as well.

Trump’s foreign policy hinges on a false misconception – if you push hard enough, there will come compliance. What comes from the US unilaterally pushing, is push back, and between Putin and Xi Jinping, this was painfully obvious. There are 10 members to this organization which includes Iran, which is critical to designing and manufacturing drones with increased capacity to avoid being shot down.

North Korean President Kim Jong Un arrived by train to Beijing on September 2 so he could observe the military parade, and for meetings with Xi and Putin. See ABC news link:

North Korea’s Kim crosses into China to meet Xi, Putin for Beijing military parade

Trump appeared to make a major policy change, in his rambling speech to the UN:

“President Donald Trump said Tuesday afternoon that he thinks Ukraine, with help from the European Union, could win back its territory from Russia and return the country to its original borders. Trump had previously suggested numerous times that giving up some land would be a key component of resolving Ukraine’s war with Russia.”

So, did he mean original 2022 borders, after Crimea was taken by Russia? Or the 2014 borders with Crimea part of Ukraine. He hasn’t clarified this.

Trump says he now thinks Ukraine can win back all territory taken by Russia

Now, is Trump backing up his words with actions? Or backing down? It is difficult to say.

For Ukraine to wage a completely defensive, it would mean expending much more capital than Russia. To spend one million dollars to shoot down a drone costing $80,000 dollars is not cost efficient. And, the drone that is shot down, may be a decoy, costing practically nothing. Offense is many fold cheaper than defense. So, Ukraine wants attack cruise missiles from the US, namely the Tomahawk missiles, so it can attack targets within Russia.

Russia has numerous cruise missiles, which vary in terms of range, speed, payload and other capabilities. The BrahMos cruise missile has many variations and is jointly produced by Russia and India.

The US manufactured Tomahawk missiles also has many variants. The missile under consideration for Ukraine would have a range of 1,550 miles, and cost approximately 1.3 million dollars. Russia has stated that this would represent a significant escalation of the war.

Trump has stated that before providing the Tomahawks to Ukraine, he wants to know exactly how they are to be used. Of course, Ukraine will pledge to use the missiles for industrial and military targets, but once Ukraine has the missiles, they will select the targets.

The news story cited below is from October 2. Sources suggest the US will not provide the Tomahawks because our inventory is low. Our inventory of missiles is classified information, but some estimate US to have about 4,000 Tomahawk missiles.

US Tomahawk missile shipments to Ukraine unlikely, sources say

Ukraine continues an offensive war against Russia using drones. Ukraine claims drone strikes against ammo plant, oil terminal and weapons depot using drones. Russia continues attacks with large swarms of drones, attacking Ukraine infrastructure including gas pipelines, residential homes and other buildings.

War is both ugly and sad. But, to return Ukraine to Russian control, after 34 years of independence, with so many Ukrainians having given their lives defending their sovereignty and democracy is even sadder. So, if the US can not or does not choose to arm Ukraine with cruise missiles, I am hoping the European countries will.

China’s display of unity, with the world’s bad actors, namely Russia, North Korea and Iran has to be countered with US-European unity. Regaining India as an ally will require great diplomatic skill, and compromise. Forming alliances and long-term commitment is not what Trump does easily. But this is exactly the counter punch to the spectacle in China in September.

Stay tuned,

Dave