There’s a scene in the original “Matrix” movie in which an adept talks to Neo, the film’s hero, played by Keanu Reeves. The trick, the adept explains, is to perceive the truth that there is no spoon.
The same idea is at work with the so-called red line the Biden administration has in Gaza generally and Rafah particularly. The truth is that there is no red line that Israel could cross that would draw serious condemnation, let alone action, by the Biden administration.
The true red line is that there is no red line. And the U.S. will bend the truth, as Neo is able to bend the spoon in the scene above, in obedience to the diktat of the Israeli government under Bibi Netanyahu.
Postscript: Congress has invited Bibi to address it again, which I think is wonderful. It will be great to hear from the true leader of U.S. foreign policy in that region.
That's dangerous enough for the World since ARMAGEDDON, the Battle of the great Day of God Almighty, starts in Occupied Palestine all these Centuries after the Roman Occupation of Palestine when the word/concept of ARMAGEDDON came into being when Israel disappeared some 720 years earlier.
When the US dominated 32 NATO Nations are at WAR with Russia using losing Ukraine as it ARMED proxy, it makes sense Russia should announce it will be testing it's tactical nuclear weapons for the Day NATO crossed the last Russian Red Line and that Great Day of Destruction cannot be recalled.
Russian President Putin explains himself very clearly here, as the US NATO pushes it to the BRINK, thinking they can win a Nuclear WAR with Russia.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZLhTTUYXl8E
The failure of American MICC weapons systems in Ukraine just posted helps explain why this “powerful GOP Senator Calls for Massive Surge in Defense Spending”...:
The U.S. accounts for about 40% of all defense spending in the world, but one leading Republican lawmaker is warning that isn’t enough to counter the threats the country now faces.
Sen. Roger Wicker of Mississippi, the senior Republican on the Armed Services Committee, is CALLING FOR THE U.S TO INCREASE ITS DEFENSE SPENDING BY $55 BILLION NEXT YEAR, ABOVE THE $895 BILLION CAP AGREED TO BY THE WHITE HOUSE AND CONGRESS, AND TO KEEP RAISING MILITARY OUTLAYS UNTIL THEY EQUAL 5% OF THE COUNTRY’S GROSS DOMESTIC — AN AMOUNT EXCEEDING $1 TRILLION A YEAR.
In an opinion piece published Wednesday by The New York Times [ https://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/29/opinion/us-military-war.html ], Wicker argues that the military capabilities of the U.S. have atrophied, even as China, Russia and Iran have expanded their armed forces and become increasingly aggressive. "MOST AMERICANS DO NOT REALIZE THE SPECTER OF GREAT POWER CONFLICT HAS RISEN AGAIN," he writes.
Wicker’s proposal would increase the defense budget to about $950 billion in the 2025 fiscal year, or roughly 2.9% of GDP. Over the next five to seven years, defense spending would continue to rise until it hits 5% of GDP, or more than $1.4 trillion given the current size of the economy. DEFENSE SPENDING HASN’T BEEN THAT HIGH RELATIVE TO THE SIZE OF THE ECONOMY SINCE THE MASSIVE BUILDUP DURING THE REAGAN ADMINISTRATION AND THE FIRST GULF WAR UNDER PRESIDENT GEORGE H.W. BUSH.
"This will enable the United States to fix our failing defense infrastructure, field a new generation of equipment, and maintain American technological leadership," Wicker says in a 50-page report on the matter obtained by Bloomberg [ https://aboutbgov.com/beeK ].
Specifically, Wicker would direct the extra money toward new military technologies, improved maintenance of existing equipment, and more weapons. The Navy would grow significantly to 357 ships and the Air Force would add at least 340 more planes.
The increase would not have to be permanent, as long as the military-industrial base is built back up. "Ideally, devoting five percent of GDP to defense spending in the near future will not be necessary for very long, but it would certainly pay dividends far beyond five years," Wicker says. "This defense buildup would set up the U.S. military for sustained success over the next two to three decades."
The alternative, according to Wicker, is military weakness that would invite aggression. "Regaining American strength will be expensive," he says. "But fighting a war — and worse, losing one — is far more costly."
Continued at https://www.thefiscaltimes.com/2024/05/29/Powerful-GOP-Senator-Calls-Massive-Surge-Defense-Spending ; EMPHASES added.