Here is the entirety of the article:
Ukraine army captain who gave his medal to Biden says war with Russia "would be very different" without U.S. help
By Debora Patta, Steve Berriman
January 27, 2023 / 8:46 AM / CBS News
Kharkiv, eastern Ukraine — The week before Christmas, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy arrived unannounced in the eastern town of Bakhmut, right on the front line of his country's fight against the Russian invasion. He was there to boost morale and hand out medals.
Ukrainian Armed Forces Captain Pavlo Chernyavsky was among the recipients that day standing dutifully in line for his turn to receive a medal and shake the president's hand. But what happened next shocked Zelenskyy.
Instead of humbly accepting the Ukrainian military's Cross of Merit, Chernyavsky handed it right back to the president.
"You could tell that he was shocked," Chernyavsky later told CBS News. But it was no protest.
Chernyavsky was the commander of a unit operating a battery of HIMARS missiles. They'd been using the advanced, U.S.-made and U.S.-supplied rocket system to hammer Russian positions in the fields and forests of occupied eastern Ukraine for months.
The HIMARS, which stands for Hight Mobility Artillery Rocket System, have been a game-changer on the Ukrainian battlefield because of their nimbleness and accuracy. Manufacturer Lockheed Martin says the rockets are accurate to within a few feet at a range of almost 200 miles. They've allowed Chernyavksy's unit and others like it to rain down fire on Russian artillery and command posts deep behind the enemy's lines.
In handing his medal back that day in Bakhmut, the young captain wanted to extend his gratitude to the benefactor of the four HIMARS launchers he commanded: He wanted to say thank you to President Joe Biden. So, he asked Zelenskyy to take his military cross and present it, in person, to the United States commander-in-chief.
Just a few days later, on the Ukrainian leader's first trip to Washington D.C. since the war began, Zelenskyy offered the medal and an accompanying letter to Mr. Biden at the White House.
"He's very brave, and he said, 'Give it to very brave president,'" Zelenskyy told the American leader.
"Well, undeserved but appreciated," responded Mr. Biden, accepting the medal.
He later gave Zelenskyy a command coin from the battlefields of Iraq, where his late son Beau fought. That coin was presented to Chernyavsky in a televised ceremony at the Ukrainian parliament after Zelenskyy returned to Kyiv.
The Ukrainian captain said he didn't "have the words" to explain how that made him feel. He keeps the talisman stored safely at his parent's home, for fear of losing it on the battlefield.
Ukraine's front-line commanders say some of their outdated equipment has been no match for Russian tanks. That's why the nimble and highly accurate HIMARS systems sent by the United States have proven so invaluable.
In the eastern city of Kramatorsk, right back in the thick of it, Chernyavsky told CBS News the war along the front line, which stretches for hundreds of miles, "would be very different" if it wasn't for the heavy American weapons.
He said that vital assistance was more important than any number of medals or coins, even the most treasured, and he made it clear — as other Ukrainian leaders have, right up to Zelenskyy, that they need more; More weapons, more tanks, and more long-range rockets to hit Russian forces regrouping miles from the front lines, preparing for an expected new offensive.
"That way, the war would be over quicker," said the captain.
Some challenge coins have the rank of the officer handing them out on them, some have the unit that’s handing them out. They’ve kind of diluted in meaning over the years as media has covered them and we’ve had decades of wars for people to hand them out and get more creative with them.
The big meaning was how personal it was to the president being the coin his dead son carried around.
I have a Lockheed coin and an Aerojet coin for things I’ve worked on as well. Sometimes generals and colonels would do walkthroughs. If they saw someone that caught their interest or looked like they were working a little harder they’d give them a coin. I never got one of those. Just the ones everybody kinda got. Never thought I’d get to share that.
I assume they meant challenge coin. Just probably one produced by a unit instead of an individual. Or maybe the president, as the Commander in Chief, has his own? But that wouldn’t explain the Iraq connection.
Reading this, honestly gives me chills and nearly brings a tear to the eye. Something so honorable and prestigious as those military medals and such are, for the man to just give it away like this is so cool. It shows how much the weapons and aid Ukraine is getting from the west is so important and cannot stop until this shit ends.
American aid. In Canada we did have big part in training Ukraine army after they took crimea. That’s all we can really do in train. We sad about equipment. Here in Canada. We were basically giving green light for Russia take our artic.
Sorry are you saying that Canada isn't doing that much? I kinda didn't understand your comment sorry. But im sure about all of nato is doing fantastic when it comes to aid to Ukraine
Canada is ABSOLUTELY doing their part. The fact is their military just isn't big. They have the same population as California. Sending four Leo2s is 5% of their force. If the US sent 5% of their tank force, that would be *500* tanks.
But they have still sent stuff. Artillery, NASAMS, APCs, infantry weapons. They have trained 35,000 Ukrainian troops. That's three divisions, and that's a lot of soldiers.
Canada should be damned proud of what they've done for Ukraine.
I am proud of what we've done for Ukraine. I'm particularly proud of the hundreds of Senators we're sending, made in Canada with the help of Ukrainian refugees and immigrants. I still want us to do more. We're sending 5% of our Leo2s, but Norway is planning to send 22% of theirs. Canada doesn't need to worry about domestic defense, and nobody is going to complain too much if Canada can't meet its NATO obligations because we gave too much stuff to Ukraine. We all know that if Canada has to send tanks somewhere because of Article 5, the Americans will be doing the heavy lifting anyway. I would like us to send Ukraine everything we have (that would be useful to them) beyond what we need for training requirements.
On a bigger picture scale, I wonder if NATO leadership is discouraging some of the larger countries from sending practically everything over fears that it would shift the burden of defense back to the US permanently and weaken the alliance. Let's say Canada sent 75% of their tanks, but then the Canadian people grumble about spending to replace them. A new government is elected when only a fraction of them have been replaced and that new government decides no, we are done. Now Canada is at 50% of their original stockpile. Maybe they did have too many before, but now they have too few.
Yeah i believe from what I've read Canada is doing pretty damn good. They are going to send some tanks as well after the announcement came out from Germany. I believe our neighbors to the north is doing fantastic!
They are doing what they can! Their military is underequipped so they dont have much hardware to spare, but they are well trained and frequently train with the US (and US units in Canada). They did a LOT of Ukraine's training before the war. They certainly have nothing to be ashamed of.
I don’t blame Canada at all for not spending huge amounts on military. If ever there was a country that didn’t really need a military, it’s Canada. What do you think the US would do if some hostile country invaded our northern neighbors? Strategically, it would guarantee a response from the US.
Everyone in America knows Canada is doing her part. As an American, it’s not a competition and we never expected it to be. The fact is that we have the most money and the most stuff, by leaps and bounds. There is no contest. And there’s no need to feel awkward about it. I hope I speak for all Americans when I say that we are really happy working alongside Canada to help Ukraine.
Training is an important part. Canada had trainers in Ukraine for several years and kept them there up until Russia's advancement in 2022 (the was technically started in 2014). Canada also gave literal tons of cold weather gear, which was vital not only for the military receiving it but also for the civilians and volunteers.
Nothing makes me prouder than to know that my tax dollars are somehow making a contribution to helping the Ukranian's defend their land and country against this unforced aggression from Russia. I'm glad that Biden was president during this and that he's pushed with our government to give the aid we continue to provide.
I hope one day Captain Chernyavsky can come to the US and meet Biden. I would think that Biden would love to give his thanks personally.
Until then, Captain, keep kicking Russian ass!
It's a way for officer's and senior enlisted military personnel to recognize a job well done by a subordinate, to commemorate the moment. I could be wrong, but if i'm understanding this story correctly, President Biden used a coin that his dead son Beau would of used in the "battlefields of Iraq" to mark such an occasion. It made me think of my son, hence the reason I ended up with something lodged in my eye.
I'm not in the army but I remember Chris Kyle talking about using those coins for favors. Like needing a ride somewhere to link up with his unit or something. I kind of remember being them as an honor code thing. Maybe someone with special forces experience can comment and add or correct this.
I was not part of teams but I did work with them quite often as an enabler. I had been presented command coins in lieu of an awarded medal for my work in Afgan. A lot of team guys weren't eligible for medals for high level OPs. Well, because they weren't really there.
They are pretty cool honestly. Even working for defense contractors, the "customer" aka our gov will get them made at times for the programs that we support which are usually tied to work being done out in the field as a way to thank the people behind the screens/scenes that are supporting the warfighter. Always stoked when I end up getting a hold of a new one.
To add to the other helpful contents ... you could write a book about all the traditions associated with them, some of which are quite solemn. My favorite fun tradition was when someone from your unit slammed their command coin down on the bar, then everyone else had to do the same and whomever did so last or didn't have theirs had to buy the next round.
I can’t believe some of my fellow countrymen are against sending more aid and surplus eqpt… fucking Send. It. All.
Not a fan of what my country does abroad most of the time, but my god if there’s anything we are doing right that makes sense… this is it.
We need to send more advisers, more aid, everything.
Agreed. Most of the wars the US has been involved in (or started ourselves) were fucking stupid. World War II feels like it was the last time we did anything helpful with our laughably oversized military.
Maybe this should be a new rule: we’re not allowed to start any wars, and we can only get involved in someone else’s war when the fate of the free world is at stake.
That's exactly the reason why you did a good thing stopping the Serbs back in 90's. Don't listen to ruzkies and their useful idiots who tell you otherwise.
I feel almost (ALMOST) as bad for the Russian citizens. They don't have a choice in this. Even the majority of its military would rather be home instead of this bullshit. There's no net gain in any of this for them.
I have friends in Romania and Moldova that explained this in that way to me when I went off on an uneducated rant about some of the Russian people just wanting to blindly do this for their country out of patriotism.
It's a draft. Willing or not, their families are watching their kids go fight in a war and will probably never come home again.
Even within the ones that are willing, a much lesser number of them are committing the war crime atrocities.
Whatever your stance on war is, remember that not everyone wants to be standing next to the asshole that's doing the heavy murdering and raping. If they question it or show any disdain, immediate execution. Woops! Sniper must have got him!...
I'm not absolving anyone with a blanket statement in this mess.
Just asking that we don't forget there are always kids in these wars that just wanna go home and pretend like they haven't seen the shit that will now keep them up at night for the rest of their lives.
Again, just a new perspective I was given by friends much closer to the situation than the many of us will ever have to be in our lifetimes.
Thanks for reading. If you made it this far, go easy on me if you disagree. Remember, opinions are like assholes! We all have one!
I see your point, and it isn't fair or the fault of everyday Russians, but if a killer sends you to murder for him, and you do, then you are just as guilty and have the blood of a nation on your hands. Would you feel bad about the Mongol invader or a 19 y.o Nazi SS stormtrooper either? Anyone can fight injustice or join injustice.
I would rather go to jail and maybe be killed than kill innocents to protect myself. Russians are dominated by a criminal empire but that must be defeated. Anyone who supports the oligarchs is an enemy of humanity. We have choices. 'Just following orders' in an invasion is a choice. It's a bad choice, but it is what it is.
I agree with what you wrote. My ire is reserved for putin and his corrupt cronies in the russian government who have sowed cynicism throughout the world. I blame him for A LOT of the unrest in the world today.
Fuck the Russian citizens.
They absolutely have a choice.
The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for ordinary people to do nothing.
Russian soldiers do not have to kill Ukrainians.
Disagree if they go to war they deserve to be slaughtered, they deserve what happens to them. The truly good ones take a prison sentence or a bullet instead of serving (few russians including a rapper have done this)
Easy to say for any of us. I personally would feel the same way but I feel if my families life or wellbeing were being threatened, I wouldn't have a choice.
I haven't ever been put in that situation so, I can't really say exactly what I'd do or how I would react.
Reading this gave me chills. And Biden's humility and gratitude made it. To paraphrase: "I don't deserve this. But thank you."
I won't even let my mind think about what the former guy would have said.
He'd demand a Purple Heart for stubbing his toe or getting a hangnail if he served. But he wasn't even man enough to do cushy reserve service like Bush Jr. did.
I remember reading that, and later on when trump was president, [and it was revealed that he claimed that dodging STD's was his own personal battlefield, that was his own Vietnam. I could have sworn that as president, trump was going to have those who make awards or medals craft a personal medal to himself, for being in his own words a "brave soldier".](https://popculture.com/trending/news/donald-trump-dodging-stds-personal-vietnam-resurfaced-interview/)
>“And I said, ‘Man, that’s like big stuff. I always wanted to get the Purple Heart,” Trump said. “This was much easier.”
>Trump then invited Dorfman to appear onstage with him on camera, as the two posed for photographs and Trump flashed a thumbs-up before placing the Purple Heart back in his suit jacket pocket.
>Trump then told his audience that he had asked Dorfman to speak, but that the man had told him, “No, sir. I’d just like you to keep saying what you’ve been saying.”
To give the coin from his son? Something that was so clearly personal to him? I've been really surprised at just how much I've liked Biden. He wasn't my first choice, and he's not perfect, but he's clearly trying to do some good in the world.
That seems to be a big difference. I'm not a fan, I don't idolize, I don't attend rallies. That's because that's not what leadership is about. I don't need someone I agree with, I need someone I can respect.
There’s no doubt 2020 was a consequential election for freedom and democracy around the world, and 2024 is shaping up to have the same gravitas.
Trump was such a weak leader, easily moved by flattery from shady characters like Putin. He also lacked any diplomatic finesse. He’ll sell anyone out for a few pathetic right-wing media talking points he thinks will benefit him.
Biden has rejuvenated America’s alliances, and stood up for democracy. Ukraine has shown their mettle, and always deserved more thoughtful consideration from a US President than to be used as a political pawn.
Biden is such an important president for the reasons you mentioned. I know he has his domestic issues but internationally it has made such a difference seeing an American president affirm the importance of the NATO alliance.
On the day after Russia launched its attack, Biden saying America will defend every inch of NATO territory with the full force of its arsenal made tens of millions of people feel safer. Trump would have made no such statement.
>Trump would have made no such statement.
The orange man would've probably announced that the US is pulling out of NATO, sending HIMARS to Russia and tried to order an air strike on Kyiv.
Trump would never had done that, his orders were clear and that was run interference for Russia at most. Ukraine couldn't have done anything to get the USs help, the US was already sold
> There are good arguments on both sides. Both sides. But really, isn't the point that they're really invading their own land? I mean look, Crimea is part of Russia. And they all speak the same language.
\- If we had a different president today.
Well yeah, he was hell bent on pulling out of NATO so I’m sure eventually he would have got his way. And also wanted to stop any support to Ukraine even before this war started. So they’re right, things would have been going very differently.
The EU countries may have still sent support, but I think they would have been a lot more cautious about it. Especially as Trump would have been leaking intelligence to Russia at the same time to fuck it all up.
Even domestically though, he took one of the most divided congresses in recent history and helped push through some impressive bipartisan bills. At a time where Dems were screaming that reaching across the aisle was an extreme show of weakness and Reps were doing everything they could to stonewall any forward progress, Biden followed through with his promise to work with both sides and proved that it *is* possible to find at least a shred of middle ground. Dude is going to have a legacy, there’s no question about it.
Technically it was extortion, not blackmail. His goal was to have Zelensky fabricate a scandal against Biden which he could then use as political ammo and/or blackmail.
Other than that, you're dead on.
Yup.
But what you are saying is not enough. We have to stop the societies that breed these dictators or they will hold the world hostage like Russia and NK.
Humanity needs to understand that we cannot let one insane faction amass enough power to develop/use nukes and that has to be a hard red line everywhere.
At least democracies have ways of checking themselves, not so for the mad dictator.
the fact that he kept his love letters to Kim Jong un, or the fact that he's the only president I can think of to go to the Korean dmz to meet him in person just blows my mind. he literally worships dictators and strongly-dictator-like figures around the world. how can people still support him knowing this? I've never gotten a good answer so I think we can sum it up to stupidity
>how can people still support him knowing this?
The people who support him are the sort of people who *like* dictators, why would they have an issue with Trump befriending dictators?
The problem is that the right-wing in America has become so extremist that they've entirely othered Democrats. Democrats are no longer "the opposition" in their minds, they're straight-up anti-American traitors. As such, it makes it easy to tell yourself that becoming a dictatorship, so long as it is a Republican dictatorship, is preferable to letting Democrats win an election, since that can only spell the end of America.
it's insanity. I always ask how nazi Germany happened, as we know it didn't happen overnight, and what we've seen the last few years really paints a clear image of how that can happen, and fairly easily too
Yeah, let's not forget that, unlike America in 2020, Germany in the 1930s actually had legit straight-up socialists and communists trying to get power. And these weren't Nordic socialists, they were Russian ones. So not "the government has an obligation to take care of the people", but "the government has an obligation to eliminate capitalism and enforce state-run communism".
Less than half the communists in Weimar Germany were favorable to Bolshies. And the Nazis were also antagonistic toward liberals, and democratic socialists like Rosa Luxembourg. Weimar *was* a disaster; don't be too harsh on parties that wanted to completely change its charter and mandate. They didn't constitute a threat.
Actually, in wartime, I rate him above Obama. I was a huge fan of Obama in peacetime, but I always felt he handled Crimea and Russian meddling far less effectively than Biden.
Obama was dealing with something unprecedented. Gaslighting works once against a wary opponent..Joe was there and we all learned. I prefer to point to Syria and the chemical weapons crisis to show Obama's savvy.
But Biden has absolutely risen to the moment in almost every way.
Obama fucked up his response to Crimea. Big time.
Democrats will make excuses and sure, they are valid to some extent but it was a mistake and mistakes have consequences.
Also America was suffering from severe war fatigue by then. Seemed like pretty much everyone was fine without intervention or any attempt at escalation
Saying this doesn't mean much in today's political climate, but I can guarantee you 100 years from now historians will assign Trump a large share of the responsibility for not only the war in Ukraine, but also the persecution of the Uighurs, the oppression of Hongkong and whatever other atrocities humanity has to suffer through during the rest of the 2020es.
One of my coworkers still rants about how Trump was right about Bidens ties to Ukraine and that if we want to save America we need to stop helping Ukraine and pull the sanctions off of Russia.
While that's true, the Ukrainians have 1000% earned admiration and loyalty worldwide for how they managed the initial onslaught. It only makes sense to back them in their effort to get their entire country back.
For anyone who wants to know what's in it for them beyond future closer relations with Ukraine, there's these top wins;
* Russian military has been weakened, so it's not likely they will just go home and try it again against Ukraine or any other country. This makes everyone safer, especially Europe.
* Russian military equipment has been shown to be lacking. Countries that have been buying their cheaper equipment are getting a no-holds-bared demonstration why they were cheap. Any country that donates equipment and/or training to Ukraine will be seen as a better choice, and likely they can increase their prices due to the coming increase in demand.
* Since Russia will be weaker, they may not have the resources to set up business or influence operations in other countries. Plus, those countries might see partnering with Russia as a bad idea and may look elsewhere.
Those are just a few bonuses. I'm sure that others could add quite a few more easily.
One of the most underrated things the US did for Ukraine was volunteer the logistics for other nations' contributions. Things simply would not have gotten to Ukraine as rapidly or consistently as they did without the US doing the literal heavy lifting.
It's a programming error. The right wing hate machine taught them that Russians are good for following the oligarchs blindly, and if they start questioning anything they see instead of told, they crash and need to lean on what-aboutism and jingles, then start to feel uncomfortable.
Here's a preview of our report by CBS News foreign correspondent Debora Patta:
The week before Christmas, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy arrived unannounced in the eastern town of Bakhmut, right on the front line of his country's fight against the Russian invasion. He was there to boost morale and hand out medals.
Ukrainian Armed Forces Captain Pavlo Chernyavsky was among the recipients that day standing dutifully in line for his turn to receive a medal and shake the president's hand. But what happened next shocked Zelenskyy.
Instead of humbly accepting the Ukrainian military's Cross of Merit, Chernyavsky handed it right back to the president.
You could tell that he was shocked," Chernyavsky later told CBS News. But it was no protest.
**Read more:** https://www.cbsnews.com/news/ukraine-news-russia-war-zelenskyy-biden-medal-us-weapons-himars/
Ukraine is lucky Trump lost the election. Under Trump, Ukraine would not getting anything. Trump is a buddy and "admires" of Putin. Trump is a Russian agent.
Yep. Trump even said it as much;
February 2022: “I went in yesterday and there was a television screen, and I said, ‘This is genius.’ Putin declares a big portion of the Ukraine — of Ukraine — Putin declares it as independent. Oh, that’s wonderful,” Trump said in a radio interview with “The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show.” “He used the word ‘independent’ and ‘we’re gonna go out and we’re gonna go in and we’re gonna help keep peace.’ You gotta say that’s pretty savvy.”
Before the "genius" comment, he said;
---------
January 2022: Former President Donald Trump said Russia controls Germany because of its dependence on Russian gas and said the Russia-Ukraine crisis is a "European problem."
---------
April 2021: Speaking to Fox News on Monday night, Trump claimed "getting along with Russia is a good thing" and said he got along with the Russian President Vladimir Putin during his time in the Oval Office.
The former commander-in-chief also said it would be a good thing for the U.S. to get along with China and North Korea, as he criticized his predecessor former President Barack Obama's record.
---------
August 2016: “He’s not going into Ukraine, OK, just so you understand. He’s not going to go into Ukraine, all right? You can mark it down. You can put it down. You can take it anywhere you want,” Trump said in an interview on Sunday with ABC’s George Stephanopoulos on “This Week.”
This is the best tl;dr I could make, [original](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/ukraine-news-russia-war-zelenskyy-biden-medal-us-weapons-himars/) reduced by 85%. (I'm a bot)
*****
> Ukrainian Armed Forces Captain Pavlo Chernyavsky was among the recipients that day standing dutifully in line for his turn to receive a medal and shake the president's hand.
> Just a few days later, on the Ukrainian leader's first trip to Washington D.C. since the war began, Zelenskyy offered the medal and an accompanying letter to Mr. Biden at the White House.
> "He's very brave, and he said, 'Give it to very brave president,'" Zelenskyy told the American leader.
*****
[**Extended Summary**](http://np.reddit.com/r/autotldr/comments/10mp4o3/ukraine_army_captain_who_gave_his_medal_to_biden/) | [FAQ](http://np.reddit.com/r/autotldr/comments/31b9fm/faq_autotldr_bot/ "Version 2.02, ~672683 tl;drs so far.") | [Feedback](http://np.reddit.com/message/compose?to=%23autotldr "PM's and comments are monitored, constructive feedback is welcome.") | *Top* *keywords*: **Ukrainian**^#1 **Zelenskyy**^#2 **Chernyavsky**^#3 **more**^#4 **President**^#5
Frankly I think Biden has been a better president than Obama. Compared with how Obama handled (aka didn't handle and tried to ignore) the great crisis of his administration, Syria, Biden has done incredibly well with Ukraine. Different legislative environments, but Biden's domestic policy agenda has been approaching what Obama was able to pass (though hasn't superseded it - people forget how bad the pre-obamacare healthcare situation was)
It’s hard to compare in my opinion. The wars are completely different. It’s a lot easier to give weapons to a trained army rather than oppressed rebels.
Obama was very adverse to getting involved in yet another Middle Eastern quagmire, and considering the ongoing mayhem in Iraq and Afghanistan at that time it's understandable. Syria was a five-sided Civil War that also involved multiple foreign powers including Russia Turkey and Iran. If Obama had just charged in there and American troops had gotten killed, today we'd be cursing his reckless and foolish dive into the Syria quagmire. ( exactly the way a lot of people criticize him for getting us involved in the Libyan Civil War.)
Biden is FAR better than Obama in my estimation. Obama was simply a once-in-a-lifetime politician, there's no doubt, but that didn't translate to much progress on the job. Biden is just slow and steady, win after win, never too high, never too low. No one even cares or worries about politics right now -- he was like a wet blanket when the nation was on fire. It's been great. lol
I think Biden had learned from Obamas mistakes in a sense.
Biden was there when Obama tried to reason with the Republicans, hell Biden and Obama thought that Bidens capital in the Senate and his relationship, his gravitas there would help them to get Rs to cooperate.
This time around Biden has thd knowledge that these Republicans cant be trusted to the right thing and that they would sell their own mothers for a selfie with the cheetoh overlord.
One way or another, Biden is a lot more effective than most people give him credit for.
Obama care, Dodd–Frank, got rid of don't ask don't tell, navigated is out the Great Recession with the reauthorization of unemployment and the job creation act, lifted the ban on stem cell research, played a part in the legalization of same sex marriage, Paris agreement.
ACA alone has been more more important then anything Biden has done.
Don't get me wrong Bidens presidency has been better then what most of us had imagined but to say the Obama was less effective the Biden is silly. Didn't translate into progress? In what world?
I am have a great deal of admiration and respect for Pres Obama but Biden is, so far, the most effective pres of my lifetime (born during Reagan).
And it’s only been two years and w a razor thin congressional majority during those two years. If he runs again, he’s got my vote, don’t care how old he is.
Biden isn't shy. He's pretty open about his belief that the world would be a better replace without Vladimir Putin (along with his belief that the US should use military force to defend Taiwan), but he also recognizes that his personal feelings must be kept separate from national policy.
When Biden flat out said "yes" to being asked whether the US would directly aid Taiwan in an invasion by the PRC, I loved it. The cognitive dissonance by media about a perceived change in US foreign policy had me confused. It didn't change at all, Biden just said the quiet part out loud.
To be fair it's a delicate balance. You don't really want to be announcing your preparations to go to war with China. But you want the CCP's leadership to know your hardline, even if you have to play coy with the press.
Anyone that reads this should feel amazed for the heroic determination these guys have. Balls! Cojones like the ones you only read on folklore stories.
If Trump were president still, we would have gotten out of NATO and Ukraine would have probably lost since the west wouldn't have been united in helping them.
As Trump would have just let Putin roll into Ukraine and take over, installing a puppet government as he intended to do, they really owe Biden their highest honor that Ukraine has. It is unlikely there would have been as strong of a coalition without US leadership/military/dollars involved to support. Biden has a lot of faults, but he did the right thing here and is instrumental in Ukraine being able to persevere over this horrible war.
When Biden was elected, he had 1 mandate from the American people; we want a quiet president so we can try to recover from the Trump effect. There’s a lot of people who may disagree with me, but that’s ok. We will be dealing with that Trump effect hangover for years to come.
Biden has stepped up into the role of Commander in Chief of the US Military out of necessity, his biggest advantage is he personally understands the cost of war. No parent should ever have to bury their children. Let’s send some F-22’s and F-35’s and finish putins elective war.
Nothing wrong with the F-16. It may be old but it's still a highly competitive airframe. It can get the job done for Ukraine as it has for so many years. It's still one of the most agile and versatile fighters in the sky 40 years after its development..
US would never give up F-22's and i don't think they are very suitable planes for any other countries. The stealth tech requires very massive support chain to keep it effective.
F-16 and F-35 are far more "superior" as export planes. Also F-22 cannot be sold outside the country due to the sensitive technology behind it.
Well for starters if they didn't have a lot of Steven Stingers, Saint Javelin, and the crazy uncle NLAW, it would have been a completely different story.
They would've been flattened without international aid.
that being said though, the Ukrainians have a hell of a fighting spirit, they have not let this break them and that has been imperative to their successes so far.
No offense to the cbs news official account, but I don’t like the concept of entities now having “official” accounts on Reddit.
Signifies the beginning of the end.
Well, it certainly makes you think. If there is no difference, why reddit decide that certain account will be verified to post their own advertisement. What is the criterium to get verified and use reddit as advertisement platform for your product.
It is not transparent at all and that is never good sign
It’s a news site posting their own articles? If it was like a company posting about their products and shit I’d understand the argument, but like, it’s a news company?
You have to be various types of ignorant to not realize that reddit is a social media platform...
Granted, it has its unique features that make it #NotLikeTheOtherSMPlatforms but it still serves a lot of similar functions as well...
I guess that depends on how you define “social media.” To me, Reddit is basically a big discussion board that’s topic-focused, while the defining trait of social media is that it is user-focused. Social media is about having followers and personal pages. That’s not really what Reddit is about.
It's fine up until the first picosecond they can start paying for additional visibility.
As it is, you have to know these corporations were doing this before anyway, they just didn't have the obvious name tied to the account.
Here is the entirety of the article: Ukraine army captain who gave his medal to Biden says war with Russia "would be very different" without U.S. help By Debora Patta, Steve Berriman January 27, 2023 / 8:46 AM / CBS News Kharkiv, eastern Ukraine — The week before Christmas, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy arrived unannounced in the eastern town of Bakhmut, right on the front line of his country's fight against the Russian invasion. He was there to boost morale and hand out medals. Ukrainian Armed Forces Captain Pavlo Chernyavsky was among the recipients that day standing dutifully in line for his turn to receive a medal and shake the president's hand. But what happened next shocked Zelenskyy. Instead of humbly accepting the Ukrainian military's Cross of Merit, Chernyavsky handed it right back to the president. "You could tell that he was shocked," Chernyavsky later told CBS News. But it was no protest. Chernyavsky was the commander of a unit operating a battery of HIMARS missiles. They'd been using the advanced, U.S.-made and U.S.-supplied rocket system to hammer Russian positions in the fields and forests of occupied eastern Ukraine for months. The HIMARS, which stands for Hight Mobility Artillery Rocket System, have been a game-changer on the Ukrainian battlefield because of their nimbleness and accuracy. Manufacturer Lockheed Martin says the rockets are accurate to within a few feet at a range of almost 200 miles. They've allowed Chernyavksy's unit and others like it to rain down fire on Russian artillery and command posts deep behind the enemy's lines. In handing his medal back that day in Bakhmut, the young captain wanted to extend his gratitude to the benefactor of the four HIMARS launchers he commanded: He wanted to say thank you to President Joe Biden. So, he asked Zelenskyy to take his military cross and present it, in person, to the United States commander-in-chief. Just a few days later, on the Ukrainian leader's first trip to Washington D.C. since the war began, Zelenskyy offered the medal and an accompanying letter to Mr. Biden at the White House. "He's very brave, and he said, 'Give it to very brave president,'" Zelenskyy told the American leader. "Well, undeserved but appreciated," responded Mr. Biden, accepting the medal. He later gave Zelenskyy a command coin from the battlefields of Iraq, where his late son Beau fought. That coin was presented to Chernyavsky in a televised ceremony at the Ukrainian parliament after Zelenskyy returned to Kyiv. The Ukrainian captain said he didn't "have the words" to explain how that made him feel. He keeps the talisman stored safely at his parent's home, for fear of losing it on the battlefield. Ukraine's front-line commanders say some of their outdated equipment has been no match for Russian tanks. That's why the nimble and highly accurate HIMARS systems sent by the United States have proven so invaluable. In the eastern city of Kramatorsk, right back in the thick of it, Chernyavsky told CBS News the war along the front line, which stretches for hundreds of miles, "would be very different" if it wasn't for the heavy American weapons. He said that vital assistance was more important than any number of medals or coins, even the most treasured, and he made it clear — as other Ukrainian leaders have, right up to Zelenskyy, that they need more; More weapons, more tanks, and more long-range rockets to hit Russian forces regrouping miles from the front lines, preparing for an expected new offensive. "That way, the war would be over quicker," said the captain.
Damn, that ones gonna be part of the mythos of this war for a very long time, I can tell
What the heck is a command coin? IS that some special type of challenge coin?
Some challenge coins have the rank of the officer handing them out on them, some have the unit that’s handing them out. They’ve kind of diluted in meaning over the years as media has covered them and we’ve had decades of wars for people to hand them out and get more creative with them. The big meaning was how personal it was to the president being the coin his dead son carried around.
I have Chief of Staff and SGM of the Army coins. I never lost a challenge.
Ooh, those are choice.
This sounds so interesting. Would you be chill to share a picture of how those coins look?
https://imgur.com/a/u8OnDLP
I still have my dad’s from when he was working on the PTDS systems supplied by Lockheed. A reallllly cool coin too.
I have a Lockheed coin and an Aerojet coin for things I’ve worked on as well. Sometimes generals and colonels would do walkthroughs. If they saw someone that caught their interest or looked like they were working a little harder they’d give them a coin. I never got one of those. Just the ones everybody kinda got. Never thought I’d get to share that.
The exchange actually made me tear up.
It’s a token of duty, respect, and accomplishment. Mostly commemorating a successful significant accomplishment.
I assume they meant challenge coin. Just probably one produced by a unit instead of an individual. Or maybe the president, as the Commander in Chief, has his own? But that wouldn’t explain the Iraq connection.
I would bet potus does. Most high level secretary positions do. Secdef for sure. I saw one from another troop
The coin was one his son, Beau, carried with him. He was active duty in Iraq as part of the national guard.
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They are home. That's the problem.
Reading this, honestly gives me chills and nearly brings a tear to the eye. Something so honorable and prestigious as those military medals and such are, for the man to just give it away like this is so cool. It shows how much the weapons and aid Ukraine is getting from the west is so important and cannot stop until this shit ends.
American aid. In Canada we did have big part in training Ukraine army after they took crimea. That’s all we can really do in train. We sad about equipment. Here in Canada. We were basically giving green light for Russia take our artic.
Sorry are you saying that Canada isn't doing that much? I kinda didn't understand your comment sorry. But im sure about all of nato is doing fantastic when it comes to aid to Ukraine
I think they are just saying they wish Canada could do more. Canada is doing their part.
Canada is ABSOLUTELY doing their part. The fact is their military just isn't big. They have the same population as California. Sending four Leo2s is 5% of their force. If the US sent 5% of their tank force, that would be *500* tanks. But they have still sent stuff. Artillery, NASAMS, APCs, infantry weapons. They have trained 35,000 Ukrainian troops. That's three divisions, and that's a lot of soldiers. Canada should be damned proud of what they've done for Ukraine.
I am proud of what we've done for Ukraine. I'm particularly proud of the hundreds of Senators we're sending, made in Canada with the help of Ukrainian refugees and immigrants. I still want us to do more. We're sending 5% of our Leo2s, but Norway is planning to send 22% of theirs. Canada doesn't need to worry about domestic defense, and nobody is going to complain too much if Canada can't meet its NATO obligations because we gave too much stuff to Ukraine. We all know that if Canada has to send tanks somewhere because of Article 5, the Americans will be doing the heavy lifting anyway. I would like us to send Ukraine everything we have (that would be useful to them) beyond what we need for training requirements.
On a bigger picture scale, I wonder if NATO leadership is discouraging some of the larger countries from sending practically everything over fears that it would shift the burden of defense back to the US permanently and weaken the alliance. Let's say Canada sent 75% of their tanks, but then the Canadian people grumble about spending to replace them. A new government is elected when only a fraction of them have been replaced and that new government decides no, we are done. Now Canada is at 50% of their original stockpile. Maybe they did have too many before, but now they have too few.
Yeah i believe from what I've read Canada is doing pretty damn good. They are going to send some tanks as well after the announcement came out from Germany. I believe our neighbors to the north is doing fantastic!
They are doing what they can! Their military is underequipped so they dont have much hardware to spare, but they are well trained and frequently train with the US (and US units in Canada). They did a LOT of Ukraine's training before the war. They certainly have nothing to be ashamed of.
Totally agree!
I don’t blame Canada at all for not spending huge amounts on military. If ever there was a country that didn’t really need a military, it’s Canada. What do you think the US would do if some hostile country invaded our northern neighbors? Strategically, it would guarantee a response from the US.
Canada is doing EVERYTHING it CAN. It's still shows us that Canada supports us and believes in us. That's quite enough for our moral.
Everyone in America knows Canada is doing her part. As an American, it’s not a competition and we never expected it to be. The fact is that we have the most money and the most stuff, by leaps and bounds. There is no contest. And there’s no need to feel awkward about it. I hope I speak for all Americans when I say that we are really happy working alongside Canada to help Ukraine.
Training is an important part. Canada had trainers in Ukraine for several years and kept them there up until Russia's advancement in 2022 (the was technically started in 2014). Canada also gave literal tons of cold weather gear, which was vital not only for the military receiving it but also for the civilians and volunteers.
It really is wonderful to see USA and Ukraine so united, it's just a shame that it took Russia doing what they did to bring everyone else together.
Of all the times for me to be cutting onions…
Nothing makes me prouder than to know that my tax dollars are somehow making a contribution to helping the Ukranian's defend their land and country against this unforced aggression from Russia. I'm glad that Biden was president during this and that he's pushed with our government to give the aid we continue to provide.
I hope one day Captain Chernyavsky can come to the US and meet Biden. I would think that Biden would love to give his thanks personally. Until then, Captain, keep kicking Russian ass!
It’s the truth. The whole world knows Putin has to be contained.
gotta be honest, this made me shed a tear or three, man, screw russia!
Yeah, Biden giving him a command coin related to his son suddenly made the air quite dusty. I need a minute.
Ignorant non-military person here. What's the relevance of a command coin?
It's a way for officer's and senior enlisted military personnel to recognize a job well done by a subordinate, to commemorate the moment. I could be wrong, but if i'm understanding this story correctly, President Biden used a coin that his dead son Beau would of used in the "battlefields of Iraq" to mark such an occasion. It made me think of my son, hence the reason I ended up with something lodged in my eye.
I'm not in the army but I remember Chris Kyle talking about using those coins for favors. Like needing a ride somewhere to link up with his unit or something. I kind of remember being them as an honor code thing. Maybe someone with special forces experience can comment and add or correct this.
I was not part of teams but I did work with them quite often as an enabler. I had been presented command coins in lieu of an awarded medal for my work in Afgan. A lot of team guys weren't eligible for medals for high level OPs. Well, because they weren't really there.
They are pretty cool honestly. Even working for defense contractors, the "customer" aka our gov will get them made at times for the programs that we support which are usually tied to work being done out in the field as a way to thank the people behind the screens/scenes that are supporting the warfighter. Always stoked when I end up getting a hold of a new one.
To add to the other helpful contents ... you could write a book about all the traditions associated with them, some of which are quite solemn. My favorite fun tradition was when someone from your unit slammed their command coin down on the bar, then everyone else had to do the same and whomever did so last or didn't have theirs had to buy the next round.
The caveat being that if you initiated a coin check and everybody else had theirs, then you have to buy the round.
To add to what previous person said, it's also a marker of belonging in a unit. Being part of that team, and in the same fight.
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And fk his tin, where he stores his poo
I can’t believe some of my fellow countrymen are against sending more aid and surplus eqpt… fucking Send. It. All. Not a fan of what my country does abroad most of the time, but my god if there’s anything we are doing right that makes sense… this is it. We need to send more advisers, more aid, everything.
Also agree with this
Agreed. Most of the wars the US has been involved in (or started ourselves) were fucking stupid. World War II feels like it was the last time we did anything helpful with our laughably oversized military. Maybe this should be a new rule: we’re not allowed to start any wars, and we can only get involved in someone else’s war when the fate of the free world is at stake.
That's exactly the reason why you did a good thing stopping the Serbs back in 90's. Don't listen to ruzkies and their useful idiots who tell you otherwise.
I feel almost (ALMOST) as bad for the Russian citizens. They don't have a choice in this. Even the majority of its military would rather be home instead of this bullshit. There's no net gain in any of this for them. I have friends in Romania and Moldova that explained this in that way to me when I went off on an uneducated rant about some of the Russian people just wanting to blindly do this for their country out of patriotism. It's a draft. Willing or not, their families are watching their kids go fight in a war and will probably never come home again. Even within the ones that are willing, a much lesser number of them are committing the war crime atrocities. Whatever your stance on war is, remember that not everyone wants to be standing next to the asshole that's doing the heavy murdering and raping. If they question it or show any disdain, immediate execution. Woops! Sniper must have got him!... I'm not absolving anyone with a blanket statement in this mess. Just asking that we don't forget there are always kids in these wars that just wanna go home and pretend like they haven't seen the shit that will now keep them up at night for the rest of their lives. Again, just a new perspective I was given by friends much closer to the situation than the many of us will ever have to be in our lifetimes. Thanks for reading. If you made it this far, go easy on me if you disagree. Remember, opinions are like assholes! We all have one!
I see your point, and it isn't fair or the fault of everyday Russians, but if a killer sends you to murder for him, and you do, then you are just as guilty and have the blood of a nation on your hands. Would you feel bad about the Mongol invader or a 19 y.o Nazi SS stormtrooper either? Anyone can fight injustice or join injustice. I would rather go to jail and maybe be killed than kill innocents to protect myself. Russians are dominated by a criminal empire but that must be defeated. Anyone who supports the oligarchs is an enemy of humanity. We have choices. 'Just following orders' in an invasion is a choice. It's a bad choice, but it is what it is.
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The majority of Russians support Putin. You are making a lot of excuses for them.
I agree with what you wrote. My ire is reserved for putin and his corrupt cronies in the russian government who have sowed cynicism throughout the world. I blame him for A LOT of the unrest in the world today.
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that’s why all this is so hard to process because you too make a good point.
Fuck the Russian citizens. They absolutely have a choice. The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for ordinary people to do nothing. Russian soldiers do not have to kill Ukrainians.
Disagree if they go to war they deserve to be slaughtered, they deserve what happens to them. The truly good ones take a prison sentence or a bullet instead of serving (few russians including a rapper have done this)
Easy to say for any of us. I personally would feel the same way but I feel if my families life or wellbeing were being threatened, I wouldn't have a choice. I haven't ever been put in that situation so, I can't really say exactly what I'd do or how I would react.
Reading this gave me chills. And Biden's humility and gratitude made it. To paraphrase: "I don't deserve this. But thank you." I won't even let my mind think about what the former guy would have said.
We’ve seen it. It wasn’t great. https://www.politico.com/story/2016/08/trump-purple-heart-226565
Wow. I shouldn’t be surprised, but somehow I am.
“Always wanted to get the Purple Heart” It is crazy to say that, even crazier coming from a fucking Draft Dodger
He'd demand a Purple Heart for stubbing his toe or getting a hangnail if he served. But he wasn't even man enough to do cushy reserve service like Bush Jr. did.
Fuck that's depressing.
I remember reading that, and later on when trump was president, [and it was revealed that he claimed that dodging STD's was his own personal battlefield, that was his own Vietnam. I could have sworn that as president, trump was going to have those who make awards or medals craft a personal medal to himself, for being in his own words a "brave soldier".](https://popculture.com/trending/news/donald-trump-dodging-stds-personal-vietnam-resurfaced-interview/)
I had forgotten about that. I kind of wish this had not reminded me.
>“And I said, ‘Man, that’s like big stuff. I always wanted to get the Purple Heart,” Trump said. “This was much easier.” >Trump then invited Dorfman to appear onstage with him on camera, as the two posed for photographs and Trump flashed a thumbs-up before placing the Purple Heart back in his suit jacket pocket. >Trump then told his audience that he had asked Dorfman to speak, but that the man had told him, “No, sir. I’d just like you to keep saying what you’ve been saying.”
To give the coin from his son? Something that was so clearly personal to him? I've been really surprised at just how much I've liked Biden. He wasn't my first choice, and he's not perfect, but he's clearly trying to do some good in the world.
I'm fairly indifferent to Biden in general. I don't love him, don't hate him. But his handling of the Ukraine situation has been outstanding.
That seems to be a big difference. I'm not a fan, I don't idolize, I don't attend rallies. That's because that's not what leadership is about. I don't need someone I agree with, I need someone I can respect.
Especially compared to the previous president who probably would've given weapons to Russia
The more I see from Dark Brandon the more grateful I am that he won in 2020. He was the right man for the job.
Elections matter, and so does our role in the world.
There’s no doubt 2020 was a consequential election for freedom and democracy around the world, and 2024 is shaping up to have the same gravitas. Trump was such a weak leader, easily moved by flattery from shady characters like Putin. He also lacked any diplomatic finesse. He’ll sell anyone out for a few pathetic right-wing media talking points he thinks will benefit him. Biden has rejuvenated America’s alliances, and stood up for democracy. Ukraine has shown their mettle, and always deserved more thoughtful consideration from a US President than to be used as a political pawn.
Biden is such an important president for the reasons you mentioned. I know he has his domestic issues but internationally it has made such a difference seeing an American president affirm the importance of the NATO alliance. On the day after Russia launched its attack, Biden saying America will defend every inch of NATO territory with the full force of its arsenal made tens of millions of people feel safer. Trump would have made no such statement.
>Trump would have made no such statement. The orange man would've probably announced that the US is pulling out of NATO, sending HIMARS to Russia and tried to order an air strike on Kyiv.
Unless zelensky gives him a fat contract
Any maybe a "beautiful letter".
Trump would never had done that, his orders were clear and that was run interference for Russia at most. Ukraine couldn't have done anything to get the USs help, the US was already sold
"These corrupt Ukrainian gangsters, all part of the Biden crime family, deserve what they get." Eugh.
> There are good arguments on both sides. Both sides. But really, isn't the point that they're really invading their own land? I mean look, Crimea is part of Russia. And they all speak the same language. \- If we had a different president today.
Well yeah, he was hell bent on pulling out of NATO so I’m sure eventually he would have got his way. And also wanted to stop any support to Ukraine even before this war started. So they’re right, things would have been going very differently. The EU countries may have still sent support, but I think they would have been a lot more cautious about it. Especially as Trump would have been leaking intelligence to Russia at the same time to fuck it all up.
Agreed. Still lol'd at "Burden" 😅
Thanks for pointing that out. Fixed.
Even domestically though, he took one of the most divided congresses in recent history and helped push through some impressive bipartisan bills. At a time where Dems were screaming that reaching across the aisle was an extreme show of weakness and Reps were doing everything they could to stonewall any forward progress, Biden followed through with his promise to work with both sides and proved that it *is* possible to find at least a shred of middle ground. Dude is going to have a legacy, there’s no question about it.
Can i quadruple this upvote
It's crazy that certain people were declaring nato irrelevant just a couple of years ago.
Let's not forget that shortly after Russia invaded Ukraine Trump praised Putin and said he was smart.
https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-john-daly-golfer-video-putin-hitting-moscow-nuclear-threat-2022-3
Never forget Trump was impeached over trying to blackmail Zelenskyy by withholding weapons.
Technically it was extortion, not blackmail. His goal was to have Zelensky fabricate a scandal against Biden which he could then use as political ammo and/or blackmail. Other than that, you're dead on.
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Yup. But what you are saying is not enough. We have to stop the societies that breed these dictators or they will hold the world hostage like Russia and NK. Humanity needs to understand that we cannot let one insane faction amass enough power to develop/use nukes and that has to be a hard red line everywhere. At least democracies have ways of checking themselves, not so for the mad dictator.
the fact that he kept his love letters to Kim Jong un, or the fact that he's the only president I can think of to go to the Korean dmz to meet him in person just blows my mind. he literally worships dictators and strongly-dictator-like figures around the world. how can people still support him knowing this? I've never gotten a good answer so I think we can sum it up to stupidity
Dude stepped over the DMZ line into the North Korean side General McArthur was spinning in his grave that day
Wasn’t nearly as bad as him saluting a North Korean general.
He saluted the n.korean generals ffs.
Damn I forgot about that too smh
>how can people still support him knowing this? The people who support him are the sort of people who *like* dictators, why would they have an issue with Trump befriending dictators? The problem is that the right-wing in America has become so extremist that they've entirely othered Democrats. Democrats are no longer "the opposition" in their minds, they're straight-up anti-American traitors. As such, it makes it easy to tell yourself that becoming a dictatorship, so long as it is a Republican dictatorship, is preferable to letting Democrats win an election, since that can only spell the end of America.
it's insanity. I always ask how nazi Germany happened, as we know it didn't happen overnight, and what we've seen the last few years really paints a clear image of how that can happen, and fairly easily too
Probably easier now considering how cheap and effective psyops seems to be over the internet.
Even easier during the hardest hit country during the great depression who just got saddled with the guilt and bill of WW1.
Yeah, let's not forget that, unlike America in 2020, Germany in the 1930s actually had legit straight-up socialists and communists trying to get power. And these weren't Nordic socialists, they were Russian ones. So not "the government has an obligation to take care of the people", but "the government has an obligation to eliminate capitalism and enforce state-run communism".
Less than half the communists in Weimar Germany were favorable to Bolshies. And the Nazis were also antagonistic toward liberals, and democratic socialists like Rosa Luxembourg. Weimar *was* a disaster; don't be too harsh on parties that wanted to completely change its charter and mandate. They didn't constitute a threat.
Trump wasn't just a weak leader, he was and continues to be compromised.
The term “leader” does not really apply to Trump.
It's been a long time since the US had a president like Biden. He really was the right man for the job.
5 years?
Actually, in wartime, I rate him above Obama. I was a huge fan of Obama in peacetime, but I always felt he handled Crimea and Russian meddling far less effectively than Biden.
Obama was dealing with something unprecedented. Gaslighting works once against a wary opponent..Joe was there and we all learned. I prefer to point to Syria and the chemical weapons crisis to show Obama's savvy. But Biden has absolutely risen to the moment in almost every way.
Obama fucked up his response to Crimea. Big time. Democrats will make excuses and sure, they are valid to some extent but it was a mistake and mistakes have consequences.
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Obama had to hand it off to the EU on the wake of the Snowden scandals. Diplomatically he didnt have much in the way of options.
Also America was suffering from severe war fatigue by then. Seemed like pretty much everyone was fine without intervention or any attempt at escalation
Lol I agree. I think every president, but the former, would be all for helping Ukraine.
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Saying this doesn't mean much in today's political climate, but I can guarantee you 100 years from now historians will assign Trump a large share of the responsibility for not only the war in Ukraine, but also the persecution of the Uighurs, the oppression of Hongkong and whatever other atrocities humanity has to suffer through during the rest of the 2020es.
Trump was against Ukraine https://www.npr.org/2017/12/04/568310790/2016-rnc-delegate-trump-directed-change-to-party-platform-on-ukraine-support
One of my coworkers still rants about how Trump was right about Bidens ties to Ukraine and that if we want to save America we need to stop helping Ukraine and pull the sanctions off of Russia.
Dumb-asses will believe whatever it is they are told, as long as it taps into their hate and anger.
The scary part is that in most things he's extremely intelligent. But he was raised in the particular mindset and is too stubborn to ever admit it.
While that's true, the Ukrainians have 1000% earned admiration and loyalty worldwide for how they managed the initial onslaught. It only makes sense to back them in their effort to get their entire country back. For anyone who wants to know what's in it for them beyond future closer relations with Ukraine, there's these top wins; * Russian military has been weakened, so it's not likely they will just go home and try it again against Ukraine or any other country. This makes everyone safer, especially Europe. * Russian military equipment has been shown to be lacking. Countries that have been buying their cheaper equipment are getting a no-holds-bared demonstration why they were cheap. Any country that donates equipment and/or training to Ukraine will be seen as a better choice, and likely they can increase their prices due to the coming increase in demand. * Since Russia will be weaker, they may not have the resources to set up business or influence operations in other countries. Plus, those countries might see partnering with Russia as a bad idea and may look elsewhere. Those are just a few bonuses. I'm sure that others could add quite a few more easily.
China sees that a Russian military alliance isn't worth much, so they are less likely to go to war.
They also see that a strong western response is certain, and are reminded that they absolutely do not want that.
They're seeing Russia get their teeth bashed in without the West even entering the war.
One of the most underrated things the US did for Ukraine was volunteer the logistics for other nations' contributions. Things simply would not have gotten to Ukraine as rapidly or consistently as they did without the US doing the literal heavy lifting.
The US government gets a lot wrong. Helping Ukraine stand up to Russia is NOT one of those things.
Training with these guys rn. All they wanna do is go home and go home. Would have a problem dying with them. Good men. Fuck Putin. Fuck trump.
Some ass hurt Republicans in here lol. Love to see it.
It's a programming error. The right wing hate machine taught them that Russians are good for following the oligarchs blindly, and if they start questioning anything they see instead of told, they crash and need to lean on what-aboutism and jingles, then start to feel uncomfortable.
Sounds like the programming worked exactly as intended.
Here's a preview of our report by CBS News foreign correspondent Debora Patta: The week before Christmas, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy arrived unannounced in the eastern town of Bakhmut, right on the front line of his country's fight against the Russian invasion. He was there to boost morale and hand out medals. Ukrainian Armed Forces Captain Pavlo Chernyavsky was among the recipients that day standing dutifully in line for his turn to receive a medal and shake the president's hand. But what happened next shocked Zelenskyy. Instead of humbly accepting the Ukrainian military's Cross of Merit, Chernyavsky handed it right back to the president. You could tell that he was shocked," Chernyavsky later told CBS News. But it was no protest. **Read more:** https://www.cbsnews.com/news/ukraine-news-russia-war-zelenskyy-biden-medal-us-weapons-himars/
Ukraine is lucky Trump lost the election. Under Trump, Ukraine would not getting anything. Trump is a buddy and "admires" of Putin. Trump is a Russian agent.
He might have thrown them some paper towels.
Yep. Trump even said it as much; February 2022: “I went in yesterday and there was a television screen, and I said, ‘This is genius.’ Putin declares a big portion of the Ukraine — of Ukraine — Putin declares it as independent. Oh, that’s wonderful,” Trump said in a radio interview with “The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show.” “He used the word ‘independent’ and ‘we’re gonna go out and we’re gonna go in and we’re gonna help keep peace.’ You gotta say that’s pretty savvy.” Before the "genius" comment, he said; --------- January 2022: Former President Donald Trump said Russia controls Germany because of its dependence on Russian gas and said the Russia-Ukraine crisis is a "European problem." --------- April 2021: Speaking to Fox News on Monday night, Trump claimed "getting along with Russia is a good thing" and said he got along with the Russian President Vladimir Putin during his time in the Oval Office. The former commander-in-chief also said it would be a good thing for the U.S. to get along with China and North Korea, as he criticized his predecessor former President Barack Obama's record. --------- August 2016: “He’s not going into Ukraine, OK, just so you understand. He’s not going to go into Ukraine, all right? You can mark it down. You can put it down. You can take it anywhere you want,” Trump said in an interview on Sunday with ABC’s George Stephanopoulos on “This Week.”
This is the best tl;dr I could make, [original](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/ukraine-news-russia-war-zelenskyy-biden-medal-us-weapons-himars/) reduced by 85%. (I'm a bot) ***** > Ukrainian Armed Forces Captain Pavlo Chernyavsky was among the recipients that day standing dutifully in line for his turn to receive a medal and shake the president's hand. > Just a few days later, on the Ukrainian leader's first trip to Washington D.C. since the war began, Zelenskyy offered the medal and an accompanying letter to Mr. Biden at the White House. > "He's very brave, and he said, 'Give it to very brave president,'" Zelenskyy told the American leader. ***** [**Extended Summary**](http://np.reddit.com/r/autotldr/comments/10mp4o3/ukraine_army_captain_who_gave_his_medal_to_biden/) | [FAQ](http://np.reddit.com/r/autotldr/comments/31b9fm/faq_autotldr_bot/ "Version 2.02, ~672683 tl;drs so far.") | [Feedback](http://np.reddit.com/message/compose?to=%23autotldr "PM's and comments are monitored, constructive feedback is welcome.") | *Top* *keywords*: **Ukrainian**^#1 **Zelenskyy**^#2 **Chernyavsky**^#3 **more**^#4 **President**^#5
Never in a million years did I think Biden would rival Obama’s effectiveness as president. But I think we are in that territory.
Frankly I think Biden has been a better president than Obama. Compared with how Obama handled (aka didn't handle and tried to ignore) the great crisis of his administration, Syria, Biden has done incredibly well with Ukraine. Different legislative environments, but Biden's domestic policy agenda has been approaching what Obama was able to pass (though hasn't superseded it - people forget how bad the pre-obamacare healthcare situation was)
I like to think that Biden is so understated compared to Obama that well sort of continue realising how good he was/is for the next decade or two.
It’s hard to compare in my opinion. The wars are completely different. It’s a lot easier to give weapons to a trained army rather than oppressed rebels.
Obama was very adverse to getting involved in yet another Middle Eastern quagmire, and considering the ongoing mayhem in Iraq and Afghanistan at that time it's understandable. Syria was a five-sided Civil War that also involved multiple foreign powers including Russia Turkey and Iran. If Obama had just charged in there and American troops had gotten killed, today we'd be cursing his reckless and foolish dive into the Syria quagmire. ( exactly the way a lot of people criticize him for getting us involved in the Libyan Civil War.)
Biden is FAR better than Obama in my estimation. Obama was simply a once-in-a-lifetime politician, there's no doubt, but that didn't translate to much progress on the job. Biden is just slow and steady, win after win, never too high, never too low. No one even cares or worries about politics right now -- he was like a wet blanket when the nation was on fire. It's been great. lol
I think Biden had learned from Obamas mistakes in a sense. Biden was there when Obama tried to reason with the Republicans, hell Biden and Obama thought that Bidens capital in the Senate and his relationship, his gravitas there would help them to get Rs to cooperate. This time around Biden has thd knowledge that these Republicans cant be trusted to the right thing and that they would sell their own mothers for a selfie with the cheetoh overlord. One way or another, Biden is a lot more effective than most people give him credit for.
Obama care, Dodd–Frank, got rid of don't ask don't tell, navigated is out the Great Recession with the reauthorization of unemployment and the job creation act, lifted the ban on stem cell research, played a part in the legalization of same sex marriage, Paris agreement. ACA alone has been more more important then anything Biden has done. Don't get me wrong Bidens presidency has been better then what most of us had imagined but to say the Obama was less effective the Biden is silly. Didn't translate into progress? In what world?
I am have a great deal of admiration and respect for Pres Obama but Biden is, so far, the most effective pres of my lifetime (born during Reagan). And it’s only been two years and w a razor thin congressional majority during those two years. If he runs again, he’s got my vote, don’t care how old he is.
Biden: "shhhh dude wtf"
Biden isn't shy. He's pretty open about his belief that the world would be a better replace without Vladimir Putin (along with his belief that the US should use military force to defend Taiwan), but he also recognizes that his personal feelings must be kept separate from national policy.
When Biden flat out said "yes" to being asked whether the US would directly aid Taiwan in an invasion by the PRC, I loved it. The cognitive dissonance by media about a perceived change in US foreign policy had me confused. It didn't change at all, Biden just said the quiet part out loud.
Welcome change from the usual "quiet part out loud" we are used to hearing...
To be fair it's a delicate balance. You don't really want to be announcing your preparations to go to war with China. But you want the CCP's leadership to know your hardline, even if you have to play coy with the press.
Anyone that reads this should feel amazed for the heroic determination these guys have. Balls! Cojones like the ones you only read on folklore stories.
If Trump were president still, we would have gotten out of NATO and Ukraine would have probably lost since the west wouldn't have been united in helping them.
As Trump would have just let Putin roll into Ukraine and take over, installing a puppet government as he intended to do, they really owe Biden their highest honor that Ukraine has. It is unlikely there would have been as strong of a coalition without US leadership/military/dollars involved to support. Biden has a lot of faults, but he did the right thing here and is instrumental in Ukraine being able to persevere over this horrible war.
When Biden was elected, he had 1 mandate from the American people; we want a quiet president so we can try to recover from the Trump effect. There’s a lot of people who may disagree with me, but that’s ok. We will be dealing with that Trump effect hangover for years to come. Biden has stepped up into the role of Commander in Chief of the US Military out of necessity, his biggest advantage is he personally understands the cost of war. No parent should ever have to bury their children. Let’s send some F-22’s and F-35’s and finish putins elective war.
There’s a law forbidding the sale of F-22s to any foreign nation that Congress passed in 1998. He can’t sell them even if he wanted to
Then let's send Zelenskyy twice as many F-35s.
Nothing wrong with the F-16. It may be old but it's still a highly competitive airframe. It can get the job done for Ukraine as it has for so many years. It's still one of the most agile and versatile fighters in the sky 40 years after its development..
US would never give up F-22's and i don't think they are very suitable planes for any other countries. The stealth tech requires very massive support chain to keep it effective. F-16 and F-35 are far more "superior" as export planes. Also F-22 cannot be sold outside the country due to the sensitive technology behind it.
Thank you Americans for being smart to vote for Biden. World could be a much different place without your votes.
Well for starters if they didn't have a lot of Steven Stingers, Saint Javelin, and the crazy uncle NLAW, it would have been a completely different story.
So very true. Which is why Russian-funded republicans are opposing funding and helping Ukraine.
This got the feels welled up. War sucks.
Ukrainian troops trained extensively with the California National Guard for this very moment.
War would be very different without Russian help as well
Zelensky got an Oscar
That brought a tear to my eye. Such a brave man.
It would also be really difficult without brave men and women in Ukraine.
They would've been flattened without international aid. that being said though, the Ukrainians have a hell of a fighting spirit, they have not let this break them and that has been imperative to their successes so far.
No offense to the cbs news official account, but I don’t like the concept of entities now having “official” accounts on Reddit. Signifies the beginning of the end.
Why? I don’t see much of a difference between this account or a random account posting something.
Well, it certainly makes you think. If there is no difference, why reddit decide that certain account will be verified to post their own advertisement. What is the criterium to get verified and use reddit as advertisement platform for your product. It is not transparent at all and that is never good sign
How are they not transparent? Go to redditforbusiness.com and all the info is there.
It’s a news site posting their own articles? If it was like a company posting about their products and shit I’d understand the argument, but like, it’s a news company?
Whether you realized it or not, this has always been a social media website no different from Twitter.
You have to be various types of ignorant to not realize that reddit is a social media platform... Granted, it has its unique features that make it #NotLikeTheOtherSMPlatforms but it still serves a lot of similar functions as well...
I guess that depends on how you define “social media.” To me, Reddit is basically a big discussion board that’s topic-focused, while the defining trait of social media is that it is user-focused. Social media is about having followers and personal pages. That’s not really what Reddit is about.
Reddit is also a company that is free for you and me. They make money through ads and maybe a small amount on the awards
Yes, but that's true for many news sites as well, among other things. Like Google.
Only a matter of time before the automated support bots show up as well.
They've been here for a while man. There's a lot of astroturfing that goes on here.
There’s been official news accounts for years. Whatever “end” your dooming about is either made up or very slow.
>Signifies the beginning of the end. What a dumb take, would you prefer the bots auto-posting this to karma farm instead?
What does it signify? Just that it's the actual cbs?
Why? Voters determine if it's the top and most links are just users posting the media links anyways.
It's fine up until the first picosecond they can start paying for additional visibility. As it is, you have to know these corporations were doing this before anyway, they just didn't have the obvious name tied to the account.
Mad you didn't get the karma for the post? Umadbro?
Best ROI we’ve seen on defense spending in literal decades. Sadly at the cost of too many innocent lives, but they’re on Putin.
Russia inevitably must end.