Category Archives: defense policy

Yet Another Reason

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…to adjust our supply chains, especially the beginning points of them in this case.

Palladium and neon gas are seriously needed for chip production, and Russia’s invasion and attempt to conquer or destroy Ukraine is about to have a major effect on the supply of those items if nations and businesses don’t make the required adjustments.

Russia and Ukraine produce 40% to 50% of semiconductor-grade neon, according to market-research firm Techcet CA LLC. Largely derived from steel manufacturing, neon gas is used in lasers that help in the design of semiconductors.
Approximately 37% of the world’s palladium production comes from Russian mines, according to Techcet, and the metal is used in sensor chips and certain types of computing memory.

As a follow-on, palladium at least might be sourced from the People’s Republic of China, expanding that nation’s influence over the economies and national security of the US and the nations of Europe.

However expensive the shift will be, changing to other sources are critical to security. The PRC notwithstanding, South Africa is nearly as large a palladium producer as Russia. The US can produce our own neon gas either directly, or as a byproduct of steel production with further refinement for use in chip production.

It’s not only production of palladium and neon that matters, though. Currently, the PRC is the major producer of finished chip components and of finished chips themselves. That, also, needs to change, and other producers of chips and components need to be found, and producers need to be developed domestically.

In any event, there’s also little reason to go back to buying either of these from Russia, even if it is driven out of Ukraine. So long as the current men and women of the Russian government—at all levels—remain in place, that nation cannot be trusted with anything.

This is Just Dumb

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President Joe Biden (D) says there are only two alternatives vis-à-vis Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

You have two options. Start a Third World War, go to war with Russia physically. Or two, make sure that a country that acts so contrary to international law ends up paying a price for having done it[.]

Biden-Harris went on to admit that sanctions can have no immediate effect.

Leave aside the simple fact that Russian President Vladimir Putin is perfectly willing to “pay a price;” he’ll still have Ukraine after ponying up.

No, the problems here are two. One is that effects of sanctions that take effect (maybe) at some time in a nebulous future do Ukraine no good in the present with Ukrainian men, women, and children dying now. Ukraine—soldiers and civilians alike—is fighting for its survival against Russia as the latter’s soldiers invade and kill now. Biden knows this.

The other problem is that there is at least one additional alternative: sending serious arms, ammunition, and training in serious quantities to the Ukrainian military. So far, what Biden—and the weak European government men and women—are delivering is insultingly limited quantities: the ammunition amounts, for instance, that they deign transfer are good only for a few days.

A bonus alternative: cyber attacks against Russian government-military communications. Hacks into Russian financial facilities to completely drain (or simply to completely corrupt) the financial holdings of Putin and his oligarch cronies and of the officers and their civilian counterparts of the General Staff of the Russian Defense Ministry.

Interested readers can think of more. It’s appalling that Biden-Harris cannot. Or chooses not to.

A Two-Edged Sword, and another Thought

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Russia is a, if not the, major exporter of energy to Europe, and that helps hold Germany especially, and Europe generally, back from fully supporting Ukraine against Russia’s invasion of that nation.

The two-edged sword is this.

If Russian gas to Europe stops flowing entirely, “this would do severe damage to Europe’s economy and also undermine global growth,” Mr [EurasiaGroup’s Director, Energy, Climate & Resources, Henning] Gloystein said.

That damage, were it to be inflicted by Russia’s President Vladimir Putin, should prod Europe, and especially Germany, decisively away from Russian gas (and oil) altogether, as it would make clear—or should make clear—just how many weapons, including economic, the men and women of Russia’s government are willing to use in order to club Europe into submission.

The disruption from such an assault on Europe would not be felt until the next fall and winter; Europe has reserves enough to finish the present winter. That should be sufficient time for Europe to find more reliable supplies of energy. It might even convince German Chancellor Olaf Scholz to reverse ex-Chancellor Angela Merkel’s panicky cancelation of the nation’s nuclear plant energy production (although, maybe not—Germany has gotten used to tacit subservience to Russia).

The additional thought flows from this remark by President Joe Biden (D) in the context of that Russian invasion, quoted in the article at the link:

I will do everything in my power to limit the pain the American people are feeling at the gas pump. This is critical to me.

This is virtue-signaling dishonesty. Biden’s “everything” consists of begging OPEC and Russia(!) to pump more oil. Biden utterly refuses to open Keystone XL; to get his Cabinet and himself out of the way of exploring, drilling, and pumping lease permits on Federal land and water; to get his Executive Orders and his Cabinet rules and regulations out of the way of our oil and natural gas production and fracking for same; to get his administration out of the way of liquid natural gas production and port development so we can export LNG; to do anything at all to support and expand our domestic oil and gas production.

Biden-Harris’ determined war on our American hydrocarbon energy production industry represents a strong impediment to Europe’s ability to wean itself off Russian energy, and his war supports the Russian invasion effort by contributing heavily to the rapidly increasing price of oil (which underlies those rising “gas pump” prices), which in turn increases revenue for Putin’s Russian economy.

 

[NB: Germany has agreed a limited SWIFT sanction against “selected” Russian banks, and it has authorized shipment of some anti-tank RPGs, stinger anti-aircraft missiles, and 10 metric tons of fuel to the Ukrainian military.]

Yes, He Can

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Since Russia President Vladimir Putin—the man then-Presidential candidate Joe Biden (D) bragged was so afraid of him—invaded Ukraine, oil prices have gone up to levels not seen since the Obama years, even beyond the inflation levels Biden-Harris’ current war on our energy industry had already driven them: $105/barrel. Biden-Harris proclaimed last Thursday,

I know this is hard and that Americans are already hurting. I will do everything in my power to limit the pain the American people are feeling at the gas pump.

Jason Furman, one of ex-President Barack Obama’s (D) economic minions, claims—and he’s actually serious—

This is a world price and the president is largely powerless to do much[.]

Both men are being cynically disingenuous; Biden-Harris’ dissembling, though, given his position in our current government and on the world’s stage, is especially pernicious.

Our President actually could do quite a bit about oil prices for our nation and for our friends and allies; he could do quite a bit about energy prices generally, were he not in thrall to the “green” extreme Left.

He could, for instance, reopen the Keystone XL pipeline and work to get Canada to reopen oil flows from its end.

He could get out of the way of drilling leases on Federal land.

He could get out of the way of fracking for domestic oil and natural gas.

He could get out of the way of American exports of oil and liquid natural gas to Europe.

He could rescind the myriad anti-hydrocarbon regulations he enacted via Executive Order or that he had his several Cabinets enact through rules.

The list is really quite extensive.

Biden-Harris has moved to release oil from our strategic reserve, but that’s merely insulting in its puniness and in its use to distract from energy price inflation.

Instead, Biden-Harris is allowing energy prices, especially those for oil and natural gas, to rise rapidly, and that benefits no one more than it benefits Russia, which needs high oil prices to support its budget—especially during its assault on Ukraine.

An Accurate Read of the Emasculated West

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This time, it’s not Russian President Vladimir Putin or People’s Republic of China President Xi Jinping. It’s Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in his very early Friday morning (our time) statement.

This morning we are defending our state alone. Like yesterday, the world’s most powerful forces are watching from afar[.]

Indeed. Safe and comfortable in their seats high in the coliseum as they watch the mayhem down on the sand.

And:

Did yesterday’s sanctions convince Russia? We hear in our sky and see on our earth that this was not enough.

And this:

Today, I have asked 27 European leaders whether Ukraine will be in NATO. I have asked directly—everyone is afraid, no one answers.

Finally,

But we are not afraid. We are not afraid of anything. We are not afraid to defend our country, we are not afraid of Russia, we are not afraid to talk to Russia, we are not afraid to talk about anything, about security guarantees for our country, we are not afraid of talking about neutrality, we are not NATO members at the moment. But what guarantees will we get? And most importantly which countries will give us those guarantees?

What will Ukraine get in the way of guarantees? What would be the value of those guarantees, were any to come? The Budapest Memorandum was a guarantee by the US, Great Britain, and Russia of Ukraine’s political, economic, and territorial integrity if they gave up their nuclear weapons. Those three signatories betrayed Ukraine when they welched on the Memorandum. The first Minsk accords? They were another early betrayal of Ukraine and codified the Budapest “guarantee’s” destruction, a betrayal perpetrated by those same three signers. Minsk II? Again, betrayal. These are the countries that will give new “guarantees.” And now Putin invades.

“No one answers.” The “sanctions” levied by Biden-Harris and his timorous fellows in Europe are insulting in their weakness. The ex-comedian who leads a nation under attack has far more courage and deserves—as does his nation—far more aid, concrete aid, than he’s getting. Aid far more constructive than cheers for his nation and tongue-clucks for Russia, safely delivered from those high up seats.

Sadly, disgustingly, I have to share Zelenskyy’s contempt for these Western…persons…but most especially for Biden-Harris; he, and they, are not leaders. Merely cheerleaders in the stands.