The US military death toll now stands at 17, including those two US service members who were killed on Friday in Jordan.
The US death toll is very likely to go higher as the escalating violence continues to spiral.
US Central Command was saying today that it attacked the IRGC forces responsible for those Jordan attacks, as well as targeting communication and air defence facilities in Iran. The US embassy in Jordan issued another warning of imminent and credible threats, leading to the evacuation of the international airport there as the situation continues to spiral towards more and more danger.
As these numbers tick up, this is not boding well for Americans’ belief that this conflict may end with a negotiated conclusion. There are few that believe that Trump has the ability to negotiate a deal that is better than that of Obama.
The president’s approval ratings reflect this pessimism at below 40 percent. President Trump today, though, hasn’t said anything about these US deaths at this point. He is watching the World Cup final as his military continues to seek retribution.
Under Constant Pressure from 47, NATO finally agrees to 5% of GDP military spending, Rasputin is screwed. There is no way he can match. Russian ekonomy is only the size of Italy.
ReplyDeleteUkraine stopped waiting for US Patriots. Zelenskyy and nine European leaders met in Paris on Monday and launched a coalition to build Ukraine's interceptor, FREYJA.
Fire Point says FREYJA runs cheaper and more scalable than the US Patriot — Rishi Iyengar, Foreign Policy. 1/
For years the West armed Ukraine. Now Ukrainian technology sits at the base, and Europe's defense giants bolt their systems onto it.
Fire Point signed with German radar maker Hensoldt last month and calls FREYJA the foundation for the first European missile defense shield. 2/
Zelenskyy named the European firms backing the program, calling out four. They include Sweden's Saab, Germany's Diehl Defence, and France's Thales and Safran.
Zelenskyy: Each of us has important pieces. Together, over the next 12 months, we can build this system at scale. 3/
Fire Point, founded in 2022, already builds Ukraine's Flamingo cruise missiles and FP-1 strike drones behind the recent strikes on Russian oil refineries deep inside Russia.
Fire Point builds FREYJA on its FP-7.x interceptor, now the base for the pan-European system. 4/
The coalition brings in Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, and the UK, ten nations counting Ukraine.
They pledged a shared anti-ballistic missile capacity for Europe, and Ukraine's own system is the first they will build together. 5/
Ukraine downs Russian cruise missiles and Shahed drones. Ballistic missiles stay the hard gap.
Kateryna Stepanenko of the Institute for the Study of War: Russia fires several ballistics at once, and Ukraine and Europe lack the air defense. The coalition is a wake-up call. 6/
From his talks with Macron, Zelenskyy left with licenses for Safran's AASM Hammer bombs, SCALP cruise missiles, and Aster-30 air defense missiles.
Ukraine will also get Franco-Italian SAMP-T anti-ballistic systems and 16 French Rafale fighter jets, from the same package. 7/
Zelenskyy hosted EU chief von der Leyen in Kyiv on Wednesday and expects EU money for the Anti-Ballistic Missile Program.
Trump, at the Ankara summit, agreed to let Ukraine make Patriot systems Lockheed Martin and Raytheon build. His war with Iran has left them scarce. 8/
Kyiv runs two tracks. It builds FREYJA with Europe while pushing the Patriot license with Washington.
Zelenskyy: The more diverse our defense is, the harder it will be for our enemies to undermine security in Europe. Europe can protect itself against any ballistic threat. 9X
https://x.com/mylovanov/status/2078912726273765705?s=46&t=8K6fzabO3g6uaj4KxwSSjg