Will the veil finally be lifted on US-Ukraine corruption?

 

In mid-2022 I published an article titled "Corruption in Ukraine, and its links to Washington DC".  It looks as if the scale of the corruption we hinted at, two and a half years ago, may be very much larger.

Ukraine did not receive as much foreign aid as claimed by the administration of US President Joe Biden, and whatever help it did get was largely embezzled, a former Polish deputy minister has claimed. Up to a half of the funds that reached Kiev was stolen by Ukrainian officials, Piotr Kulpa has alleged.

The political commentator previously held several posts in the Polish government, serving as deputy labor minister in the mid-2000s, and is currently a regular contributor on Ukrainian online shows.

“Everyone understands that war-related corruption is linked not only with Ukraine, but also the supplier nation,” he said. “Who would ever believe that the US burned through $2 trillion in Afghanistan? It’s delusional!”

US aid programs are a mechanism to “write off large sums of money that finance shady systems under the Democratic Party’s control,” he alleged. The incoming Trump administration could review government finances and discover the truth that “Ukraine got very little” compared to the amounts mentioned in public statements, Kulpa claimed.

“But they will also find something else: that a huge portion of the funds was stolen in Ukraine. From 30% to 50%, regardless of the nature of the aid,” he added.

If Kiev were to recover all the embezzled money for the Ukrainian budget, the country would have enough for a year, Kulpa said.

There's more at the link.

Of course, US corrupt dealings with Ukraine go back further than the war, as President Biden effectively admitted when he short-circuited a prosecutor investigating the matter.  Remember this, from 2018, referring to events in 2016?

One does look forward to seeing what comes out in the wash, so to speak.  If money flows from Ukraine to US politicians can be proved, we may hope to see some of the most corrupt players in Washington D.C. get their come-uppance . . . but they wield great influence, and may be able to get the investigation derailed.  I guess time will tell.

Peter

Unspeakable tragedy - but it's not the first time

 

News of a police shooting in Missouri has shocked many readers.

Chilling body camera footage captures a Missouri mom holding her baby as she lunges with a huge kitchen knife at cops who then shoot them both dead.

The newly released footage shows officers — called to a reported family assault — initially talking calmly to mom Maria Pike, 34, as she holds her 2-month-old daughter Destinii Hope while standing inside a closet at her home in Independence.

Eleven minutes into the footage, Pike can be seen suddenly grabbing a large knife from a bedside table and lunging toward an officer.

There's more at the link, including video footage.

I'm sure the police officers are just as traumatized by what happened as the deceased lady's husband.  Sadly, they had no time to think, no time to plan - particularly for a situation like that.  They could only react, and defend their own lives.

It's not the first time I've come across something like that.  I've mentioned before on this blog an incident in South Africa, one where I was an eye-witness.

I was present when a vehicle-mounted patrol was passing through a very volatile area.  A woman rushed out from behind a hut, with a baby strapped to her chest in the typical African manner.  She charged the lead vehicle, holding a Molotov cocktail in either hand, their fuses lit.  The soldiers on the vehicle had a very simple binary choice.  Shoot her - which meant snap-shooting, probably through the baby on her chest, because there was no time to take careful aim and avoid it - or be immolated when the gasoline bombs exploded inside the load bed of the patrol vehicle.  You can imagine their feelings . . . but they were left with no other options.  She, and her baby, died.  Whose fault was that baby's death?  Not the soldiers', I would argue.

Again, more at the link.

What causes a mother to "snap" like that?  How can she even think of endangering her own child in order to attack others?  I don't know . . . for that matter, I don't suppose anyone knows.  For the deceased mother's sake, I can only hope that there was some sort of mental illness or aberration involved - because I can't imagine any mother making a sane, rational choice to act like that.  It's beyond comprehension.

Say a prayer, if you'll be so kind, for the souls of that mother and her child - and for the sanity of her husband, who had to watch that happen.  I don't know if he'll ever be the same man again.  Also, of course, pray for the officers involved, who have to be carrying all sorts of emotional guilt, even though they must know intellectually that she left them with no choice.  Believe me when I say that, even if one hasn't pulled a trigger, the emotional guilt of such an experience takes decades to subside, and is never completely forgotten.

Peter

The Biden pardon

 

As my readers are doubtless aware, yesterday President Biden pardoned his son Hunter for any and all offenses against US law from 2014 until 2024.  In case you were wondering about the ten-year period, that's when Ukraine became the focus of US money-laundering and jiggey-pokery by our politicians.  Effectively, Hunter Biden was the bagman for certain corrupt US interests (some would call it the Biden crime family) during the whole of that period.

The pardon comes after President Biden repeatedly promised he would not pardon his son for his crimes.  There again, promises seldom (if ever) mean anything to crooked politicians, so we need not be surprised that the President broke them yet again.

I'm curious about the timing of the pardon.  I'd expected it, but figured it would more likely come as President Biden's term of office ended in January 2025, a last-minute "up yours!" to his political opponents and the American people.  I suppose it was brought forward to forestall a guilty verdict in the charges Hunter Biden was facing over tax evasion and other crimes.  The message conveyed by the pardon to the American electorate is, of course, the same.

I doubt we'll ever see President Biden and/or his family called to account for their crimes and misdemeanors while in office.  However, there are many politicians who "made hay while the sun shone", taking advantage of his protection to enrich themselves and get away with all sorts of shenanigans.  One hopes the incoming Trump administration will shine a light into the dark corners of American politics, uncovering those machinations and holding the guilty accountable.  That may be a pipe-dream - politicians tend to cover for each other, even their opponents, because so many of them are guilty of the same crimes - but we may hope.

Peter

Memes that made me laugh 238

 

Gathered from around the Internet over the past week.  Click any image for a larger view.