Biden: 'Unlikely' missile that hit Poland fired from Russia
By: SEUNG MIN KIM, ZEKE MILLER and MICHAEL BALSAMO N (AP NEWS)
A man in search of nuance. Or, how tough words can come back to bite you on the ass.
We really don't know who is doing what in Ukraine. Yet, we are to believe that the United States has granular data tracking the trajectories of individual missiles. Interesting, to say the least.
The immutable laws of gravity really does mean that what goes up must come down. Shooting down a missile only means the intended target wasn't hit. The weapon hasn't been vaporized into non-existence. And the warhead can still explode when it falls out of the sky. Anti-missile weapons have to fall out of the sky, as well.
We know that Ukrainians have been bragging about capturing Russian weapons, too. We've seen the glowing reports on newscasts. So, merely claiming a weapon is Russian doesn't indicate very much.
So, Biden is reduced to the nuance of a plausible story. This isn't a President that wants to win a war by fighting a war. The paper tiger has to remain in its cage to avoid revealing too much.
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
NUSA DUA, Indonesia (AP) — President Joe Biden said Wednesday it was "unlikely" that a missile that killed two in NATO-ally Poland was fired from Russia, but he pledged support for Poland's investigation into what it had called a "Russian-made" missile.
Biden spoke after he convened an "emergency" meeting of the Group of Seven and NATO leaders in Indonesia Wednesday morning for consultations on the explosion that killed two people in the eastern part of Poland near the Ukraine border.
"There is preliminary information that contests that," Biden told reporters when asked if the missile had been fired from Russia. "It is unlikely in the lines of the trajectory that it was fired from Russia, but we'll see."
Three U.S. officials said preliminary assessments suggested the missile was fired by Ukrainian forces at an incoming Russian missile amid a crushing salvo against Ukraine's electrical infrastructure Tuesday. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly.
Ukraine still maintains stocks of former Soviet and Russian-made weaponry, including the S-300 air-defense missile system.
The president, who was awakened overnight by staff with the news of the missile explosion while in Indonesia for the Group of 20 summit, called Polish President Andrzej Duda early Wednesday to express his "deep condolences" for the loss of life. Biden promised on Twitter "full U.S support for and assistance with Poland's investigation," and "reaffirmed the United States' ironclad commitment to NATO."
Biden said that he briefed the allies on his conversations with Duda and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and that there was "Total unanimity among the folks at the table" to support Poland's investigation into the explosion.
"I'm going to make sure we find out exactly what happened," Biden said. "And then we're going to collectively determine our next step as we investigate."
Meeting at a large round table in a ballroom in his hotel, the U.S. president hosted the leaders of the G-7, which includes Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the European Union, along with the president of the European Council and the prime ministers of NATO allies Spain and the Netherlands.
Biden held a separate meeting later with new British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, in their first extended conversation since he took office last month.
"We're going to continue to support Ukraine as long as Russia continues their aggression," Biden said alongside Sunak, adding that he was "glad we're on the same page" in backing Ukraine.
A statement from the Polish Foreign Ministry identified the missile as being made in Russia. But Poland's president, Duda, was more cautious about its origin, saying that officials did not know for sure who fired it or where it was made. He said it was "most probably" Russian-made, but that is being still verified. If confirmed, it would be the first time since the invasion of Ukraine that a Russian weapon came down on a NATO country.
Biden also said the leaders condemned "the latest series of Russian missile attacks," referring to the confirmed Russian strikes in recent days that have targeted Ukraine's power grid and caused widespread blackouts.
"The moment when the world came together at the G-20 to urge de-escalation, Russia continues to escalate in Ukraine, while we're meeting," Biden said. "There were scores and scores of missile attacks in western Ukraine."
Biden and his allies had set out to isolate Russia at the G-20 summit and the group's final communique was expected to show that "most" of the nations in the G-20 condemn Russia's invasion.
Underscoring the extraordinarily tense situation, CIA Director William Burns was in Kyiv on Tuesday during the barrage of Russian missiles. He remained in the U.S. embassy in Kyiv during the strikes.
Burns briefed Zelenskyy and Ukrainian officials on his meeting in Turkey with the head of Russia's foreign intelligence service, according to another U.S. official who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss intelligence matters.
Burns told Ukrainian officials that he had delivered a U.S. warning to Russia not to use nuclear weapons, the U.S. official said.
In addition to Biden's conversations, Secretary of State Antony Blinken held talks with his Polish and Ukrainian counterparts Wednesday, the State Department said.
Army Gen. Mark Milley spoke with Polish Chief of the General Staff Gen. Rajmund Andrzejczak on Tuesday. The Joint Staff said the two generals discussed the explosion in Poland and the loss of life there. He provided no other details.
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I shot an arrow into the air, It fell to earth, I knew not where ...
Maybe Poland?
The crap would've hit the fan if the missile that landed in Poland was supplied by NATO. But, then, NATO has been sending Soviet weapons to Ukraine, at Ukraine's request. The only thing that means is we really don't know who is doing what in Ukraine.
Too many people forget that not really all that long ago, Ukraine was part of the Soviet Union, right next to Russia.
It’s a race to see which is least trustworthy .....
I’m shocked it’s taken this long for something like this to happen.
Watch the spin go into overdrive if it’s found to not be of Russian origin.
It was Ukrainian defense system missiles.
Not surprising if true.
Oops ...... here comes the spin ......
No, no, no. Any explanations involving the actions of Ukraine or NATO are nuanced.
Nuanced .... like the sands through the hourglass of time .....
Yeah, something like that.
Biden stating that the trajectory of missile indicates it wasn't fired from Russia is nuance. A joint NATO statement that Russia ultimately bears responsibility is spin.
Nuance allows keeping the cake and spin allows eating the cake.
Brandon the human fuck up machine is at it again. Hope all of those beating the war drums in the US read this. This is the very reason we shouldn't be involved at all in this fucked up war! One faux incident and the neocons and chicken hawks are ready to start WWIII.
From Russia? Russia fires missiles inside Ukraine!
So now you don't trust Brandon the human fuck up machine?
Read the damn article!
Or if that is too much just read what I pasted from the article in comment # 3
They have fired a few from just inside the Russian border. However the seem to be running out of long range, guided, missiles. Throwing a lot of old school missiles at Ukraine targets now, the old point and shoot ones.
A man who is on video looking for deceased members of congress and got the location of where his son died is telling us the munitions DIDN'T come from Russia? Sorry. I'll wait for a more reliable source.
Spin spin spin. Hard to accept that Biden was right, isn't it.
Even a blind, deaf, and dumb squirrel finds a nut every once in a very long while.
I didn't question Brandon being right (for once).
I questioned the neocons and chicken hawks that were screaming about going to war with Russia over it.
Okay. And I didn't say who was spinning.
What is being spun? Biden drew a hard red line. Now Biden needs a nuanced reason to avoid enforcing that hard red line.
Stating that the missile hitting Poland may be Russian but was likely fired by Ukrainians is nuance to avoid enforcing a hard red line. A joint NATO statement that Russia bears ultimate responsibility is spin to blame Russia without having to do anything.
It's important to note that Zelensky is denying that the missile was fired by Ukrainians. Zelensky is pushing Biden to enforce his own hard red line. Zelensky appears to think starting World War III will advantageous for Ukraine.
We’ve got a Comedian running Ukraine, a sociopath running Russia and angry grandpa running the USA ...... God help us al!