[dabigv13]

Totally agree. I will point out however that the SecDef may have actually run it by the President and received a verbal OK. The President may not have realized what he had agreed to, or he may have forgotten he even did agree. In any case, it is IMO very disturbing, at best. What is the "plan" in Ukraine and how does this series of events fit into the plan?

Some new reporting on this. The whole article is worth reading but I think this is the meat of it.

The Pentagon’s decision to suspend the shipments of weapons — including Patriot interceptor missiles and artillery ammunition — came after Trump asked Hegseth last month during their trip to the NATO summit to provide him with an assessment of US weapons stockpiles, one of the sources told CNN. Iran and Israel were bombing each other, and Trump wanted to be sure US troops in the region had sufficient munitions to defend themselves if necessary.
Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell confirmed last week that the department was conducting “a capability review … to ensure US military aid aligns with our defense priorities.”
But Trump did not specifically direct Hegseth to halt weapons shipments to Ukraine as part of that review, three of the sources said. That recommendation came from Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Elbridge Colby, all five sources said, who has long been skeptical of sending large quantities of US military aid to Ukraine.
“A Europe first policy is not what America needs in this exceptionally dangerous time. We need to focus on China and Asia - clearly,” Colby wrote on X last year.
Colby then provided his recommendations to Deputy Secretary of Defense Steve Feinberg, who approved of the move — particularly because of his longstanding concerns that the defense industry is not moving fast enough to replenish US stockpiles, two of the sources said. Hegseth provided the final signoff, thinking it would align with Trump’s “America first” priorities, one of the sources familiar with his thinking said.

It's of course still possible this could be the administration covering for one of the scenarios you posit, and Hegseth and Colby just have to eat sh*t on it.

https://www.cnn.com/2025/07/08/politics/...pons-pause

[dabigv13]

Totally agree. I will point out however that the SecDef may have actually run it by the President and received a verbal OK. The President may not have realized what he had agreed to, or he may have forgotten he even did agree. In any case, it is IMO very disturbing, at best. What is the "plan" in Ukraine and how does this series of events fit into the plan?

Some new reporting on this. The whole article is worth reading but I think this is the meat of it.

The Pentagon’s decision to suspend the shipments of weapons — including Patriot interceptor missiles and artillery ammunition — came after Trump asked Hegseth last month during their trip to the NATO summit to provide him with an assessment of US weapons stockpiles, one of the sources told CNN. Iran and Israel were bombing each other, and Trump wanted to be sure US troops in the region had sufficient munitions to defend themselves if necessary.
Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell confirmed last week that the department was conducting “a capability review … to ensure US military aid aligns with our defense priorities.”
But Trump did not specifically direct Hegseth to halt weapons shipments to Ukraine as part of that review, three of the sources said. That recommendation came from Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Elbridge Colby, all five sources said, who has long been skeptical of sending large quantities of US military aid to Ukraine.
“A Europe first policy is not what America needs in this exceptionally dangerous time. We need to focus on China and Asia - clearly,” Colby wrote on X last year.
Colby then provided his recommendations to Deputy Secretary of Defense Steve Feinberg, who approved of the move — particularly because of his longstanding concerns that the defense industry is not moving fast enough to replenish US stockpiles, two of the sources said. Hegseth provided the final signoff, thinking it would align with Trump’s “America first” priorities, one of the sources familiar with his thinking said.

It's of course still possible this could be the administration covering for one of the scenarios you posit, and Hegseth and Colby just have to eat sh*t on it.

https://www.cnn.com/2025/07/08/politics/...pons-pause