Members of Congress secretly go to Russian border to investigate 'serious threat to Ukraine

[turbinetree]

By Sarah K. Burris
Published December 12, 2021

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Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) joined with other members of Congress in a secret trip to Ukraine where they could investigate the specifics about what Russia is doing to threaten the U.S. ally.

Speaking to CNN Sunday, Gallego explained that the massive military presence sitting on the Ukraine/Russia border is "a serious threat to Ukraine." He also said that the U.S. needs to be prepared to act on that.

"You never know what [Vladimir] Putin is going to do because Putin is not a rational actor in the way that he's going to take into account what is important to his country," said Gallego. "What's important to him is largely due to his ego and secondary to his country. At the same time, Russia is a Soviet-failing state. A lot of what they kind of figure is their national -- their international status dependent on where they are Vvs-à-Vis how they look at the world and how the world looks at them compared to the United States."

https://www.rawstory.com/us-delegation-ukraine-russian-buildup/

[stopdiggin]

1. anybody else see this as pointless grandstanding?

Like a sightseeing tour is going to provide more relevance and understanding than briefings by defense and intelligence?

(to clarify - I don't object to this per se - and it's certainly within the purview of the legislative branch - just see it as rather silly and pointless)

[rso]

2. Gallego

Many of these Congressional trips abroad are nothing but boondoggles, but some are very useful. I was a foreign service officer for many years, and I witnessed some very useful fact-finding congressional delegations, specifically those for who we arranged meetings with key players in the host government and the US experts in the Embassy, who had the best feel for the situation as they were posted in Country. There is no substitute for establishing what the military call “ground truth”.

[msfiddlestix]

3. I'm intrigued.

would love to hear your stories.. are you writing about some of these experiences?

I mean for publication.

[rso]

5. Congressional Delegations

Some of my colleagues have written both fiction and non-fiction based on their experiences, but so far I have not been motivated, too lazy I guess.

[msfiddlestix]

6. hee, hee..

Husband of a friend of mine served for a few years. He was stationed in Haiti for a short while in the early 90's and then he was posted in Timbuktu sort of mid-late 90's if memory serves. Hell started breaking loose and he left the service.

The family went with him, and she was Doctor and a Musician which is my connection with her.

I'm a little bit of a fan of foreign intrigue novels from the point of view of people who served in their earlier lives.

[madville]

4. My personal conspiracy theory

Is that Putin will kick something off next spring/summer, forcing Europe, Asia, and the US to sanction their oil exports, driving up the cost of gas/diesel worldwide right before our midterm elections, handing Congress back to his buddies.

[msfiddlestix]

7. you effin' read my mind!

it's seems so damn obvious, doesn't it?

[former9thward]

8. Europe? Asia?

Europe gets its energy from Russia. Its not going to join any sanctions. China is allied with Russia and will not join. Asian countries will follow China.