After two weeks of insulting Europeans the USA has successfully turned us against them. That was the moment when we said Goodbye America. For me, the final straw was a cruel and disgusting remark about a mule that came from a US general.
The American attacks on Europe began at the Munich Security Conference, with the US Vice-President insulting the entire EU but also finding time to individually insult the UK. The Oval Office punishment-beating of the much-admired President Zelenskiy prompted many more Europeans to turn their backs on America. But for me the cruelty to mules incident was the final straw. You may have missed it?
After the USA had announced it was cancelling the supply of military equipment that had already been sent to Ukraine – including turning back supplies that were already on the road in Poland – there was a suggestion that the White House had stopped the supply of US intelligence. This would be so serious for Ukrainian civil defence that I couldn’t believe the US would go that far. I quickly looked for further news.
There was a live conference taking place at the Council on Foreign Relations and Trump’s Special Envoy for Ukraine Keith Kellogg confirmed the shutting down of intelligence. He was answering questions and Michael Gordon of the Wall Street Journal asked him, “Sir you’re a retired army General and you’re familiar with the battlefield situation in Ukraine. What is the concrete effect of the abrupt end of the provision of intelligence?”
The response was shocking (quoted verbatim here from the transcript) and delivered with the cruellest deliberation: “Michael thanks for the question. I think in the best way I can describe it is sort of like hitting a mule with a 2×4 across the nose. You got their attention.”
There was an audible reaction from the audience. One report I read later described people with their faces buried in their hands.
For European readers more familiar with metric measurements, “2×4” refers to a wooden plank measuring two inches thick by four inches wide, in other words a hefty piece of timber with a sharp rectangular section. And for those unfamiliar with the nose of an equine, it is their softest and most sensitive feature.
If you saw anyone hit a mule across the nose with a two-by-four plank, I hope that you would call the police. It is a crime of cruelty against an animal.
Thanks to deliberately shutting down Ukraine’s air-raid warning intelligence, General Kellogg and US politicians should be charged with a war crime, as Ukrainian civilians have suffered more casualties – including dead children – as a direct and intended consequence.
Yes general, so you got my attention now. And I say Goodbye America. Goodbye for a very long time.
Update 1 May 2025:
Despite boycotting American products where I can, I am nevertheless still writing for Where Peter Is – the Catholic website – as it opposes the religious right wing that currently supports an unconstitutional power grab.