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Tanks! Tanks to Ukraine Via Texas?
Maybe. Maybe not. I wish.
Probably the most expensive trainload of stuff I ever saw. With General Dynamics’ M1A2 Abrams main battle tanks going for $8.92 million, well, let’s just call it $9 million after tax, title, license, and dealer prep, the 50 or more tanks were worth about half a billion dollars. The cargo trucks, troop carriers, other miscellaneous military vehicles, and the thirty cargo containers of ammo/equipment probably ran another $250 million. Three quarters of a billion dollars of our tax money heading south on a railroad track in Hearne, Texas. I’m not going to say exactly when I saw them because this world is full of crazies, but it was fairly recent.
Which brings up another question. What kind of security do you have shadowing a trainload of state-of-the-art, main battle tanks? The reason I ask that here is because I’m afraid to google it.
Since there are four tanks to a platoon, four platoons to a company, and four companies per battalion (generally speaking), what I was seeing was most likely a battalion of sixty-four tanks. Any military people out there reading this, correct me if I’m wrong.
I was not able to get a picture, but the one I got from Wikimedia Commons is very close to what I saw. This picture was taken in Oklahoma, so if you can imagine the landscape being much more beautiful…just kidding, it looks exactly like what I saw in Texas.
Where were they headed? I figured they were headed for the Port of Houston, but they made a right turn just south of Hearne. That would have them going toward Austin and points west, or they could have been taking a roundabout route to Houston due to the weight, value, and political statement of the freight. If they were headed for the West Coast, where would we send tanks from there? Middle East? Possibly.
Perhaps this equipment is going to Poland or Romania since garrisons in Germany are pretty well stocked.
I have mixed feelings about giving Ukraine tanks. It would be a next step up in this proxy war. I am rooting for Ukraine, and it looks like Ukraine is kicking Russia’s ass. It appears Putin is stuck in a WWII state of mind. That is why he is losing this war. You have $20,000 Ukrainian Stugna-P anti-tank missiles taking out $4…
