Gotta keep paying those Ukrainian lawmakers and bureaucrats who’ve enriched Biden and his family, you know
The US State Department announced a $250 million Ukraine military aid package on Wednesday, the last such package the US will provide to Ukraine until Congress approves the Biden administration’s funding requests.
“This package provides up to $250 million of arms and equipment under previously directed drawdowns for Ukraine,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement. “Capabilities provided in today’s package include air defense munitions, other air defense system components, additional ammunition for high mobility artillery rocket systems, 155mm and 105mm artillery ammunition, anti-armor munitions, and over 15 million rounds of ammunition.”
Last week, the Biden administration said it had one more Ukraine security package to announce this year, but it would be the final one the US could provide without lawmakers’ approval. Defense Department comptroller Mike McCord said in a letter to Congress that “once these funds are obligated, the Department will have exhausted the funding available to us for security assistance to Ukraine.”
Excellent, more arms to keep the stalemate going between two authoritarian governments. What could the US do with all that money to help out our own citizens? How about putting that money into helping US veterans, who often have long waits to get care? Who might find themselves out on the streets and homeless? We could have built a bunch of tiny homes for them. How much of the money is material and how much is cash?
This long line of nice cars are headed to the sold-out elite Bukovel Ski Resort in UKRAINE!
Thousands making their way there for their fancy vacations!As WE pay for their pensions!@ProudArmyBrat pic.twitter.com/Vi1whf9IWQ
— D. Scott @eclipsethis2003 (@eclipsethis2003) December 26, 2023
A minority of the GOP want to keep wasting money on Ukraine, and the House have tied throwing more money to the Ukes to increasing border security, so my guess is that that’s what will finally pass.
But, other than wasting more money, it still won’t matter: Ukraine can’t beat Russia, regardless of how much money and stuff we send them, unless NATO sends actual ground troops and air combat fighters, just as Israel won’t lose to Hamas, even if we don’t send them a single shekel.
The article is a little misleading. The aid package is stuff we are taking out of stock with a make-believe value of $250 million. No actual money being transferred to Ukraine or being used by the treasury to buy new stuff.
The danger of this is that the USA always draws down our stockpiles during democratic party administrations, just like the strategic oil reserve. Those stocks are things we keep for a rainy day. But with Ukraine needing so much, all of the western countries have depleted their own stocks of many important categories of arms and ammunition. We bought all those things in the first place because smart people determined the minimum amount the services would need for our own national defense, then congress actually bought less than that to save money. So we are very far below our bare minimum stock levels, and now Biden administration is dipping further into that.
The Biden Administration claimed 2 years ago that they would expand artillery production by now. They haven’t. And the NATO countries have for decades neglected their own defense industries. Now Russia alone produces more new artillery ammunition every year than all of NATO combined.
It wouldn’t matter as much if the world were at peace and we didn’t need out ammo stockpiles. But at the same time out stocks are depletes, the Biden administration is running around the world picking fights that the military will be unable to win. Russia, Iran, Gaza, Red sea, China.
a lot of that “stuff” coming out of storage is obsolete and wouldn’t be issued to our troops. Teach seems to think that he can hide that.
Anyone google Republicans block vets bill? If they do they will see multiple instances of the GOP House blocking BILLIONS id vet appropriations.
NY1.com
July 28 2022
Anna Betts
“GOP Blocks bill……”
Yes, when the communist Democrats add billions of dollars worth of aid to socialist and communist nations or add billions of dollars worth of anti American nonsense in spending to a bill generally a good republican will veto. Since we are patriotic Americans and not quisling Democrats we tend to do that. Unlike a person like you who will do anything to hurt America including piss our money. That’s not even a hard choice for traders like yourself.
Sure there is. They use this as an accounting trick to purchase new stuff to replace the old stuff so it does cost us money and of course this more money because we have to replace stuff in an inflated price. It’ll probably cost $350 million to replace the $250 million worth of junk we’re sending away. But then who cares it’s only taxpayers money?
We are paying the salaries and the pensions of their government employees and officials Walmart veterans even disabled veterans go without things and the necessities of life. And even if they weren’t in the necessities of life I would rather buy our veterans each a new Cadillac than put one more dollar into the Ukraine. They earned it the Ukrainians didn’t.
Genocideal Joe,
You are correct that that is the normal course of business and the US treasury definitely did transfer billions of real money to Ukraine. My comment was that this particular chunk of $250 million in aid is not resulting in any real money being spent or sent. If congress eventually decides to buy more new stuff in the future, THAT will certainly be real money getting spent. But in this one specific narrow case, it is just off the shelf stuff being transferred at a make-believe price of $250 million. And not one bit of it is “obsolete”. That is just the fairy tale the Biden administration tells to make it seem like it’s just good business sense to send that stuff. We are sending 155mm artillery rounds, many of which were manufactures within the last 5 years. They would definitely be used by American troops in the next war. That’s why we bought them in the first place. The ATACMS rockets we sent were old, but capable of being refurbished. The replacements systems for those won’t enter production for another 5 years. The GMLRS rockets they are shooting from HIMARS are fresh off the factory floor. We bought those using previous year military budgets for our own national defense and now our own bunkers are empty. It is possible that future congresses never agree to buy replacement missiles and shells.
As you no doubt realize I was trying to be sarcastic and point out that everything the government does ultimately turns out with the waste. High by no means was trying to downgrade your observations. Also you obviously know a lot more about stale munitions than I ever will.
Dana when referring to the Israeli invasion of Gaza, when you say “Israel cant lose….” do you ,eam that Israel will be able to accomplish all of its stated objectives? As in “America cant lose in Afghanistan” ?
Johnny-what about the Hamas invasion of Israel? Which one happened first?
Mr H asked me:
Israel cannot be defeated militarily is what I mean; she can be defeated politically if they pussy out and leave the Arabs still able to live in Gaza, and Hamas still alive.
War is an inherently uncivilized act, but until very recently, civilized people in countries at war didn’t really get to see how uncivilized their countries were having to behave to win their wars. War is the deliberate killing of people who are in your way, whether they are soldiers or civilians, young, old, men, women, etc. If civilized people blanche at what their countries have to do to win a war, then their uncivilized foes will always have the advantage.
Israel’s days are numbered. Their birth trends mirror the USA and Western Europe. They must slip into apartheid even inside their own territory or their Arab population will outbirth them and then outvote them. The only declining country that is not looking into extinction is Japan because they do not permit massive immigration. Sadly, the future belongs to those who can be bothered to show up. The most advanced people on the planet cannot be bothered to have replacement levels of children. Even if they do the world a favor and totally wipe out every living thing in Gaza, it won’t save Israel. They have, at most, about 30 years and they know it too. The current fight in Gaza is only a side show. They are a fatally wounded animal trying to show their predators that they are still strong enough to survive.
The fun part will start after Israeli Arabs take majority control and they don’t want Palestinians in “their” territory either. Modern Arabs only want a two state solution because one of the states is Israel. Remove them from the picture and no one still wants Palestinians.
Oh really?
https://www.timesofisrael.com/immigration-to-israel-dropped-sharply-following-oct-7-assault-statistics-bureau/
Bwaha! Lolgf
You are right. It seems the birth rates of Arabs and Jews living in Israel are about the same. And the Arab children die at twice the rate of Jewish children. I had thought Arab birth rates in Israel would mirror those in other Arab countries. It seems the birth rates all over the Arab world are dropping too. At the same time, Israeli women are bucking the trend in other advanced nations have having on average 3 children each. Israel looks like they have a long term plan for their national survival and that includes population planning and controlled immigration.
Thanks for setting me straight.
Mr Teach repeats his false claim that Ukrainian politicians are transferring American taxpayer’s funds to President Biden. But after all, neocons 1) lie and 2) are ignorant of facts.