To say that the US is a deeply divided nation is an understatement. There is perhaps no issue across the country that has universal approval. This divide is most apparent in Washington, where one rarely gets to see any display of bipartisanship among politicians.
Those rare occasions came in recent months, alas it wasn’t for
the US but for a country over 9,000 kilometers away.
The House approved
$40 billion of taxpayer money in aid to Ukraine, the vote was 368 to
57, earlier this month. Yesterday the Senate also approved the aid, the vote
was 86 to 11. It was also a display of generosity, Biden has
requested $33
billion, but an additional $7 billion was tossed in. The only NO
votes were from GOP members.
Previously in March, both the House and the Senate
approved $13.6
billion of taxpayer money for ‘assistance’ to Ukraine.
That brings the total to around $53 billion in just two months
Biden has previously dispatched $3.9 billion
worth of armaments to Ukraine including laser-guided rocket
systems; counter-artillery radars; Stinger and Javelin
missiles; anti-armor systems, and various munitions.
Almost a month before Russia’s military intervention began,
Biden provided ‘security assistance’ to Ukraine.
So what are the specifics of this $40
billion aid package?
More than
$4 billion is dedicated to ‘international disaster assistance’ for
humanitarian (food and shelter) needs in Ukraine and other affected countries.
The package includes almost $15 billion for defense operations
and maintenance, which includes $6 billion for the Ukraine Security Assistance
and $8.7 billion to replenish stocks of U.S. equipment sent to Ukraine.
Over $100 million is dedicated to non-proliferation,
anti-terrorism, and related programs.
Over $350 million is dedicated to assisting refugees from
Ukraine and support to other countries in Eastern Europe.
The legislation also includes hundreds of millions of dollars
for the procurement of missiles, weapons, tracked combat vehicles, ammunition,
and aircraft.
Close to $3.9 billion is dedicated to the maintenance of U.S.
forces deployed to Europe.
Around $2 billion is dedicated for long-term support to NATO
allies and DOD modernization programs.
About $16
billion is for economic support to Ukraine, global
humanitarian relief, and a wide variety of international programs as well as
The legislation authorizes up to a further $11 billion in
Presidential Drawdown Authority, which enables Biden to transfer articles and
services from the U.S. without congressional approval.
The legislation also authorizes nearly $200 million for the
U.S. State Department's diplomatic programs to respond to the situation in
Ukraine and countries affected by the conflict.
It also authorizes $110 million for embassy security,
construction, and maintenance.
To put
this in perspective, the United States will end up providing Ukraine
with more military aid than any country in the last two decades, and twice as
much military assistance as the yearly cost of war in Afghanistan, even when
American troops were on the ground.
A citizen running a small business is required to maintain
details of all spending incurred which may be requested by the IRS for
scrutiny.
The government reports to the citizen and hence must be
accountable to the citizen. A rule that applies to the citizen must apply
to the government. The government is spending money that belongs to the
citizen. The citizen has a right to know where how and where their money was
spent.
A tracking mechanism for expenditure should have been within
the bill that mandates public disclosure of all expenditures. But that was not
the case.
Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) attempted to add safeguards
measures to the legislation to facilitate transparency and
accountability. If the lawmakers had nothing to hide they would have supported
this with the same bipartisanship as they did for the package itself. But that
didn’t happen, Sen. Paul’s commendable attempt was rejected by both
parties.
The record of corruption in both the US under Biden and in
Ukraine generally makes this absolute lack of accountability and oversight most
worrying.
It is very likely that the tenders and contracts for various
items in the bill ranging from advanced munition to food aid will be given to
cronies of the powerful in Washington. It is beyond any doubt that there will
be an unstated quid pro quo agreement between the politician and the private
contractors.
Beyond this ghastly wastage of taxpayer money, there are other
concerns.
22 GOP members questioned the administration's compliance with
the Arms
Export Control Act of 1976, which limits the use of weapons exported by
the U.S. Government in foreign countries.
That question remains unanswered.
The left that claimed to be against all wars was silent. The Squad and
Senator Bernie Sander who claim to
be against wars readily voted for the bill. Even antiwar
groups such as Code Pink have
been docile.
Even the mainstream media that is unconditionally supportive
of Democrats conceded there
is no tracking for the considerable
dispatch of weaponry into Ukraine.
The war in Ukraine had attracted over 20
thousand foreign fighters. These mercenaries obviously haven't been
properly vetted.
It is not beyond the realm of possibility that some among the
fighters joined the action either to pilfer advanced weaponry for further use
or to sell it in the black market to the highest bidder. If some among the
‘fighters’ or the black market buyers turn out to be terrorists, the US
government could end up enabling a terror attack on its own soil.
Every citizen should be deeply concerned not just over the
money spent but also the dire consequences this spending could have.
What is troubling is that this considerable spending is
occurring at a time when the US owing to Biden's misgovernance is grappling
with myriad crises such as 40-year high inflation that has caused prices of
essential commodities to skyrocket and a supply chain crisis.
Equally troubling is how swiftly and almost unanimously the
bills were passed without debates, questions, or requests for amendments. Those
lawmakers who asked the obvious were dismissed as agents of Putin
propagandists by both
parties. Most of the mainstream media is cheerleading this war instead
of asking questions.
Thus just in a few months, Washington has involved the US in a gratuitous
military intervention with nuclear-powered
Russia
If this isn’t a monumental crisis, what is?
Also appears on American Thinker
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