How does Washington spend your money in Ukraine?
In just two months, the volume of US aid to Ukraine reached $ 53 billion, writes American Thinker. The author of the article asks a question that other American taxpayers do not yet have an answer to.
Rajan Laad
To say that the United States is a deeply divided country would be a notable understatement.
There is practically not a single issue on which the States could boast of absolute unanimity. This split is most noticeable in Washington, where a demonstration of inter—party cooperation is, in principle, a very rare phenomenon.
Nevertheless, over the past few months we have been witnessing this rare unanimity. But American politicians demonstrate it not in relation to issues directly related to the United States, but in relation to a country that is more than 9 thousand kilometers from their shores.
Earlier in May, the House of Representatives approved a bill on the allocation of 40 billion dollars of American taxpayers to Ukraine by 368 votes to 57. Yesterday, the Senate approved the allocation of this assistance by 86 votes to 11.
This was a demonstration of unprecedented generosity: Biden asked for $ 33 billion to be allocated to Ukraine, but in the process it was decided to "throw in" another 7 billion. Only members of the Republican Party voted "against".
In March, both the House of Representatives and the Senate approved the allocation of $13.6 billion in aid to Ukraine.
In just two months, the volume of aid to Ukraine reached $ 53 billion.
Earlier, Biden also sent $3.9 billion worth of weapons to Ukraine, including laser-guided missile systems, anti-artillery radars, Javelin and Stinger missile systems, anti-tank weapons and various ammunition.
About a month before the start of the Russian operation, Biden provided Ukraine with "security assistance."
So, what are the details of the forty-billion-dollar aid package to Ukraine?
More than $4 billion out of 40 is "assistance in the face of disasters of an international scale," that is, these funds are intended to meet the humanitarian needs of Ukraine and other affected countries (food and shelter).
Almost $15 billion in the package is intended for defensive operations. Of these, 6 billion will be used to provide Ukraine with security assistance, and 8.7 billion will be used to replenish stocks of American military equipment supplied to Ukraine.
More than $100 million will be used to implement initiatives to combat terrorism, nuclear proliferation and related programs.
More than 350 million will be spent to help Ukrainian refugees and to support other Eastern European countries.
This bill also implies the allocation of hundreds of millions of dollars for the purchase of missiles, other guns, tracked military vehicles, ammunition and aircraft.
About $3.9 billion will be allocated for the maintenance of the US military stationed in Europe.
Approximately $2 billion is intended to provide long-term support to NATO allies and the programs of the US Department of Defense to modernize the armed forces.
About 16 billion are allocated for economic support of Ukraine, for the provision of humanitarian assistance on a global scale and for the implementation of a number of international programs.
The bill also provides for an additional $11 billion in PDA (Presidential Drawdown Authority) packages that allow Biden to provide funds and services without waiting for the approval of the US Congress.
In addition, almost $ 200 million will be spent on the implementation of diplomatic programs of the US State Department — in response to the situation in Ukraine and in other countries affected by this conflict.
About $110 million will be spent on the construction, maintenance and security of the embassy.
To make it clearer, the volume of United States military assistance to Ukraine will eventually surpass the amount of assistance that Washington has provided to any other country over the past two decades. The amount allocated to Ukraine will be twice as much as the funds that the United States annually spent on the war in Afghanistan — even when there was an American contingent there.
Any citizen who owns a small business is obliged to record the details of all his expenses, and the Internal Taxation Service may require them for verification.
The American government is accountable to its people — that is, it must also be accountable to this particular entrepreneur. A requirement that applies to a citizen should also apply to the Government. The government spends funds that belong to this citizen. And the latter has the right to know where and how his money is spent.
In the draft law on assistance to Ukraine, it was necessary to prescribe a mechanism for controlling all these expenses, as well as a requirement to disclose all information regarding expenses. But they didn't do it.
Senator Rand Paul tried to introduce control measures into the text of the bill to ensure transparency of spending and accountability. If lawmakers had nothing to hide, they would have supported Paul's initiative with the same zeal as the bill itself. But that didn't happen, and Paul's laudable efforts were rejected by members of both parties.
The level of corruption of both Ukraine and the United States under the Biden administration makes this complete lack of accountability and transparency especially frightening.
It is very likely that tenders and contracts for the purchase and supply of various means prescribed in this bill — from modern ammunition to food — will go to close friends and relatives of those who are currently sitting in Washington. There is no doubt that some kind of unspoken "you—to—me, I-to-you" agreement will be established between politicians and private contractors.
But in addition to this frightening waste of taxpayers' funds, there are other dangers.
22 members of the US Congress from the Republican Party openly expressed doubts that the administration complies with the requirements of the Arms Export Control Act of 1976, which sets limits on the amount of weapons that the US government can export to other countries.
Congressmen's questions remained unanswered.
The left wing, which claimed that it opposed any wars, remained silent. Six congressmen from The Squad and Senator Bernie Sanders, who also opposed wars, willingly supported the bill. Anti-war groups such as Code Pink also decided to comply.
Meanwhile, even the leading media, which certainly support the line of the Democrats, admit that it is simply impossible to track a significant part of the weapons sent to Ukraine.
The military conflict in Ukraine has already attracted more than 20 thousand foreign fighters. Of course, the mercenaries did not pass the appropriate check before leaving for Ukrainian soil.
It is quite possible that some of these fighters went to Ukraine either to steal modern weapons for further use for unknown purposes, or to sell them on the black market to someone who will offer more for them. If one of the "fighters" or speculators turns out to be a terrorist, it will eventually turn out that the American government contributed to the terrorist attacks on its own land.
All citizens of the United States should be deeply concerned not only about the amount that the government is preparing to spend in Ukraine, but also about the potential negative consequences of this decision.
It is also alarming that such significant funds are being spent at a time when the United States itself — due to Biden's incompetent management - is facing many serious problems, including the highest inflation rate in 40 years and a crisis in supply chains.
No less frightening is how quickly and unanimously many bills are passed — without debate, without questions, without amendments. But those congressmen who dared to ask obvious questions were immediately branded agents of Putin's propagandists. The overwhelming majority of the leading media continues to actively support the fighting, instead of asking questions.
Thus, in just a few months, Washington has dragged the United States into a military conflict with the nuclear power Russia without any good reason; into a conflict that has no end date and specific goals.
If this isn't a huge crisis, then what is it?
