by Patrick MacFarlane on AntiWar.com
As it pertains to the American public, Ukraine’s response to the Russian invasion can be summed up with two words: “Zelensky demands.”
To date, Washington elites and their politicians have been happy to provide – at public expense – lining their own pockets in the process.
As of this writing, U.S. aid for Ukraine has reached approximately $67.5 billion, a figure greater than Russia’s entire 2021 military budget. According to the State Department, this support includes $15.2 billion in direct military assistance. The support comes although 60-70% of lethal aid never reaches the front lines, according to a now-redacted CBS interview with on-the-ground activists.
Not only is the American taxpayer supporting much of the Ukrainian military, it is also supporting the Ukrainian government. The same working class Americans who were deemed “nonessential” in 2020 – who saw their businesses shuttered and burned down – now have to pay entitlement programs both at home and in Ukraine.
As of September 30, 2022, the US has provided $13 billion in “direct budget support,” which is ostensibly used;
…to pay government salaries, meet pension obligations, maintain hospitals and schools, and protect critical infrastructure[,] support continuity operations at the national, regional, and local levels, support for [sic] the health sector, agricultural production, civil society, [and enable] programs to hold Russia and its forces accountable for their actions in Ukraine.
Although American taxpayers have already matched Russia’s 2021 military budget, Ukrainian president Volodomyr Zelensky only demands more. During an October 4 phone call, President Biden reviewed Washington’s latest $625 million dole to Zelensky. It includes, inter alia, 4 additional High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS), 16 155mm Howitzers, 75,000 155 mm artillery rounds, 500 precision-guided 155mm artillery rounds, 16 105mm Howitzers, 30,000 120 mm mortar rounds, and 200 MaxxPro Mine Resistant Ambush Protected Vehicles.
This latest boon notwithstanding, in the same phone call, Zelensky urged Biden to provide Ukraine with air defense systems that will be used to shoot down Russian planes. Par for the course, Washington elites will provide the weapons systems and have even expedited their shipment per Zelensky’s demand.
Much like Washington’s response to covid-19, a no-holds-barred approach to Ukraine is so widely supported, it is a foregone conclusion. Despite this, some Republicans have valiantly opposed this rampant and provocative spending. Notable dissenters are: Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MS), Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY), Rep. Marjorie Taylor-Greene (R-GA), and Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL).
Republicans like Taylor-Greene, Gaetz, and Hawley understand the cost of empire: endless warfare, a decaying home front, and a beclowned international reputation. They understand that a war between the U.S. and Russia will be unlike anything Americans have ever experienced. Although they cloak their condemnation of war with Russia in criticism of “weak Joe Biden,” they understand it is the West that provoked this conflict and seeks to prolong it “to the last Ukrainian.” They know that the conflict – even if it remains by-proxy – is a cost war-weary working class Americans do not want and cannot afford.
You are forgetting the elephant in the room that has been hoovering up US tax payer money for many decades. ISRAEL!
Zelensky has received more US taxpayer money in 6 months than Israel has received in over 20 years.