On Tuesday, the House approved a bill that would provide $40 billion in military aid to Ukraine. The $40 billion was $7 billion more than the administration requested, proving just how squishy Congress has gotten in handing over complete responsibility for making war and peace to the executive.
As Heritage Action points out, the $40 billion for Ukraine is “even greater than the funding for the Environmental Protection Agency, Department of Labor, and Department of Commerce combined.”
But there was very little “debate.” The president is getting the United States deeper and deeper into a war that promises to bleed America dry. Russia won’t concede. Ukraine will never surrender. And Congress — both Democrats and Republicans — are rubberstamping aid to the Zelenskyy government with very little oversight. In fact, as Heritage points out, “there are no spending offsets, no accountability for where each dollar will be spent, and no guarantees for equal contributions from European neighbors.”
Further, “the aid package only lasts through September of this year, meaning Congress will be expected to reconsider the legislation after only about three months.”
The one nation that might have proven to be an honest broker for peace has taken the side of corrupt oligarchs led by Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who is fighting a war against the corrupt oligarchs led by Vladimir Putin.
American interests would best be served by a quick ending to this conflict. It would be better for Ukraine, as Russia is bombing Kyiv back to the stone age. It would be better for Putin because sanctions are impoverishing his people. And it would be better for the U.S., whose economy is suffering because of the disruption of supplies of Russian oil and Ukraine wheat.
Where are the Republicans on this madness?
A political opposition might stand up and ask a few questions about the administration’s policy. Simple things like: How does the administration draw the line between aiding Ukraine and becoming a belligerent in the war? Or is it really in our interests to be depleting our own stockpiles of Javelin missiles? Does committing so much to this theater make China more likely to do something in Taiwan? Are the increases in defense spending by Nordic countries a one-time effort to get into NATO, or truly sustainable? Do we have a plan for credibly defending 830 more miles of border from Russia if Finland joins NATO? This seems like the least Republicans could do, since they once claimed to be interested in the fact that the Ukrainian government was bribing President Biden’s drug-addicted son.
But of course, most elected Republicans and my friends in the conservative movement don’t oppose this administration’s policies; they want to double down on them.
Americans oppose Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine. But opposing Joe Biden’s open-ended commitment to a Ukrainian victory is perfectly legitimate and in keeping with America’s true interests in this conflict.
Russia has been fighting this war with one hand behind its back. If Putin were to declare war on Ukraine, it would allow the Russian president to call up the reserves and put the nation’s economy on a war footing. This would negate some of the effects of the sanctions and would give a huge boost in manpower to the Russian army.
Let’s face it: a Russian victory in Ukraine would not be an existential threat to the United States. But it would make Biden look even more the fool if Ukraine were to lose. And this is an election year.
The new legislation would bring American support for the effort to nearly $54 billion, including the $13.6 billion in support Congress enacted in March. That’s about $6 billion more than the U.S. spent on all its foreign and military aid in 2019, according to a January report by the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service, which studies issues for lawmakers. It’s also around 1% of the entire federal budget.
The measure was released as Washington has become increasingly assertive about its goals and its willingness to help Ukraine with more sophisticated weapons. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said recently the U.S. wants a “weakened” Russia that can’t quickly restore its capability to attack other countries.
All the loose talk about U.S. spies helping Ukraine kill Russian generals and sink Russian ships isn’t helping the cause of peace in Ukraine. And the more the U.S. encourages and enables Ukraine in its war against Russia, the harder it will be to achieve peace.
We can assist Ukraine in defending itself. But at the same time, we should be trying everything in our power to stop this destructive conflict. Putin has an abiding interest in cooperating with the United States. With some prodding, he may be willing to sit down to talk peace.
Instead, Biden pours gasoline on the flames and hopes to reap political gain from the conflagration.
