My regular readers know that I have been a staunch critic of using US taxpayer dollars to fund Ukraine’s war with Russia.
I think those billions of dollars could be better spent on the problems this country is having than spending it on a cause that few think is necessary.
So when I read a story about the US spending a billion dollars to buy Ukraine made weapons to give to the Ukrainian army I went ballistic.
But let you see for yourselves….
The US will purchase $1.6 billion in Ukrainian-made weapons for Ukraine, The Defense Post reported on Monday.
The $1.6 billion is included in a $6 billion tranche of weapons the US announced on April 26. The arms will be provided through the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI), which allows the US to purchase weapons for Ukraine.
The US and its NATO allies have made clear that part of their long-term plans for Ukraine is to help the country develop a military-industrial complex. Western arms makers are also looking to manufacture weapons in Ukraine.
Arseniy Pushkarenko, deputy chair of the Ukrainian Parliament’s Committee on Foreign Policy and Interparliamentary Cooperation, said Ukraine’s military-industrial complex should entice other countries since the weapons it produces are battle-tested.
“This is one of the factors in the development of the Ukrainian economy. Today, the military technologies that we have are tested in combat conditions, which makes our military-industrial complex attractive enough for many countries of the world,” he said.
It’s unclear what types of weapons will be purchased with the $1.6 billion. According to the Pentagon, the $6 billion USAI package includes “components to support Ukrainian production of [Unmanned Aerial Systems] and other capabilities.”
(antiwar.com)
SO the US will buy weapons from a Ukrainian weapons maker to be used by the Ukrainian military…..why cannot a Ukrainian company make weapons for the military.
This is getting ridiculous at this point……
We will pay their government officials salaries and now we will prop up a business in Ukraine….WTF?
To say I have a problem with this would be an understatement…..
Time for the US to stop worrying about Ukraine and start worrying about the people in this nation.
PERIOD!
I Read, I Write, You Know
“lego ergo scribo”
I think that the money spent on funding Ukraine’s defence of it’s own country is well spent , especially if it holds back Russian expansion in Europe. Once started Putin may not stop until all Europe is under the Russian heel. After that who knows?
Buying Ukrainian weapons from the Ukraine to be used there does sound rather mad so your point is well taken. Perhaps some money could be saved by reducing the spend on the American Military Complex, much of which I”m told is lost in overspend and overcharging by suppliers. We have enough weapons to kill the world several times over and don’t need more. Hugs
My thoughts exactly…we have more pressing problems than propping up Ukraine’s weapons industry. chuq
I have rather strong feelings about the US getting involved in situations like this. Since the end of WWII our involvement in situations like this outside of our borders has never gone well. And often our involvement has actually made the situation worse in a lot of cases. In the case of Ukraine, it should have been the responsibility of the EU to keep Putin under control, not the US. We shouldn’t be involved over there at all. Germany, France, Poland, etc. all have significant military forces of their own and they aren’t exactly poverty stricken third world countries. They should be more than capable of dealing with this situation on their own.
I totally agree since Russia is more a problem for Europe….plus I feel in the 1990s when the USSR collapse NATO should have been disbanded and EU should have dealt with any problems from there on. chuq
I think you have a valid point about NATO as well. It came about almost immediately after WWII in 1949, a period of time where the SU under Stalin was definitely a threat, and Europe was still trying to recover from the aftermath of the war. Their economies, manufacturing capabilities, infrastructure, all of it, was still in ruins and the US was the only force at the time that could counter balance things.
But now? Russia has proven that except for its possession of nukes it’s pretty much a paper tiger. A “world power” ilke we supposed Russia to be should have swept across Ukraine in a matter of weeks. One would think that countries like France, Germany, Great Britain, etc. which have thriving economies and significant military forces of their own should be more than able to police their own backyard without our help
I have been saying that for decades…..if they cannot beat Ukraine then I do not think the rest of Europe has a lot to worry about….chuq
Buying weapons from Ukraine to be used by Ukranians in Ukraine? That comes under ‘you couldn’t make it up’. Sounds to me as if the US is going to make some Ukrainian arms companies very rich!
Best wishes, Pete.
Sounds like the taxpayers are going to make them rich. chuq
YOU ARE SPOT ON WITH THIS OBSERVATION… but the observation is going to be irrelevant after Trump takes back the White House…
Does he own stock in Ukraine M-IC? chuq
Many years ago, during our race for space, my mother, wise as she was for a Greatest Generation female having uncommon business acumen, answered that exact question being lamented back then by the public. When my young mind asked her why we were spending all that money to go into space when there were some many things here on Earth that could use the money she gave me this reply which I will relay to yo’awl here.
It’s called investment. The money being spent on the race to the Moon has been determined by our elected officials to be an investment in our long term good for the entire country. Sure, one might say we could use that same money here at home, on Earth, to improve (allegedly) our way of life. But our elected officials also have to consider the longer-term future needs with some level of priority. As it turned out, our quest to reach the Moon spawned huge way-of-life advancements in science technology for the entire country that we personally can use. We can argue that our race with the Soviets to get to the Moon was the impetus rather than some noble quest for science, but either way it was a wise investment.
Yes.. helping Ukraine arm itself is not some noble quest to reach the Moon but it is, on the surface at least, a seemingly wise investment for our tax dollars not needing to go there in the future… and that future will always be more expensive than the present. The INTENT seems quite logical. Now, if it all works as smoothly as we might expect or want, that’s something entirely different as government does have a questionable track record of building waste into everything.
In the greater aspect of economics…. nearly everything government spends money on benefits our economy in some way… even the idiotic boondoggles. So is there really any “waste”? Regardless, we all want the money to go places that make sense. But there’s 350 million of us.. and we all have different measures of what that “sense” should be. If I have a choice of sending the bucks to Ukraine to help our own national security or filling potholes in a road in Poughkeepsie, the choice is apparent to me.
This will enrich a minor few….while the country sucks…..what else you got? chuq
I’m just presenting the apparent intent… not the process for carrying it out. Hope springs eternal.
Hope for some is in short supply. chuq
I am a staunch critic of the federal government spending money on anything besides me …but they don’t listen, do they?
Lots of that going around but few with guts to take on the situation. chuq