Congress is set to give the Pentagon $6.5 billion to send more weapons to Ukraine and pay for troop deployments in Eastern Europe as part of a $13.6 billion emergency spending package to respond to the Ukraine crisis.
Of the $6.5 billion, $3 billion will go towards paying for troops deployments to Eastern Europe, and $3.5 billion is meant to pay to restock weapons the US has sent or is planning to send to Ukraine.
The $13.6 billion package also includes funding for the State Department and the US Agency for International Development (USAID). The $13.6 billion is being rolled into a massive $1.5 trillion omnibus bill, which the House passed on Wednesday night. The bill will appropriate $782 billion for military spending, not including the emergency Ukraine money.
Since Russia started its assault on Ukraine, the US has been working closely with its NATO allies to flood weapons into the country, including Stinger anti-aircraft missiles. Over the past few months, the US has sent more troops to countries in Eastern Europe that border Ukraine and Russia.
The US has floated the idea of helping its ally Poland send old Russian-made fighter jets to Ukraine, although the Pentagon has backed down on the idea, saying it’s too “high risk.” But the Ukraine emergency bill would give the Biden administration the authority to provide loans to NATO allies who give equipment, including fighter jets, to Ukraine.
The entire question right now is this: Does Biden shut down the neocons and refuse to either send jets or do a no-fly zone, or does he cave? Because if he caves, we’re headed directly to WWIII.
Richard,
Maybe we should just let this thing happen. Humanity is beyond redemption.
I’d feel sorry only for the other species we take down with us.
The cockroaches will survive, but they’d be better stewards of the earth than humankind.
“The cockroaches will survive, but they’d be better stewards of the earth than humankind.”
I have never read a more accurate comment. Classic.
Wars, I bow down to you. 🙂
I agree that humanity is beyond redemption. But I’m not. 🙂
For the killing fields of Ukraine.
Oh joy, our tax dollars at work yet again.
Note to Bye-Done: pouring gasoline on a fire to put it out generally does not have the desired consequences.
But it makes the right* people richer.
*see congress and their oligarch owners.
The Pentagon? For the Ukraine war??? Does that mean we are beginning to think about being not a passive but an active participant???
the usa has been an active participant in ukraine for over a decade.
Why does the Pentagon need extra money to do the job it was already funded to do? Deploying troops to Europe is a matter of putting the on ships- not planes- and going over. Housing them is a matter of opening up gymnasiums on existing posts or setting up tent cities in existing training areas. Food is already paid for, so there we go. Deploying troops who aren’t going into combat shouldn’t be a multi-billion dollar issue. And yes, I’m a 12-year vet and I know how it works.