Ukraine’s Military-Industrial Complex is the Big Break

As Ukrainians celebrated their 31st independence day Wednesday, President Joe Biden announced another almost $3 billion in military aid for the country’s fight against Russia.

The $2. 98 billion weapons and aid package is the single largest military-focused package announced by the Biden administration since the war broke out in late February. This latest package includes laser-guided rocket systems, six National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems (NASAMS) with additional ammunition, 24 counter-artillery radars, Puma Unmanned Aerial Systems, VAMPIRE Counter-Unmanned Aerial Systems, 245,000 rounds of 155mm artillery ammunition, 65,000 rounds of 120mm mortar ammunition, and additional funding for Ukrainian forces’ training and maintenance.

Because other domestic issues have come to dominate the news cycle–the overturning of Roe v. Wade, inflation, the FBI’s raid against former President Donald Trump, and the impending 2022 midterm elections–the United States’ continued support for Ukraine has taken a media backseat. Although it is understandable that domestic issues have been prioritized over the conflict which has entered its seventh month, it is not surprising that the US foreign policy blob welcomes distractions like the raid against former President Donald Trump and the FBI’s raid against him. The fact that the war doesn’t get the same attention as it did in spring does not necessarily mean that the flow of taxpayer money and weapons has stopped. It’s actually quite the contrary.

The latest package, which was released just before Wednesday’s announcement of $3 billion, was announced last Friday. Friday’s $775 million in aid also provided Ukraine with more missiles, artillery, and armored vehicles. However, the dispensation mechanism between these two aid packages is vastly different. While Friday’s $775 million in military aid was drawn from pre-existing stockpiles of U.S. weaponry and equipment, much like the military aid given to Ukraine previously, Wednesday’s aid package will be purchased or ordered from defense contractors. Earlier this month, the administration also announced two other aid packages–the first totaling $550 million, the second, a billion.

John Kirby was the National Security Council’s spokesperson. He said this meant that some aid could be dispersed more slowly depending on the current stock levels of defense contractors. Kirby said that it would depend on which item Kirby was referring to. Some stuff will likely still require some production time in order to create .”

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Kirby clarified that the Biden administration’s decision to stop depleting U.S. stockpiles doesn’t mean Congress’ drawdown authority budget has been reduced.

Previously, the Biden administration has used the Presidential Drawdown Authority to bankroll a series of other aid packages, such as a $400 million package that included four High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) and munitions, 1,000 rounds of 155mm artillery ammunition, demolition munitions, counter battery systems, as well as three tactical vehicles, spare parts, and other equipment. The Presidential Drawdown Authority in a given fiscal year is typically $100 million, meant to be used when unforeseen issues important to national security arise and the U.S. has to act quickly. But in the May 2022 supplemental appropriations bill to support Ukraine, Congress decided to increase that $100 million cap 110 times to $11 billion.

Opting to an aid package which falls outside the Presidential Drawdown Authority, by going directly to contractors instead of relying upon the U.S. army’s existing stockpiles, “will allow Ukraine air defense systems. artillery system and munitions to continue its long-term defense,” Biden stated.

The words of President Obama were sweet to the military industrial complex, which makes a living off the belief that America can eliminate all injustices with enough bullets and bombs. Defense contractors wept last year when America’s war on Afghanistan ended. They collected up to half of the Pentagon’s $14 trillion in spending over the U.S. military’s two-decade venture in Afghanistan. After one long-running conflict ended, another was able to save the entire complex. Although there are no national interests for the U.S. and Russia has nuclear-armed powers, Biden has pledged that the U.S. would be with Ukraine long term.

Wednesday is the biggest single package of military aid approved by the Biden Administration since the outbreak of the conflict. In total, the U.S. has doled out $13.7 billion in military aid to Ukraine, which dwarfs the budget of several prominent federal programs. This is twice the amount Congress has allocated to its $6.6 billion annual operating budget. This is nearly one and a half times larger than the respective budgets for the National Science Foundation (which has a budget of $9.2 billion) and federal judiciary (9.7 million). If you add $2.2 billion to the equation, the U.S. military assistance for Ukraine would be equal to the EPA’s operating budget.

To make a more direct comparison, the $13.7 billion already given to Ukraine–again, in the span of just six months–is more than four times the amount of military aid the U.S. provided Israel in fiscal year 2020.

The amount of military assistance for Ukraine will only increase as Russia’s advance in Donetsk slows and Biden gives the military-industrial community further access to long-term and medium-term revenue streams.

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Most members of Congress (Democratic or Republican) are reluctant to criticize the new money cow for the military-industrial. North Carolina Republican Dan Bishop isn’t one of them. “We shouldn’t be sending Ukraine another dollar, let alone $3 billion,” Bishop told The American Conservative. We’ve spent more than any European ally, but we don’t have the resources to defend our border .”

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Indeed. America’s current foreign-policy regime and its apparatchiks are rooted for disorder at home. So the public has reasonable turned their backs on the next aid package.

” This continued funding is an excellent example of America Last policy,” Bishop said. And that’s exactly how the fat generals would have it as they prepare to gorge on a FY2023 defense budget that could reach $1 trillion.