Failing to do so risks losing the war.
Failing to do so risks losing the war.
O n November 15, the White House sent a request to Congress for $38 billion in aid to Ukraine. Of the amount requested, $21.7 billion will go to supply Ukraine with arms and ammunition for the rest of fiscal year 2023, while the rest will go to support essential civilian needs.
It is essential that this supplemental be passed. If it is not, Ukraine could run out of ammunition for many of its weapon systems by February, leading to the collapse and conquest of that country and the advance of Russian forces to the borders of America’s NATO allies, Poland and Romania. Should that happen, the United States would once again be forced to send hundreds of thousands of troops to Europe, draining our treasury to the tune of hundreds of billions of dollars per year and diverting forces essential to the defense of our allies in the Middle East and Asia.
There is little time to lose. While Democrats currently control the House of Representatives, that will change in January when the newly elected Republican majority takes over. At one time, Republican control would have implied the likelihood of stronger defense of the West than that offered by the mixed bag of liberal internationalists and pacifist appeasers composing the Biden administration. Unfortunately, that is no longer the case. Indeed, the Trump family and its isolationist allies within the GOP have become ever more vocal in overt or de facto support for Putin’s aggression, with Donald Trump Jr. tweeting direct attacks on Zelensky, Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene declaring that not a penny more of American money should go toward Ukraine’s defense, and even the president of the Heritage Foundation co-signing a letter opposing the supplemental.
The best shot for timely passage of the supplemental is now, during the lame-duck session. Republicans who believe that the GOP should be the party of Reagan and not the party of Putin should help the administration get it done.
Republicans need to do more, however. While Biden’s Ukraine policy is better than that offered by the defeatist Trump gang, that is faint praise indeed. For fear of offending Putin excessively, Biden has been denying Ukraine the kind of arms it could use to secure victory. These include F-16 fighters, ATACMS long-range missiles, tanks, and Patriot air-defense systems. This weak policy is lengthening the war, causing the loss of hundreds of thousands of lives, and imposing trillions of dollars’ worth of damage on the world economy.
PHOTOS: Russian-Ukraine War
The most urgent need right now is for air defense. Russia has launched an all-out effort to destroy Ukraine from the air by eliminating its civil infrastructure. Biden’s response has been to send two NASAM air-defense systems, which is far too few, while promising six more for delivery next summer, which will be far too late.
In addition to F-16s and Patriots to defend against Russia’s more sophisticated offensive capabilities, helicopter gunships could be of great value in taking out the slow-flying but long-range Iranian suicide drones that are causing havoc all over Ukraine. Another system that could be of great use against the Iranian drones are U.S. Army C-RAMs. A derivative of the U.S. Navy’s Phalanx Close-In Weapons System, which is used to protect U.S. Navy ships against cruise missiles and other threats, the C-RAM consists of a trailer-mounted, radar-guided Gatling gun. As Rear Admiral Mark Montgomery (ret.) and Bradley Bowman, analysts for the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, noted in a recent article, “C-RAM systems have engaged and destroyed hundreds of enemy rockets and mortars in Iraq and Afghanistan and apparently shot down two incoming drones in Baghdad in January of this year.” The Army has 53 of them. Half a dozen could go a long way towards rendering Putin’s air blitz impotent. It is inexcusable that they are not being sent.
The GOP could do America and itself a great service by pushing the administration to do better. Our policy should be victory. Administration figures such as National-Security Adviser Jake Sullivan who are responsible for delaying delivery of essential arms to Ukraine should be hauled before congressional committees and raked over the coals for their fecklessness.
The first order of business, however, is to pass the supplemental.