Pledges count for very little in the oblasts’ mud, Europe. Buy the gear and get it shipped.
The U.S. Senate passed the $95 billion national-security package that will benefit Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan in their efforts to blunt the efforts of authoritarian regimes. This is good news, and the TikTok ban riding with the bill is the cherry on top. The figure is a small expense when compared to any direct action with either Russia, Iran, or China (after all, selling a buddy an old Mossberg to use in case of home invasion is significantly easier than setting up a perimeter and patrolling his property for him every night).
That said, the ball is in Europe’s court to reciprocate. Euros may complain about the time it took us to write a check, but we’re by far the largest military-aid contributors and have much less to lose if Ukraine were to fail. The British Isles announced on Tuesday that it would throw some aid in the collection jar, some $500 million worth of “400 vehicles, 60 boats, 1,600 strike and defence missiles, and four million rounds of ammunition.” Germany is futzing about crowd-sourcing anti-air capabilities, while the Czech Republic has actually accomplished raising the funds necessary for 800,000 artillery shells. Ukraine can make use of air defenses — it’s currently experiencing sustained missile bombardment to which it has no answer — and it is expected that the impending matériel infusion will prompt Russia to renewed aggression as it seeks to make gains while Ukraine is still relatively toothless. Thankfully, the bulk of U.S. aid is staged in Europe and should make its way to the frontlines within a matter of days or weeks, or as Representative Bill Keating (D., Mass.) boasted, “sooner than anyone thinks is possible.”
Pledges count for very little in the oblasts’ mud, Europe. Buy the gear and get it shipped.