The Facts About Aid For Ukraine
There is an extreme amount of disinformation surrounding aid to Ukraine. It covers everything from what the aid actually is to the cost and impact of that aid on the United States, how the level of US aid compares to the amount being sent by Europe, and even about the war itself.
Let’s correct the narrative.
The Aid
The first misconception is that aid to Ukraine is a drain on the United States.
America has sent a total of $75 billion worth of aid to Ukraine since Russia’s invasion began two years ago. For comparison, the annual US Defense budget is $850 billion. Over the course of those two years, we have given less than 1/10th of one year of our own military budget to help Ukraine defend itself against a major military power.
Another misconception is that the United States is simply sending money to Ukraine. While the US has sent financial aid, the majority of aid has been military.
Not only is military aid not a drain on the US economy, it is a benefit.
The first benefit of this aid is that the US is modernizing its own military stockpiles. Some of the weapons and ammunition we’ve sent to Ukraine are decades old. America hadn’t allocated resources to replace them until the aid package to Ukraine was crafted.
It isn’t just the US that is modernizing its military. NATO allies are as well. As those nations donate older model tanks and aircraft to Ukraine, they are committing to contracts to replace their equipment with modern American-made armaments:
Poland - Over $18 billion in orders for new US tanks and helicopters
Finland - $9.5 billion for new planes
Norway - estimated cost ~$8 billion for new planes
Denmark - estimated cost ~$4 billion for new planes
Netherlands - estimated cost ~$5 billion for new planes
Those new contracts are more than the entire cost of the military aid that the US has sent to Ukraine so far and are over half of the total cost of all US aid sent to Ukraine.
These contracts only represent the equipment being replaced. There are other contracts as NATO allies near Russia increase their defenses in an effort to deter future Russian aggression. Poland, for example, also placed an order to purchase Patriot missiles for a total cost of $15 billion.
The US isn’t only giving Ukraine older equipment; we are also giving brand new equipment, including Stinger missiles, Patriot missiles, and the much-touted HIMARS artillery rockets, which doubled the range of Ukraine’s existing equipment.
All of this new equipment and ammunition, including the new orders coming in from NATO nations, is being built in the United States. These factories and facilities are spread across America throughout 31 states, creating jobs and spurring on the US economy.
The war in Ukraine has also highlighted weaknesses in US and NATO ammunition production, such as with artillery shells. The US production capability of 155mm shells was down to 15,000 per month, yet Ukraine was firing up to 8,000 shells per day. America was not ready to meet the demands of a modern major conflict. Our production capabilities are now being boosted to 100,000 shells a month by 2025, again, all made in America and creating US jobs.
US vs Europe Aid
Some members of Congress have been claiming that the US has done more than enough and that it is time for European nations to step up. However, that statement is backward.
European nations and EU institutions combined have sent a larger amount of aid to Ukraine than America has: $148.5 billion compared to the US total of $75 billion.
When viewing it as a measure of GDP, America is even further behind. 18 countries have contributed more aid as a portion of their GDP than the US has. Estonia has committed the highest, at ~3.5% of its GDP in aid, while the US has contributed around 0.3%.
The US can easily do more, and we should.
Oversight and Corruption
Another claim touted by far-right politicians in Washington is that Ukraine is a corrupt nation that is misusing our aid money and saying there is no way to track where that money is being spent.
This is false.
As we already know, the majority of aid the US is giving is military equipment and training, not direct money. 84% of the funds in the current proposed aid package, which is waiting for the House of Representatives to hold a vote on, goes directly to the US and other NATO allies, not to Ukraine. For the money we are giving, there is US oversight that goes along with it.
The irony of the Republican accusation about corruption is the simultaneous claim that Joe Biden, then vice president, got the Ukrainian prosecutor Victor Shokin fired because it had something to do with Hunter Biden.
Again this is false.
Shokin’s investigation into a company Hunter Biden worked for was conducted before Hunter worked there. Shokin was pushed out because he was corrupt. Republican members of Congress and numerous other nations also wanted Shokin fired. Shokin’s firing was actually part of the effort to clean up the corruption that had plagued Ukraine in the past.
Zelenskyy has been working hard to eliminate any remaining corruption in Ukraine. He has fired his previous defense minister and replaced him with a defense minister focused on rooting out any remaining corruption.
US politicians have also pointed to a case in which a small Ukrainian defense company embezzled $40 million. What they fail to mention is that this was discovered by Ukraine, not the US. Ukraine investigated and prosecuted the case, and all of the money was recovered.
Ukraine’s Ability to Win the War
Another talking point is that we shouldn’t bother giving Ukraine more aid because they won’t win the war anyway.
This is not only false; it is a horrendous view of morality. The concept is that we should let tyrants simply conquer and destroy any nation they want to instead of fighting as hard as we can to stop them. That is the mindset that allowed Hitler to conquer multiple nations and create a massively powerful military before more of the world got involved.
At the start of the war, Russia did have a superior military compared to Ukraine, which is why NATO aid was so important. But for people who aren’t paying attention, it has been two years, and Russia is still being held at bay.
Russian losses have been massive:
87% of their pre-war personnel have been lost in action, with over 315,000 killed or injured
All of their pre-war tanks have been lost. Russia is now bringing older, outdated models out of storage to continue its war
8,800 armored vehicles have been lost in total
Critical support aircraft have been lost
Russia also isn’t fighting alone.
North Korea is providing missiles and artillery shells, over 3 million shells in the last 6 months alone.
Iran is providing drones to Russia and is even building a new drone factory within Russia.
China is providing key components for Russian helicopters and air defense systems that Russia can’t get elsewhere due to sanctions. China is also now purchasing over 50% of Russia’s crude oil to prop up the Russian economy, which is failing due to Western sanctions.
Not only did Russia fail in what they expected to be a quick blitzkrieg-style push into Ukraine, but they’ve continued to make little progress even while being supported by other military powers.
If the US had provided the aid Ukraine initially needed, they might have been able to push Russia out quickly and even have ended the war. But America and other NATO allies dragged their feet in fear of inflaming the situation.
Ukraine can still win this war in two ways: either by using enough military force to deplete Russian forces, resulting in a Russian retreat, or by defending themselves long enough for Russia’s economy to collapse and Russian sentiment to become overwhelmingly negative, which would threaten Putin’s leadership.
Historic Parallels
Prior to America's involvement in World War II, there was an American movement known as the America First Committee, which used the slogan “America First.” This group opposed US aid to our allies, who were already defending themselves against the Axis powers because they didn’t want to be pulled into any foreign wars.
Here are some images of isolationist protests where they held signs claiming that sending aid to Britain was simply prolonging the war. Other signs ask why not make peace with Hitler. And another states that Hitler hasn’t attacked us, so why would we attack Hitler?
Do you see how similar that is to MAGA politicians who are saying that giving aid to Ukraine will simply prolong the war, that Russia hasn’t attacked us, so why are they our enemy, and those who say that Ukraine should simply surrender their land to Putin to make peace?
Also, prior to the US entering WWII, foreign propaganda was used to sway American opinion. Japan, for example, used slogans designed to appeal to Americans as they described how Japan had the technology and resources to fix China’s problems which they described as extreme drug use, poverty, and failing government institutions. That is how Japan justified its war and genocide against the Chinese.
Again the parallels are clear. MAGA politicians are repeating Russian propaganda claiming that Ukraine is full of corrupt people who are using foreign aid to enrich themselves and that Russia is simply working to defend themselves against the “Nazi” threat near their border.
Putin will not stop after conquering Ukraine. His goal is to rebuild the USSR, claim land, and grow his power, just as Hitler did when Nazi forces stormed nation after nation, using the resources and people they conquered to grow their military power for their next attack.
Putin and his officials aren’t even hiding their ambitions. They’ve publicly threatened other nations, including Poland and the United Kingdom, among many others. Most of these threats are directed at NATO allies. If Russia attacks a NATO ally, then the United States is immediately and automatically pulled into this war. Our sons and daughters will be fighting overseas.
We wouldn’t just be fighting Russia. Iran and North Korea would be involved. Even China would likely get involved at some point, but after they used the initial distraction to invade Taiwan, the only thing stopping them from invading now is America’s alliance with the island nation.
Those who forget history truly are doomed to repeat it and America is going down the same path it has once before. A path that led to the worst war the world has ever seen. A war that led to immense casualties and atrocities that we never want to see again.
We can avoid all of this by giving Ukraine the aid it needs, which is also a direct benefit to America.
https://www.cfr.org/article/how-much-aid-has-us-sent-ukraine-here-are-six-charts
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2023/11/29/ukraine-military-aid-american-economy-boost/
https://www.bu.edu/articles/2019/japanese-propaganda-aimed-at-americans-before-world-war-ii/
