On September 19th, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley firmly committed to the idea of a continued commitment from the US and other allies to the conflict in Ukraine. With no hesitation, he fully committed to funding the further conflict overseas. With the US and allied nations providing funding, ammunition, firepower, and humanitarian aid to the war-torn country, Milley remains committed to the cause. When asked directly about our ability to stick with it, he minced no words.
“You asked about the capacity…The short answer is yes, we can continue to do this, and the United States and its allied countries are rich, powerful, with significant resources, military resources that are capable of sustaining this fight, in President Biden’s words, as long as it takes. And that’s what the intent is of our political leadership of all of the nations of Europe and around the world, actually, and the United States, and that’s exactly what we, the military, will do. We’ll do what we’re directed to do, and we’re going to do it as long as it takes.”
As Congress debates Biden’s request for another $24 billion to fund the conflict, this is a massive chunk of the $113 billion we have spent there since February 2022. Multiple polls have shown that the American people are not only suspicious of such funding, but they want to see results for their money. So far, they have just been pissing away good money after bad.
With Zelensky visiting the US to plead for more funding in person, elected officials should be meeting with him to discover what they will be doing to resolve the conflict and to get the people of Ukraine not only free but to end this Russian aggression. While he was greeted with a receptive audience for his last visit in December 2022, that might not happen this time.
Gen. Milley’s decision to talk about the US as if we have a blank checkbook that will cover whatever it is that we want to buy is simply an ignorant choice. Not only the US but our allies don’t want to be handing over billions upon billions of dollars collected in taxes to fund a conflict that has nothing to do with us.
Nationwide, many Americans are still exhausted from the activities in Iraq and Afghanistan for the last 20+ years. Given the thousands of Americans who died over there, our patriots ensure they are not forgotten by the American people. They don’t want to see us putting boots on the ground in Ukraine, and we need to avoid it at all costs. Unless we want another unwinnable conflict.
The biggest problem we have found is the same that the Ukrainians are having; they play by the rules while the Russians break them at their will. This happened with ISIS and al Qaeda in Iraq as well as in Afghanistan. Yes, the very Taliban who took over the nation as we were running out the door broke the laws as well, and yet we did nothing. Suffering through this is just another part of the American way of life. That’s what happens when you are the big dog, you are stuck playing by the rules.
Unless, of course, you are a Democrat. They have been profiting off the conflict in Ukraine handover first. From “donations” that turned out to be nothing more than money laundering to the massive industrial complexes that have seen their bottom line boosted by Zelensky’s conflict, they have done nothing but benefit. While the Ukrainian people are used to dealing with Putin and the Russians trying to take over parts of their country, they never expected to have it get this bad for themselves. Instead, they expected the Russians to retreat, but Zelensky and his rag-tag band of soldiers haven’t been able to do it quite yet.
Maybe the next $50 billion will do it?
