Bang for their bucks

Erick Erickson:

Sixty-one cents of every dollar we give to Ukraine comes back to the United States as weapons system purchases.

Ninety cents of every dollar we give Ukraine is in the form of a loan that the European Union guarantees. So, if Ukraine does not pay us back, Europe will.

Europe is spending two dollars for every one dollar we are spending.

The total amount we have spent amounts to slightly less than five percent of the American Defense Department Budget.

Here is some of what the Ukrainians are buying from us, or buying from Europeans who are then upgrading their weapons systems from us.

  • 10,000 Javelin anti-armor systems
  • 1 Patriot air defense battery and munitions
  • 80,000 other anti-armor systems and munitions
  • 12 NASAM systems
  • 2,000 Stinger anti-aircraft systems
  • Avenger air defense systems
  • 7,000 TOW missiles
  • HAWK air defense systems and munitions
  • 35,000 grenade launchers and small arms, with ammunition
  • Laser-guided rocket systems
  • AIM-7 missiles
  • 100,000 sets of body armor and helmets
  • RIM-7 missiles
  • Night-vision devices, surveillance systems, thermal imagery systems, optics, and laser rangefinders
  • AIM-9M missiles
  • Antiaircraft guns and ammunition
  • C-4 and other explosives
  • Explosive-ordnance-disposal equipment
  • VAMPIRE anti-drone systems and munitions
  • Anti-drone gun trucks and ammunition
  • M18A1 Claymore mines
  • Anti-drone laser-guided rocket systems
  • Anti-tank mines
  • Other anti-drone equipment
  • Mine-clearing equipment
  • Obstacle-emplacement equipment
  • Medical supplies
  • Air-to-ground missiles
  • Field equipment, cold-weather gear, generators, and spare parts
  • High-speed anti-radiation missiles (HARMs)
  • Precision aerial munitions
  • Chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear protective equipment
  • 6,000 Zuni aircraft rockets (could function as air defense)
  • 18 armored bridging systems
  • 20,000 Hydra-70 aircraft rockets
  • Rocket launchers and ammunition
  • 25mm ammunition

The most remarkable part of our willingness to be the arsenal of democracy is that while Ukraine returns sixty-one cents of every dollar to American military suppliers in the form of purchases, Ukraine also pays back the American government the same sixty-one cents we loaned them for the purchases. It is a remarkably good deal for the United States that undermines the Russians, keeps American citizens from having to fight the Russians, helps Ukraine secure its freedom, and creates jobs for Americans from Alabama to California.

I agree with Republican concerns that we need increased audits and an Inspector General, given the history of corruption in Ukraine. But I think the cause of helping Ukraine fight the Russians is worthwhile.

What is actually even more remarkable is that a radio show host in Georgia should not have to be the one to explain this. The President of the United States should.

It is the most damning indictment of Joe Biden that he has failed to make this case. You can disagree. I’m not trying to persuade you. I’m just giving you the facts. It is just really remarkable that Joe Biden cannot sit down from the Oval Office and make the case for supporting this cause.

His unwillingness has allowed others to suggest we cannot secure our border and help Ukraine or to make the case that we are spending too much.

I support funding Ukraine. I think it is the right thing to do. But I totally get others who are more and more skeptical when the President himself cannot make the case.

 

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