Buff-pulp The sound of the motorcade's sirens didn't warrant much attention: The streets of Washington are lined with police escorts, especially around Capitol Hill. But the black Mercedes S-Class sedan, shining in the summer heat of 2022, stood out. weird, I thought. DC's elite tend to be in Chevy or Cadillac SUVs. Then the wife of the president of Ukraine, Olena Zelenskyy, came out.
If only the American taxpayer could see this, I thought. Along with the Mercedes, her dress, hair and phalanx of attendants and bodyguards painted a distinctly different look from her husband's green sweatsuits, a casual disaster look much coveted by the Western media.
For this visit, the faucets were wide open: $48.7 billion in US aid flowed in by 2022.
Hawks, after Senator Mitch McConnell, supported almost unlimited funds. “Now is not the time to be risk averse!” said Sen. Joni Ernst from the Senate. “The best money we've ever spent,” said Sen. Lindsey Graham.
In March 2022, only 11 senators and 57 congressmen voted against the $40 billion aid package. Their votes against it look wiser with each passing day.
First, the money: so far we have given ukraine a bill of 113 billion dollars, equivalent to ten USS Gerald R. Fords. The United States could rebuild our entire aircraft carrier fleet for that sum. Since we borrowed every penny, the total cost will be much higher. Now, 18 months later, a recent poll shows that nearly half of Americans think we've spent enough.
However, this week, Zelenskyy again visited the White House and Congress with his hand, even invoking Ronald Reagan along the way. It is likely to get more funding, although it will require some border concessions from the Biden administration.
A second concern is the increased risk to national security.
Former CIA Director Leon Panetta inadvertently admitted, “We are using the Ukrainians as surrogate forces.”
It may be a proxy war for us, but the conflict is certainly an existential threat to Vladimir Putin and Russia. This week, a leaked secret report claimed that Russia has lost 315,000 soldiers. The “leak” is probably not an accident. DC hawks see heavy Russian casualties as evidence of America's sound investment. Americans can't even fathom such staggering numbers. We lost 416,000 soldiers in all of World War II. Those ignorant of Russian history may be tempted to think: surely the Russians can't keep up at this rate.
They are wrong. The Soviets lost 1.1 million soldiers in just one battle, Stalingrad. And like World War II, Russians see the fight with Ukraine as a stand against the West and fascism, which is why 8 out of 10 Russians support the war and Putin himself. As a result, Russian men and materiel are expected to continue pouring into Ukraine. And in the unlikely event of a major Russian pushback, American policymakers should not rule out nuclear escalation. Russia, not the US, has the largest and most advanced nuclear stockpile in the world.
Third, American military preparedness is at stake.
At the most basic level, war is being fought with artillery. The Army is currently procuring 28,000 155mm rounds per month, with the goal of doubling that number next year. Meanwhile, Ukraine is burning up to 9,000 155mm rounds per day Even under the most optimistic scenarios, Ukraine is burning through our reserve munitions at an alarming rate, falling below the minimum reserves needed to prosecute a conflict.
President Biden acknowledged this reality this summer when he said of the 155mm round, “We're running out of time.”
If the United States entered another war in the Middle East, or worse, with China, we would run out of ammunition within days of the outbreak of hostilities.
Finally, the stench of Ukrainian corruption is spreading westward.
Ukraine is not a liberal democracy, or even an illiberal one. When then-President Viktor Yanukovych rejected a deal to associate with the European Union in late 2013, the United States moved to reverse the outcome. “The extent of the Obama administration's meddling in Ukrainian politics was stunning,” said the CATO Institute.
The resulting coup set in motion an escalating series of events: Yanukovych's ouster, the election of pro-Western Petro Poroshenko, and an armed separatist insurgency in the Russian-speaking region of Donbas.
In early 2014, while American politicians like John McCain were excessively promising Ukrainians, “America is with you,” Hunter Biden joined the board of directors of the Ukrainian oil and gas company. It was his access to DC power, not his oil and gas expertise, that earned Hunter a $1 million annual salary from Burisma.
Two years later, in 2016, that salary paid dividends. Burisma came under the watchful eye of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine, Viktor Shokin. The Post Office of Kyiv reported in February 2016 that Shokin nailed Burisma owner Mykola Zlochevsky, seizing his homes and Rolls Royce.
The following month, Vice President Biden visited Ukraine and told President Poroshenko that the US would get $1 billion in loan guarantees if he did not fire Shokin immediately.
“I said, 'I'm leaving in six hours.' If the prosecutor is not fired, you will not receive the money.” Well, son of a bitch, he was fired,” Biden later boasted.
In 2019, President Trump asked newly elected Voloydymyr Zelenskyy to investigate these events: “There's a lot of talk about Biden's son and that Biden stopped the prosecution and a lot of people want to find out, so whatever you can do with the Attorney General would be great.”
These words were the basis of President Trump's first impeachment trial. The post-Ukraine dereliction of media duties meant Hunter and his father's actions were hidden from the electorate in 2020.
The most corrupt nation in Europe continues to be embroiled in American political scandals. That reason is money.
As Republicans continue to vote on funding Ukraine, they would do well to consider the risks.
Morgan Murphy, former Pentagon press secretary and US Senate national security adviser, is the author of five books, including Bourbon & Bacon. He is an Afghanistan veteran and the host of “Tastes of Victory.”
The views and opinions expressed in this commentary are those of the author and do not reflect the official position of the Daily Caller News Foundation.
All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact [email protected].
DONATE TO BIZPAC REVIEW
Please help us! If you're sick of letting radical tech execs, bogus fact-checkers, tyrannical liberals, and the lying mainstream media have unprecedented power over your news, consider donating to BPR to help us fight back them. Now is the time. The truth has never been more critical!
Success! Thanks for donating. Please share BPR content to help fight lies.
We have zero tolerance for comments that contain violence, racism, profanity, profanity, doxing, or rude behavior. If a comment is spam, instead of replying to it, click the ∨ icon below and to the right of that comment. Thank you for engaging with us in a fruitful conversation.
English 
Español de Venezuela 