Thread by @randymot4

US AID TO UKR
There is a major misconception the US is providing a big majority of the aid to UKR. This is only true of mil aid & because only the US had unused stores of the necessary eqpt. This is important because it fuels part of the resentment over aid. Please retweet./1

US mil aid involved just the weapons needed by Ukraine. But some allies have even given far more in proportion to what eqpt that had available./2

All US aid is also exaggerated in the media because people are led to believe that new aid announcements are cumulative to the $120 B authorization: they are not./3

The US aid authorization figure of $120 B is for the next seven years. It is running under $30 B a year, since most of the expenditures are "back-filling" for donated eqpt & ammo. Actions that are ongoing for a few years./4

US expenditures in aid are ironically therefore made in the US for most of the mil aid (our biggest component). See previous chart. As eqpt & ammo are replaced, they are also frequently upgraded. A new HIMAR missile will often be more capable than the one given to UKR./5

US aid also needs to be seen through the lens of the size of our GDP compared to allies. Several NATO allies give far more of their GDP than the US. This also correlates to their their proximity to Russia: they know the risk of letting Putin win./6

To everyone who thinks that UKR spending should be used at home instead: explain how $30 B a year out of the US defense budget can fix any of our domestic ills, in the context of a federal budget of trillions that you apparently think is now unable to do so./7

Since most of the funds are spent in the US on defense contracts, they generate taxable income, jobs, and secondary employment in the US (from various suppliers). So their impact of the federal deficit is less than many forms of govt spending./8

Contrary to some partisan political claims from members of my own party, the aid is aggressively audited and financially tracked, verified by third-parties./9

Weapons are all tracked down to the end-user. This is even now going to units on the front in actual contact with Russians. See 2nd half of interview w/ ex-Green beret vet./10
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ukr…

No verified reports of actual diversion of US-supplied arms have been found, although every case is investigated./11
armedservices.house.gov/hearings/full-…

US mil aid has been a decisive factor in allowing UKR to win the war and defeat the invading forces from Russia. UKR does not need or ask for US or NATO troops and is winning./12

https://twitter.com/general_ben/status/1607657407223586816?s=20&t=JXYAkNfHrIj1m4tGWFfWOQ

This will not be an "endless war" and can be resolved this year. The end will result in Russians out of UKR, And new air defenses will protect its cities./13
defenseone.com/policy/2023/02…

US is honoring its pledge in Budapest to guarantee the security of UKR borders. It is stopping Putin from taking 2nd largest country in Europe. Further preventing Russia from ability to invade or threaten other neighbors for many years./14
carnegieeurope.eu/strategiceurop…

Putin has bluffed about using nuclear weapons for months. Their use would not affect the outcome of the war: he will still lose, causing massive addtl costs to Russia. The safest course to prevent nuclear war is to not allow the threat to be effective./15
theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/…