Thread by @RepJasonCrow

1/ Supporting Ukraine is in the best interest of America. Let me explain: 🧵:

This is a map of NATO (a little outdated. Finland is now in NATO). NATO is a mutual defense organization designed to promote peace and security in Europe.

2/ Article 5 of the NATO charter says, in essence, that if one NATO country is attacked, it’s an attack against all NATO allies. The US is a member of NATO. Don’t deceive yourself into thinking Putin plans to stop at Ukraine.

3/ Those who know Putin well know that, to him, one of the greatest tragedies was the dissolution of the USSR. And he wants to control the former territory.

4/ Right now, with less than 5% of our annual defense budget, the US is helping Ukraine destroy the Russian military (one of our adversaries) and protect against a NATO conflict, without any US boots on the ground.

5/ Now let’s talk about why this is good for the US:

Over half of US aid to Ukraine has gone DIRECTLY into US businesses/the economy.

6/ Why? Because we’re sending Ukraine our old weapons and ammunition, and we’re using those funds to buy newer equipment for our military. A win-win.

7/ So, in sending aid to Ukraine, we’re:
1. Investing billions directly into the US businesses/ the economy
2. Clearing out our old equipment/military stores
3. Replenishing our military stores with modern equipment
4. Destroying one of our adversary militaries
5. Using less than 5% of our annual defense budget
6. Preventing an expansion of the conflict
7. & ALL without US boots on the ground

8/ This isn’t even to mention the global economy. The European and US economies are deeply integrated. If their economies suffer, we’ll feel it too. That could mean food insecurity, financial strain, and rising gas/oil prices. They say when one suffers, we all do, and in the case of globalized markets, it’s true.

9/ So, when I say sending Ukraine additional aid is in the US national security interest, I mean it.