🚨 FINALLY, after more than 480 days of delay and dithering (costing Ukrainian lives), Congress is about to vote on another aid package for Ukraine.

Expect a lot of disinformation about US aid to Ukraine in the coming days.

🧵Here is a thread with the facts👇🏻 FACT: We are not writing “blank checks” to Ukraine: ✔️Every dollar spent in support of Ukraine is authorized by Congress and is used for a specific purpose
✔️So far, approximately $70 billion of the aid never left US

🧵As Congress debates additional support for Ukraine, the anti-Ukraine swamp will fill their echo chamber by peddling myths and half-truths.

Here are the facts👇 FACT: We are not writing “blank checks” to Ukraine:
✔️Every dollar spent in support of Ukraine is authorized by Congress and is used for a specific purpose
✔️Approximately $70 billion of aid never leaves the U.S. Instead, it goes to support our worlding leading defense industry

There is a lot of things wrong & misleading in this article written by Jeremy Hayes for @DailySignal (media outlet of @heritage).

Here is a thread explaining 🧵

https://twitter.com/dailysignal/status/1718751381664788750

Firstly, it states non-military aid of $12bn “won’t be used” to fight m Russia. This is false. Ukraine’s economy has been wrecked. US economic support funds different Ukranian govt departments (i.e. 100% of Ukraine’s first responders) to keep civil society strong & resilient.

I see some saying that US can reduce force presence in Europe because Ukraine has weakened Russia. US troops are not in Europe because of Russia. They are in Europe for US national interests during an era of Great Power Competition.

As I recently wrote: hudson.org/foreign-policy… The objective of US forces in Europe is to provide a forward-based military capability that gives decision makers timely & flexible options in promoting US interests in the broader region. The US contribution to the collective defense of Europe is simply a positive side effect.

🧵 Nobody in the think-tank community gets it right all the time. I’ve been wrong and I try being the first to admit when I am. That’s how you learn. But one year ago, just before the invasion, Samuel Charap and Scott Boston of Rand got it WRONG.

And I mean W.R.O.N.G. 👇🏻 Just about every sentence in this article was wrong. From diminishing the importance of US military aid to Ukraine, downplaying the capabilities of the Ukrainian military, & overstating the ability of Russian military. It’s quite special and worth a read rand.org/blog/2022/01/u…

🚨Congress is about to vote on another Supplemental package for Ukraine. Expect a lot of disinformation about US aid to Ukraine in the coming days.

🧵Here is a thread debunking the 10 most common myths 👇🏻 Myth 1: We’re writing “blank checks” to Ukraine. No oversight.

Reality: There has never been more accountability & transparency measures in place for US foreign assistance than what was found in the Ukraine Supplemental last May. ~10% of the bill was on oversight. Just read it.

The line “European states are more than capable of providing for their own security” shows a deep misunderstanding about what US troops in Europe do and why they are still there.

https://twitter.com/quincyinst/status/1269024815807172608

US military presence in Europe is first & foremost about US interests. Of course, the presence of US troops in Europe contributes to collective defense of allies but this is a consequence of, not the reason for, the troops.

🚨🚨This week Spain will welcomed Russian Navy back into its ports for refueling and resupplying. The brand new corvette Vasily Bykov left Ceuta today. The U.S. should make it crystal clear to Spain that this is unacceptable. ceutaldia.com/articulo/puert… The Vasily Bykov is based in the Black Sea and enables Russia’s continued illegal occupation of #Crimea. In April it was involved with tracking US Navy operating in the Black Sea ahvalnews-com.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/ahvalnews.…

This so called “cost plus 50” proposal is whack. US military presence in Europe is first & foremost about US interests. Of course, the presence of US troops in Europe contributes to collective defense of allies but this is a consequence of, not the reason for, the troops. Don’t look at Europe. Look around it. From the Arctic to the Levant, from the Maghreb to Caucasus, Europe is at one of the most important crossroads of the world. US bases in Europe provide American leaders with flexibility, resilience & options in a dangerous multipolar world.

10 years ago Russia invaded Georgia. Today, Russia continues to occupy 20% of Georgia’s internationally recognized territory. Here is a thread showing you what that would look like in each P5 country. /1 First up is Russia. In 2008 it was Russia that invaded Georgia and not the other way around. However, if 20% of Russia was under foreign occupation it would look like this 👇🏻

NATO uses unanimously agreed formula based on GDP to determine how much each contributes to NATO’s common defense spending. In 2017, US share was 22.15%, followed by Germany (14.65%), France (10.63%), & UK (9.84%). All members have met their common funding obligation requirement. US forces are not in Europe to protect Europeans at expense of US taxpayer. Instead, US troops are there to protect US national interests. The huge garrisons of US troops in Europe are no longer the fortresses of the Cold War, but the forward operating bases of the 21st century.

I want Macedonia in NATO more than anyone but I urge caution to everyone prematurely cheerleading the recent news about name dispute. There is a long way to go before this is finalized. There are a lot of issues at play here. /1 Domestically, the big issue for Macedonians will be the requirement to change the name in the constitution. Right now the govt does NOT have a majority big enough to do this on their own. /2