Defense Business Brief: Ukraine aid / F-16 backlog / Chaos at OpenAI / and more...
Defense OneJUL 2023
Biden Admin Announces $300M Weapons Package for Ukraine
Image copyright: Kevin Dietsch/Staff/Getty Images News via Getty Images
The Spin
Pro-establishment narrative
Congress is risking America's national security by delaying its proposed aid package bill. With each of these bills, enough money was allocated to deliver Kyiv what it needs to fight Moscow, as well as enough to replenish the US stockpile from which Ukraine's weapons are coming. The Pentagon can only search for alternative funding sources for so long — once it runs out, the world will be at great risk. While the president does have $4B left to send to Ukraine, he can't risk sending it without assurances of replenishment from the legislative branch.
Establishment-critical narrative
As Americans watch the Pentagon and its pro-war friends in Congress complain about national security and Ukraine, this is the perfect time to remember the same charged language that was used to influence the population into supporting the Afghanistan and Iraq wars. The US military-industrial complex has sent so much money to Ukraine — with no evidence of it helping — that our defense stockpile has dried up. Congress should re-read the Constitution and start abiding by their duty only to start wars that the legislature votes to declare.