(Mark Pellin, Headline USA) Even as U.S. Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Mark Milley continued earlier this week to aggressively push for sending more funding, weapons and resources to Ukraine, he boldly declared that Russia had already “lost” its “barbaric” war of aggression.
“President Putin thought he could defeat Ukraine quickly, fracture the NATO alliance and act with impunity,” Milley said during a press briefing that followed a meeting with NATO defense ministers in Belgium.
“He was wrong. Ukraine remains free. They remain independent. NATO and its coalition has never been stronger,” Milley insisted, despite reports of Russia gearing up for a major offensive and Ukrainian forces slumping.
“In short, Russia has lost,” boasted America’s highest ranking military officer. “They’ve lost strategically operationally and tactically, and they are paying an enormous price on the battlefield.”
But that doesn’t mean America’s funding spigot that has already gushed billions of dollars into Ukraine should be capped or stopped. Milley continued to advocate for more largess, declaring that “until Putin ends his war of choice the international community will continue to support Ukraine with the equipment and capabilities it needs to defend itself.”
Milley might have an easier time convincing the ‘international community” of more funding for Ukraine, than U.S. lawmakers and taxpayers who have become increasingly skeptical as the war drags into its second year with no end in sight.
U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., last week introduced the “Ukraine Fatigue Resolution” that calls for the U.S. to ”end its military and financial aid to Ukraine” and “urges all combatants to reach a peace agreement.”
The Pentagon’s own assessment tracks with Gaetz. As of last August, “Pentagon officials reported that United States munitions donated to Ukraine have severely depleted United States stockpiles, weakening United States readiness in the event of conflict,” according to the resolution.
That depletion compelled the U.S. to cut “a deal with South Korea to purchase thousands of rounds of 155mm ammunition, trying to offset the diminished domestic stockpiles after the United States has supplied Ukraine with nearly 1,000,000,000 rounds of munitions,” the resolution reported.
The resolution, which was referred to the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, was co-sponsored by GOP Reps. Andy Biggs, Lauren Boebert, Paul Gosar, Marjorie Taylor Greene, Anna Paulina Luna, Thomas Massie, Mary Miller, Barry Moore, Ralph Norman and Matt Rosendale.
“I would not send one more dollar to Ukraine. We’ve sent $100 billion already,” Gaetz told The Lars Larson Show. “Instead of protecting our people, protecting our border, protecting our economy and businesses we’ve decided to go flood a historically corrupt country with US cash.”
Gaetz noted the disturbing parallel to America’s last multi-year military and cash-burning foreign entanglement.
“Let’s not forget, the United State of America lost a 20-year war to goat-herders with rifles in Afghanistan,” Gaetz said. “And now we’re poking Russia, a nuclear power with a deranged madman in charge. It just doesn’t seem like a wise thing to do.”
