by Eric Zuesse at The Duran
On November 15th, U.S. President Joe Biden requested Congress to allocate another $37.7 billion to Ukraine, and the Democratic Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, the neoconservative Gregory Meeks of New York, said it was “urgent to make sure that we get them everything that we can … so that they have the weapons to continue the momentum moving through the winter,” against the Russians. According to the AP’s report, “U.S. aid to Ukraine has already included tens of thousands of missiles and rockets for air defense and anti-armor systems, and more than 84 million rounds of ammunition, as well as drones, tanks, trucks, radars, body armor and other gear.”
Calculations published on October 11th by the the Kiel Institute for World Economy’s “Ukraine Support Tracker” totaled up $52B from the U.S. to Ukraine this year, as-of that time, and by now around $60B has been allocated, so that if the current request for $37.7B is granted — which seems almost certain (since the U.S. Congress is now virtually 100% neoconservative and never turns down an opportunity to spend more money for weapons and warfare) — America will have spent this year on helping Ukraine defeat Russia in the battlefields of Ukraine, something in the neighborhood of $100 billion.
Russia is likewise planning to intensify its military operation in Ukraine. A Russian news-report that is censored-out in The West but available in Russia, is dated November 15th and headlines “EW specialists continue to carry out tasks within special military operation” and says that Russia’s electronic warfare devices in Ukraine have “already neutralized around 50 AFU [Armed Forces of Ukraine] drones.” That seems inconsequential in comparison with the immense flood of U.S. weaponry that is pouring into Ukraine. Also on November 15th, CEPA, the neoconservative Center for European Policy Analysis in Washington DC, bannered “Doomed to Failure — Russia’s Efforts to Restore its Military Muscle”, and reported that “Much is revealed by examining Russia’s defense budget. The planned 2022 national defense (ND) budget was 3.51 trillion rubles ($57.4bn), which rose to 3.85 trillion rubles after the all-out invasion began.” So: Russia’s total military spending now, which includes both personnel (troops) and weapons, might be less than what America is spending on weapons for Ukraine plus only training of Ukraine’s troops. Nonetheless, CEPA says that in Russia, “Officials and defense sector managers declare that the defense industry is ready to make up all losses as the government increases its arms procurement budget.” The report says that achieving that will be virtually impossible, not only because Russia can’t afford unlimited military expenditures such as are routine in America, but because, due to America’s anti-Russia sanctions, “[Russian] officials are now traveling intensively from one defense factory to another trying to manage multiple problems arising on production lines. … As a result, the losses of Russia’s military during its invasion of Ukraine are irreversible.”
Whereas Russia normally would be spending around $60B per year…
Continue Reading