Secretary of State Antony Blinken dropped by Ukraine this week, assuring top Ukrainian officials that America’s commitment to their struggle is ironclad. Another aid package was promised despite Maui residents needing more funds to rebuild their communities after the worst wildfire in American history in over a century tore through the island, killing over 100 people.
Yet, the latest package isn’t arms and ammunition. We’re subsidizing the rebuilding of their energy infrastructure, which Blinken outlined during his trip. As Katie noted, this is nation-building (via WSJ):
Nation building https://t.co/ZvoqoyM8AY
— Katie Pavlich (@KatiePavlich) September 6, 2023
.@SecBlinken: Americans will "invest more than $520 million" to make Ukraine’s energy infrastructure "cleaner, more resilient" pic.twitter.com/s9SAamq9CU
— Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) September 6, 2023
Blinken announces another $260 million in Ukraine assistance that will go toward shelter, medical support, health care, clean water, food, and home generators pic.twitter.com/uvseJH6myD
— Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) September 6, 2023
Secretary of State Antony Blinken signaled Washington’s long-term support for Ukraine’s fight to expel Russian invaders, traveling to Kyiv in an effort to reassure the country’s leaders as they pursue a slow-going and difficult counteroffensive against entrenched enemy forces.
Blinken’s visit, the most high-profile trip by a U.S. official since President Biden went in February, appeared designed to buoy Kyiv and Western allies and to send a message to the Kremlin that Washington doesn’t intend to back down.
Blinken used the unannounced visit to pledge more than $1 billion in additional aid for Ukraine. The financial package includes funds for equipment to clear mines laid by Russia, obstacles that have impeded Ukraine’s progress, as well as $203 million to root out graft in Ukrainian institutions. Kyiv replaced its defense minister last week after allegations of corruption against officials in his department.
Continued support from Washington, by far Ukraine’s biggest backer, is seen as vital to any Ukrainian victory against Russia. The U.S. has provided Ukraine more than $40 billion in military aid since the start of the war.
“We want to make sure that Ukraine has what it needs, not only to succeed in the counteroffensive, but has what it needs for the long term, to make sure that it has a strong deterrent,” said Blinken, who met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Wednesday.
And more aid is on the way. The publication added that Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) wants an additional $24 billion in aid to the nation before the end of the month. The irony is that I thought nation-building had been removed from the playbook, given that we’ve blown $1 trillion in the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq with mixed success. Biden presided over our ignominious defeat in Afghanistan, claiming our presence no longer served US interests.
He wanted to end this open-ended commitment that spanned three presidencies, only to engage us in a similar quandary in Ukraine. There is no major troop footprint, but the endless stream of money in a nation that serves little to America’s interests other than wanting to kill Russians is a twist of irony that can only happen to Joe Biden. Exiting one war only to re-engage us in an endless proxy conflict with Moscow isn’t smart, Joe. But you wouldn’t know, being that you’ve been wrong on every major foreign policy decision for the past 40 years.
And not that it needs to be said, but there’s rampant corruption associated with these aid packages, which have no oversight.
How do we fix this? Voting this guy out next year is a start.