After those who criticized the tens of billions of dollars worth of U.S. aid being sent to Ukraine and questioned whether appropriate oversight was in place were called agents of the Kremlin by some proponents of such aid, it turns out that the Pentagon has lost track of some $1 billion worth of equipment sent to support the fight against Russia.
The revelation came in a report from the Pentagon's inspector general on Thursday and, as the Washington Post described the situation, the Department of Defense has apparently "not properly kept tabs on more than $1 billion worth of shoulder-fired missiles, night-vision goggles, one-way attack drones and other sensitive equipment that the United States has provided to Ukraine."
It is perhaps unsurprising that the Pentagon — which failed its sixth consecutive audit in November — has failed to keep track of weapons systems and equipment sent to a war zone, but that doesn't make the findings less concerning.
Specifically, as WaPo noted, the IG's report raises "questions about the United States' ability to ensure that its weapons are not stolen," and such a report is ill-timed for the Biden administration and those on Capitol Hill who are pushing for more taxpayer-funded aid to be approved for Ukraine.
"As its existing funding to help Ukraine runs out, the president and other top officials have urged Congress to urgently approve a massive package of additional military support for Kyiv, but the debate has stalled as Republicans push for dramatic changes to U.S. border policy," WaPo summarized. Now, the IG's findings give those who are asking what the already-sent billions in U.S. aid have done for Ukraine something to point to as a reason to be hesitant about approving more aid funding.
WaPo's report notes that the inspector general "made no conclusion that any aid to Ukraine had in fact been diverted from the war's front lines" because such a finding "was beyond the scope" of the investigation — but that also doesn't mean it definitely was not stolen.
While the fate of the equipment that the U.S. lost track of will continue to be debated, the IG did point to how the equipment went missing: the DoD "did not fully comply with the EEUM [enhanced end-use monitoring] program requirements for defense article accountability in a hostile environment."
That monitoring is required for "equipment and weapons that contain especially sensitive technology or are easy to smuggle or steal," according to WaPo and the Defense Department.
But Biden's Defense Department didn't have plans to ensure compliance with the EEUM program, failed to ensure that U.S. personnel were in Ukraine to conduct required tracking and, until December 2022, "did not have a policy in place for conducting EEUM in a hostile environment," according to the IG report. The Pentagon also failed to "enforce requirements" for Ukraine's military to "provide loss reports in a timely manner."
"Some items, such as radio equipment and night-vision goggles, are small enough to smuggle in bags or vehicles and sell on the black market," WaPo reminded. "Others — such as shoulder-fired Javelin and Stinger missiles — have a history from previous conflicts of being hot items on the global arms bazaar."
But, according to the Biden administration, there's nothing to see in the IG report that Pentagon officials somewhat dispute. Acting undersecretary of defense for policy Alexandra Baker told WaPo that "there is no evidence of unauthorized or illicit transfer" of U.S. aid "outside of Ukraine" and insisted that the "lack of a full accounting does not preclude the U.S. government from reasonably concluding Ukraine is in compliance with U.S. government requirements."