Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Congress is once again in the throes of trying to cobble together a piece of legislation that will provide Ukraine with some money in support of its war effort.
The amount of money being discussed has changed several times in the past few months, but it generally comes down to about $60 billion, so let’s use that figure for discussion purposes.
Supporters of the war would have you believe that the $60 billion has to be provided, right now, and that is already too late. The money will allow Ukraine to keep fighting and, without the money, right now, Russia will prevail.
Let’s say we give them the $60 billion, right now, for discussion purposes. What, exactly, will Ukraine do with the money that it hasn’t already tried with the more than double that amount already provided?
Just asking.
President Zelensky recently said he needed 25 Patriot systems for air defense. In addition, Ukraine is critically short of 155mm ammunition.
Unfortunately, there is no Patriot Air Defense store to take your $60 billion and provide 25 Patriot systems. There are no spare Patriot systems to be had anywhere. If there were, they cost $1.1 billion per copy, so 25 of them would cost $27.5 billion, leaving you with $32.5 billion for “other.”
Czech Republic President Petr Patel is trying to locate one million rounds of 155mm artillery ammunition for Ukraine, with minimal results. News reports from many sources indicate that while Ukraine fires 2,000 rounds of 155 per day, the Russians are firing 10,000, so even if Patel finds a million rounds, Ukraine would only have about three months of artillery to match the Russian rate of fire.
If the Patriot systems and the artillery rounds were available in the Western supply system, wouldn’t the West provide Zelensky these assets to save Ukraine, and the rest of Europe, and the free world from certain destruction without demanding money? Just asking.
The Ukraine government faces a critical shortage in manpower for its armed forces and has just reduced the draft age from 27 years to 25. With the existential threat of losing Ukraine as a sovereign nation, the Ukrainian Parliament is reluctant to lower the draft age to 18 years. At the same time, it has no qualms about asking the United States to send our 18-, 19- and 20-year-olds into combat in support of their country.
What’s wrong with this picture?
Just asking.
Rube Render is a former Clovis city commissioner and former chair of the Curry County Republican Party. Contact him:
