https://sputnikglobe.com/20230519/biden-admin-wages-information-war-against-americans-to-fund-ukraine-conflict-1110469223.html
Biden Admin Wages Information War Against Americans to Fund Ukraine Conflict
Biden Admin Wages Information War Against Americans to Fund Ukraine Conflict
Sputnik International
Vast military assistance the US provides to Kiev already caused major concerns amid Americans, with White House spending billions to fund its proxy war against Russia.
2023-05-19T18:17+0000
2023-05-19T18:17+0000
2023-06-19T12:48+0000
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According to recent reports, an accounting error resulted in the US overestimating supplies sent to Ukraine by a whopping $3 billion, as the Pentagon used replacement cost to value the weapons instead of the actual arms' cost. Defense officials actually discovered the issue two months ago, but informed Congress only now, infuriating lawmakers.The reports conveniently emerged amid the debt ceiling stalemate, as "freeing up" several billion dollars allows Biden not to ask Congress for extra funding for Ukrainian military help.But what does this "little mistake" really says about Washington's accountability and about its priorities when it comes to taxpayers’ money amid a looming default?David T. Pyne, an EMP Task Force scholar and former US Department of Defense officer, explained what exactly is behind this troubling discovery in an interview with Sputnik.Sputnik: How is it possible to make a $3 billion miscalculation?David T. Pyne: Given the fact that Ukraine is reporting the US has provided $196 billion in aid thus far, which is an amount 33 times higher than Ukraine's 2021 defense budget, and a sum well more than its entire 2022 Gross Domestic Product, I think it is possible to make a miscalculation of this scale. There remains little if any accountability on US economic and military aid to Ukraine thus far as the US Congress has not done much of anything to monitor how the aid is used.CBS News has reported that only about 30% of Western military assistance is reaching front-line troops in Ukraine with much of the rest of the aid being sold on the black market to enrich the pockets of corrupt Ukrainian bureaucrats including President Zelensky who according to one report may have pocketed up to hundreds of millions of dollars in US aid for himself.Sputnik: Why do you think the Pentagon waited two months to tell Congress?David T. Pyne: I think we have been seeing a lot of deceptive statements emanating from the Biden administration calculated to deceive the American people about the truth about its proxy war against Russia because of they knew the inconvenient truths about the origins of the war and the fact that Ukraine has no chance to win it no matter how much military support the US sends, popular support for the war would be much reduced.Accordingly, it does not surprise me in the least that the Pentagon attempted to conceal this substantial accounting error from Congress for a two-month period of time.Sputnik: How abnormal is this incident? Do miscalculations like this happen frequently? Is it normal for the Pentagon to not tell Congress about such a major mistake for two months?David T. Pyne: I have not worked at the Department of Defense since 2005 so I am not sure how normal or how frequent this accounting error is but without a doubt it is important that Congress use this incident to pass laws to make the US Department of Defense more accountable to Congress than it is today to ensure it does not re-occur.Sputnik: A senior defense official told Reuters that this error "may lead the way for more weapons being sent to Kiev for its defense against Russian forces." Do you think it’s possible that someone in the Pentagon intentionally overestimated the aid in order to send more weapons to Ukraine?David T. Pyne: Yes, I think that is very possible. The Biden administration has expressed concern that the Republican led House of Representatives may not approve its proposed Ukraine aid packages so it may be looking for ways to deceive Congress to provide billions of dollars more direct military aid which according to the DoD now exceeds $37 billion.Senior Biden administration officials have essentially been waging an information warfare, disinformation, and perception management campaign against the American people to get them to support the war in Ukraine which is being fought in opposition to US national security interests.That said, I do think it is very common for governments across the world to propagandize their citizens to support wars against their own interests throughout history, so the Biden administration’s deceptive war propaganda campaign is hardly unique in this regard.Sputnik: Do you think this incident will have any impact on future supplies to Ukraine? Do you expect people in the Pentagon to be more rigorous in crunching their numbers next time?David T. Pyne: I am hopeful that this incident will give members of Congress pause in sending any additional aid to Ukraine until the aid we have sent them thus far has been fully accountable.However, given the fact that Democrats remain in control of the US Senate and many senior House Republicans remain supportive of unilaterally disarming the US military to ship thousands more advanced weapon systems to Ukraine, I am skeptical that it will.
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ukraine aid, how much us spends on ukraine, war in ukraine, how big is us aid to ukraine, pentagon $3 billion
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Biden Admin Wages Information War Against Americans to Fund Ukraine Conflict
18:17 GMT 19.05.2023 (Updated: 12:48 GMT 19.06.2023) Vast military assistance the US provides to Kiev already caused major concerns amid Americans, with White House spending billions to fund its proxy war against Russia.
According to recent reports, an accounting error resulted in the US overestimating supplies sent to Ukraine by a whopping $3 billion, as the Pentagon used replacement cost to value the weapons instead of the actual arms' cost. Defense officials actually discovered the issue two months ago, but informed Congress only now, infuriating lawmakers.
The reports conveniently emerged amid the
debt ceiling stalemate, as "freeing up" several billion dollars allows Biden not to ask Congress for extra
funding for Ukrainian military help.
But what does this "little mistake" really says about Washington's accountability and about its priorities when it comes to taxpayers’ money amid a looming default?
David T. Pyne, an EMP Task Force scholar and former US Department of Defense officer, explained what exactly is behind this troubling discovery in an interview with Sputnik.
Sputnik: How is it possible to make a $3 billion miscalculation?
David T. Pyne: Given the fact that Ukraine is reporting the US has provided $196 billion in aid thus far, which is an amount 33 times higher than Ukraine's 2021 defense budget, and a sum well more than its entire 2022 Gross Domestic Product, I think it is possible to make a miscalculation of this scale. There remains little if any accountability on US economic and military aid to Ukraine thus far as the US Congress has not done much of anything to monitor how the aid is used.
CBS News has reported that only about 30% of Western military assistance is reaching front-line troops in Ukraine with much of the rest of the aid
being sold on the black market to enrich the pockets of corrupt Ukrainian bureaucrats including President Zelensky who according to one report may have pocketed up to hundreds of millions of dollars in US aid for himself.
Sputnik: Why do you think the Pentagon waited two months to tell Congress?
David T. Pyne: I think we have been seeing a lot of deceptive statements emanating from the Biden administration calculated to deceive the American people about the truth about its proxy war against Russia because of they knew the inconvenient truths about the origins of the war and the fact that Ukraine has no chance to win it no matter
how much military support the US sends, popular support for the war would be much reduced.
Accordingly, it does not surprise me in the least that the Pentagon attempted to conceal this substantial accounting error from Congress for a two-month period of time.
Sputnik: How abnormal is this incident? Do miscalculations like this happen frequently? Is it normal for the Pentagon to not tell Congress about such a major mistake for two months?
David T. Pyne: I have not worked at the Department of Defense since 2005 so I am not sure how normal or how frequent this accounting error is but without a doubt it is important that Congress use this incident to pass laws to make the US Department of Defense more accountable to Congress than it is today to ensure it does not re-occur.
Sputnik: A senior defense official told Reuters that this error "may lead the way for more weapons being sent to Kiev for its defense against Russian forces." Do you think it’s possible that someone in the Pentagon intentionally overestimated the aid in order to send more weapons to Ukraine?
David T. Pyne: Yes, I think that is very possible. The Biden administration has expressed concern that the Republican led House of Representatives may not approve its proposed Ukraine aid packages so it may be looking for ways to deceive Congress to provide billions of dollars more direct military aid which according to the DoD now exceeds $37 billion.
Senior Biden administration officials have essentially been waging an information warfare, disinformation, and perception management campaign against the American people to get them to
support the war in Ukraine which is being fought in opposition to US national security interests.
That said, I do think it is very common for governments across the world to propagandize their citizens to support wars against their own interests throughout history, so the Biden administration’s deceptive war propaganda campaign is hardly unique in this regard.
Sputnik: Do you think this incident will have any impact on future supplies to Ukraine? Do you expect people in the Pentagon to be more rigorous in crunching their numbers next time?
David T. Pyne: I am hopeful that this incident will give members of Congress pause in sending any additional aid to Ukraine until the aid we have sent them thus far has been fully accountable.
However, given the fact that Democrats remain in control of the US Senate and many senior House Republicans remain supportive of unilaterally disarming the US military to ship thousands more advanced weapon systems to Ukraine, I am skeptical that it will.
