As we await Sixth District Congressman Ben Cline’s expression of outrage about the apparent murder of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny in an Arctic prison camp (you are outraged, aren’t you, Congressman?), let’s look at Cline’s latest excuses for opposing further U.S. aid to Ukraine as it fights to beat back murderous Russian aggression.
On Feb. 13 the Senate voted 70 to 29 to provide $60 billion for military and economic aid to Ukraine and $14 billion for military aid to Israel, as well as humanitarian aid for Gaza and the West Bank and $4.8 billion to deter Chinese aggression in the Indo-Pacific. The funding is stalled in the House of Representatives.
Here is Cline on one of his favorite rightwing news sites, where he can be assured of unchallenging questions, denouncing the legislation.
“This bill…includes money for Ukraine following on the more than $100 billion that American taxpayers have already sent to Ukraine, when we have zero accountability for the dollars that have already been spent.”
Wrong. US aid to Ukraine totals closer to $75 billion, “which includes humanitarian, financial, and military support.” About 90 percent of that money is being spent in the USA for weapons, ammunition and supplies produced in American factories by thousands of American workers. And as the Institute for the Study of War reports, “US oversight is extensive, and Ukrainian government oversight and accountability is extensive and growing.,, Ukrainian and [Department of Defense] personnel have been working aggressively to continue to improve monitoring and tracking of US aid, and US DoD officials have stated that there is no evidence that US-provided military assistance to Ukraine has been misappropriated.”
“We have an administration that doesn’t know what success is, can’t define success in Ukraine, and wants to send more taxpayer dollars into this black hole of a proxy war.”
Congressman Cline: What sort of definition of “success” are you looking for? How about: Helping Ukraine resist, and ultimately defeat, Russian aggression. Does that work for you?
And what do you mean by a “proxy war”? Are you saying that the US is using Ukraine as a proxy in a war against Russia? Reminder: It was Russia that invaded Ukraine. Ukraine is fighting for its survival as a free and independent nation with the assistance of the US and many other countries. Without additional aid, Russia could crush Ukraine. Can you grasp that?
“And then you have aid to Israel, our dependable ally in the Middle East… We are willing to help our democratic ally Israel because of the historic cultural, national security and economic ties that bind us. But we can’t tie it to Ukrainian aid…”
Congressman Cline: Can’t you understand that Ukraine’s war against Russian aggression and Israel’s war against Hamas are tied together? Israelis like Amir Tibon understand it.
Shame on you, too, Congressman.
Gene Zitver is the editor of ClineWatch.
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