Biden says US to begin sending military equipment to Ukraine within 'hours'
By: Alexandra Hutzler (ABC News)
Joe Biden openly brags that he has been lying to the American people all along. The war materiel has been pre-positioned in Poland. Biden could have released the stuff months ago. Biden only wanted Congress to cover his backside. And Biden's brag is delivered against the backdrop of responding to Volodymyr Zelenskyy's demands. Zelenskyy barks and Biden jumps. Biden readily admits that piece of tail is wagging the dog.
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
The U.S. will begin sending military equipment to Ukraine within "a few hours" after the passage of a long-stalled foreign aid package, President Joe Biden announced on Wednesday.
In remarks from the White House, Biden said he had just signed the $95 billion package. He said it will make both America and the world "safer."
"It was a difficult path [to my desk] and it should have been easier, and it should have gotten there sooner," Biden said of the legislation, which was first requested by the administration last fall and seemed all but dead due to GOP-led opposition in the House before the sudden reversal of Speaker Mike Johnson.
"But in the end, we did what America always does: we rose to the moment, came together and we got it done," the president continued. "Now we need to move fast, and we are."
The package provides roughly $61 billion for Ukraine in its fight against Russian invaders, marking the first time in over a year Congress has approved new aid for the war-torn ally. The war has intensified in recent weeks, as more Russian strikes break through with Ukraine's air defenses running low.
In anticipation of the legislation passing, the Biden administration worked up a roughly $1 billion military assistance package for Ukraine, a U.S. official told ABC News on Tuesday.
President Biden said the supplies being immediately sent to Ukraine includes desperately needed air defense munitions, artillery for rocket systems and armored vehicles. He said the supplies will come from U.S. stockpiles that will be replenished by products made by American companies.
Last month, the United States provided Ukraine with long-range ATACMS missiles at Biden's direction, a senior administration official confirmed to ABC News. The missiles were first used last week in an attack on Crimea and another on Tuesday near Berdyansk, a United States official confirmed to ABC News.
ATACM missiles can generally can reach distances between 70 to 300 kilometers.
"America stands with our friends," Biden said. "We stand up against dictators. We bow to no one, to no one, certainly not Vladimir Putin."
Still, he swiped at "MAGA Republicans" for blocking aid for months while Ukrainian supplies ran low and Russia received help from Iran, North Korea and China.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy thanked Congress for the approval of the "vital aid," and emphasized how urgent the issue is.
"The key now is speed," he wrote in a statement posted to X. "The speed of implementing agreements with partners on the supply of weapons for our warriors. The speed of eliminating all Russian schemes to circumvent sanctions. The speed of finding political solutions to protect lives from Russian terror. Every leader who does not waste time is a life saver."
The foreign aid package also includes $26 billion for Israel, currently at war with Hamas in Gaza, as well as $8 billion for allies in the Indo-Pacific. Plus, it includes sanctions on Russia, China and Iran as well as a provision to seize Russian assets to assist Ukraine in rebuilding after the war.
Also tucked into the package is a measure to force a U.S. ban of TikTok if its Chinese parent company doesn't divest from the app within a year, though the company is likely to sue to try to block the law.
Speaking on the Israel aid, Biden said his commitment to the defense of the Jewish state remained "ironclad" while also emphasizing the law includes $1 billion in humanitarian assistance for Gaza. He said Israel must ensure the aid, including food, water and medicine, reaches Palestinian civilians "without delay."
However, Biden lamented one thing not being included in the law: border security.
Republican hard-liners and Johnson had initially insisted foreign aid be tied to border policy changes, arguing more resources shouldn't be sent overseas without addressing domestic issues such as immigration. But then Johnson rejected a bipartisan deal that would have changed asylum laws, hired more immigration judges and more. After the compromise fell apart, the Senate passed its own foreign aid bill that languished in the House before Johnson last week forged ahead with individual votes on foreign aid with the help of Democrats.
"It was bipartisan. It should have been included in this bill and I'm determined to get it done for the American people," Biden said on Wednesday of the immigration proposal.
Closing his remarks, Biden thanked the top congressional leaders -- Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, Speaker Johnson and House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries -- for eventually uniting on this issue.
"History will remember this moment for all the talk about how dysfunctional things are in Washington, when you look over the past three years, we see that time and again on the critical issues we've actually come together," he said.
ABC News' Selina Wang and Luis Martinez contributed to this report.
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Lie after lie after lie after lie. Joe Biden is a true blue Democrat that has represented his party well for over half a century.
Aid for Ukraine has been bipartisan until now. Democrats certainly won't claim sole credit for funding Biden's quagmire. So, Biden is even lying about bipartisanship. And the unbiased liberal press is happy to spread that misinformation.
The conventional wisdom is that Republicans never saw a war they didn't like. Turns out that was just another lie told by Democrats to cover their own warmongering. Republicans are already turning away from neoliberal nonsense. And, hopefully, Joe Biden will be the last of the neoliberal Democrats.
From the seed:
Having desperately needed materiel ready-to-go isn't lying, it's simply intelligent planning when you have a dysfunctional bunch of Republican idiots needlessly delaying what "was first requested by the administration last fall". Republican behavior just makes things more costly for the US & Ukraine.
You mean like lying the US into a ten year war in Iraq resulting in the massive empowerment of Iran? Or a twenty year war in Afghanistan in yet another futile attempt at nation building there? 7,500 American lives and $4.25T expended -- for what?
As opposed to aiding a democracy in resisting the brutal, unjustified attempt by Putin to erase Ukraine? The atrocities of Putin are reason enough to justify supporting Ukraine. This is our 1938 moment -- do we let a nuclear authoritarian destroy a democracy? Do you really want authoritarian governments to believe they can erase other countries? Do you really want to send the message that being a nuclear power is the only way to insure sovereignty? Do you really want to give Putin access to 1/3 of the world's exported grain; do you doubt that he would starve people to achieve his goals? If you want a peaceful world, the free world must say unequivocally no to Putin.
What Biden is telling us is that the materiel had been withdrawn from the inventory and was not available for defense of the United States. (Or the defense of Europe, for that matter.) Biden jumped the gun because he is used to getting his way. And Biden's little, selfish stunt adversely affected the readiness of our own military to defend the United States.
Yes, that is the point. Joe Biden has lied the United States into another 10 year quagmire. For what? Ukraine has never, ever been a ally of the United States any more than Belarus has been an ally. The Soviets built Ukraine from Polish, Moldovan, Belarusian, and Russian territories. What Biden has pledged to defend is Soviet territory; not historically Ukrainian territory.
Ukraine is as much a democracy as is Russia. The current Ukrainian government was created by an insurrection and a legislative coup. The elected government was forced to resign and the legislature installed its own ruler. That's when Russia reclaimed Crimea through annexation. The coup government sent tanks into eastern Ukraine to attack (and disenfranchise) Ukrainian opposition. That is how Soviets do things. That's not in any way, shape, or form a democratic process.
Calling Ukraine a democracy is a lie. Biden is lying to the people of the United States. Biden invited Vladimir Putin to invade Ukraine when Biden promised the world that US troops would never fight in Ukraine. That promise had nothing to do with defending democracy; another Biden lie. Biden's claimed defense of every inch of NATO was deliberately and maliciously intended to provoke Russia. Biden wanted the Ukrainian war just so he could scapegoat Trump and the American people. What is happening in Ukraine is your fault according to Biden's world view.
A core sector of Ukraine's economy is defense industries. Ukraine's economy prior to the invasion depended upon export of advanced weapons. And Biden has given that arms manufacturer access to US advanced weapons. Ukraine is not only learning how to improve its own weapons systems, Ukraine is also learning how to defeat US weapons systems. Ukraine will be supplying terrorists, dictators, and third world adversaries of the US to obtain revenue to rebuild. Ukraine becoming an enemy of Russia demonstrates that Ukraine will not be a reliable ally. Admitting Ukraine into NATO would be like admitting another Turkey (whose allegiance is strictly self serving).
What the hell is Joe Biden doing? Whatever it is, it's an expensive hobby. The United States ain't gonna get anything out of this deal.
The Defense department has $2,300B in assets. The current legislation allocates $61B. Biden had $1B ready-to-go. Your argument is a stupid joke.
This question was already answered and both Democrats and Republicans agree that the success of Putin's brutal invasion would invite more of the same, just as it did in the previous century. With the added feature of demonstrating that being a nuclear power it the only way to guaranty sovereignty.
This is bullshit as is the entire rest of your post. Zelensky would not be president if it were true.
This is fucked up beyond belief. Russia attacked Ukraine without justification and began slaughtering its citizens. Your statement, which is blaming the victim, is mental illness.
But the Taliban, he capitulated quick to them.
That's what needs to happen!! Since Traitor Joe left all that equipment in Afghanistan as part of his retreat, tell Zelenski that the equipment is in Afghanistan. All Ukraine needs to do is go get it.
Why not?
It isn't like they are wasting our money and military equipment to attack Russia in Africa, the ME, and Russia proper.
The idea that Ukraine just wants their territory back doesn't pass the smell test.
They are trying to prove Russia into a response that will draw NATO (namely the US) in. Brandon is giving the Ukraine the means to drag us into WWIII.
"Can't change presidents while the country is at war" will be the new Democrat battle cry.
Risible nonsense. In 2013 Trump said “We should leave Afghanistan immediately. No more wasted lives." When Obama exited the Iraq war, Biden wanted him to exit the Afghan war as well, but Obama refused. Both Trump & Biden were correct.
But when Trump became President, he sent thousands more soldiers to Afghanistan. He let the war run for another four years during which time 50 Americans died, hundreds were wounded, and another $400+B was squandered. Trump, the great negotiator, then 'negotiated' the shittiest imaginable deal with the Taliban where the Taliban were supposed to negotiate a power sharing arrangement with our ally, the Afghan gov't. But Trump withdrew the majority of American soldiers before those negotiations even started -- handing the country over to the Taliban, all they had to do was wait. The Taliban didn't negotiate with the gov't, but they did negotiate the surrender of the Afghan Army and all its equipment.
We left nothing that wasn't given to the Afghan gov't or was of any real value, e.g. no M1 Abrams Tanks were left. The American components of the Afghan air force barely survived a few years because they were unable to get parts. The only helicopters in use by the Taliban appear to be old Soviet stuff for which they can get parts.
Biden was handed an economy in the toilet and a country in a pandemic, yet he still managed to get us out of Afghanistan in his first year. 1.1 million Afghans helped us out in our war effort there. They were in mortal danger from the Taliban, so of course it was going to be messy (which is why Trump shirked this responsibility). But we can't take 1M refugees, or 500K, of 250K, We don't want even 100K. Because we got out in a week we ended up with 76K, which Republicans said was too many and, of course, also not enough! If Biden had taken two weeks, or three, it would have given ISIS-K twice or three times as much time to do another bombing. It would have also drastically increased the number of refugees. Neither desirable.
And that process was in the works. Then Biden took office and sped it up costing the lives of 13 US Servicemembers and ~100 Afghani civilians. He also left a few million in US Military equipment in Afghanistan. Oh and we can't forget that he abandoned US citizens.
Maybe your forgot Biden stated he made the call:
He didn't end the war in Iraq. Or do you forget that US military went back a few months later (under Obama) and are still there today?
Keep telling yourself that. I'll go with what I saw being there.
Wrong on both points. We were supposed to be out May 1st according to Trump's 'plan'. Biden moved it to September. A new terrorist group that is anti-US & anti-Taliban chose to make its debut during the withdrawal. Security at the airport was provided by a few hundred soldiers from the Army’s 10th Mountain Division. Imagine trying to protect an airport with tens of thousands of people carrying their belongs... On the other hand, Trump allowed the war to continue for another 4 years. This had NO positive effect. It wasted blood & treasure.
We have about 2,500 troops/contractors stationed in Iraq -- 45+K across the middle-east, 100+K across Europe. We are not at war in any of those places.
"The US gave a total of $18.6 billion of equipment to the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces (ANDSF) from 2005 to August 2021, according to the report. Of that total, equipment worth $7.12 billion remained in Afghanistan after the US withdrawal". As if it would be worth the lives and cost of retrieving the used stuff when so much was given for their defense. Remember that the overwhelming majority of the Afghan Army surrendered its materiel to the Taliban anyway.
May 1st was the last of the no fighting season which would've locked the Taliban in the mountains because of the cold and snow, while Biden moved it to the height of the fighting season while closing down a strategic airbase that could've supplied cover for the Afghan military. The Afghan military felt abandoned and basically gave up.
Read the link. It was Biden's call. The result - 13 Servicemembers, ~100 Afghani were killed, US Citizens were abandoned and ~$500,000 in military equipment left.
So Obama DIDN'T end the war.
Like I said, I'll believe what I saw vs. what a report says.
Irrelevant, the Taliban did not attack us.
We gave them air support for 15 years and they accomplished next to nothing. The Afghan Army was always a jobs program which evaporated the moment we left and the money spigot was turned off. This was *always* going to be the outcome and it's embarrassing that our military spent $88B training and equipping them without figuring this out.
The reason Obama gave for not exiting Afghanistan when Biden wanted to was that the Afghan Army was not yet ready to stand on its own. It was over 8 years later and that was still true as it always would be. The Soviets failed in Afghanistan as did the British before them, and everyone else back to Alexander the Great in 330 BC. He said: “May God keep you away from the venom of the cobra, the teeth of the tiger, and the revenge of the Afghans.”