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The original was posted on /r/neutralpolitics by /u/nosecohn on 2023-05-30 19:50:59+00:00.
A recent poll (PDF) shows that 50% of Americans support the continued provision of weapons to Ukraine, while 23% oppose it. This support represents a slight increase from the 48% back in January, but a notable decline from the 60% of a year ago. Even for those who do support continued military aid, some feel that the US is providing too much.
Since the Russian invasion of February 2022, lawmakers have approved the disbursement of $48.9 billion in military aid to Ukraine. That works out to $3.26 billion per month or $39.12 billion per year.
The total expenditures of the US government for fiscal year 2022 were $6.272 trillion, so the country is spending about 0.6% of its budget to help Ukraine defend itself. As a means of comparison, the US spent an estimated $2.261 trillion on its 20-year war in Afghanistan, which works out to $113 billion per year, or roughly triple its rate of spending in Ukraine (not counting, of course, the incalculable value of the troops lost).
Of the roughly 40 countries that have sent military aid to Ukraine since the invasion, the US share is about 70%, but as a percentage of GDP, US contributions fall somewhere in the middle of the pack.
Some lawmakers believe this conflict is not be the responsibility of US taxpayers and that the money would be better spent elsewhere. They have introduced legislation to cut off all aid to Ukraine.
Since we’re over a year into this conflict and the US is preparing to announce another package of aid soon, it’s worth asking some questions:
- How does the US determine what is enough or too much military aid to Ukraine?
- What are Ukraine’s final goals worth to the US?
- Aside from supporting Ukraine’s goals, what other advantages, if any, does the US get out of providing this aid and what’s the value of those advantages?