Most favor military aid to Ukraine; Republicans not so much. Supporting democracy costs a penny per federal dollar.
By Curt_Anderson October 4, 2023 4:10 pm Category: Military (0.0 from 0 votes)
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(WaPo)[The] Chicago Council poll found that 63 percent of U.S. adults support providing additional arms and military supplies to the Ukrainian government. That is comparable to 65 percent last November but down from 72 percent in July 2022.
Among Republicans, support stands at 50 percent, a drop of 18 percentage points since July 2022 and 30 points since the opening weeks of Russia’s full-scale invasion. Democratic support stands at 77 percent, barely changed from 79 percent in the summer of 2022. Among independents, support has fallen eight points, to 60 percent.
(Time)Ukraine is not the financial sinkhole anti-Ukraine extremists would like to portray, and U.S. support for Ukraine is far cheaper than it seems. For all its mistaken use as a political hot potato in budget talks, the $43 billion on U.S. military aid to Ukraine since Russia invaded amounts to about 5% of the U.S. defense budget and less than 1% of total government spending. This is not an insignificant sum but, to put things in perspective, it’s equivalent to the amount the U.S. is spending on such mundane items such as software for government agencies; COVID rental relief, and highway safety programs.
The weapons the U.S. is sending, like the 186 Bradley tanks so prized by Ukraine, from our stockpiles are likewise not breaking the bank. Unlike other foreign adventures, the U.S. is not shouldering the load alone as European countries have contributed an equivalent amount in military aid themselves and twice as much in humanitarian support. Some European countries such as Estonia are setting aside half their defense budget for Ukraine’s defense, an order of magnitude higher than U.S. support. And most importantly, the U.S. has sent no American troops to Ukraine and zero American lives have been lost with the Ukrainians doing all the fighting.
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Comments on "Most favor military aid to Ukraine; Republicans not so much. Supporting democracy costs a penny per federal dollar.":
(WaPo)[The] Chicago Council poll found that 63 percent of U.S. adults support providing additional arms and military supplies to the Ukrainian government. That is comparable to 65 percent last November but down from 72 percent in July 2022.
