For $80 Billion (And Counting) U.S. Taxpayers Have Bought A Bloody Stalemate In Ukraine

Recently leaked intelligence documents regarding the war in Ukraine should prompt Americans to demand answers about the country’s involvement in the conflict. One document dated February 23rd describes the conflict in Ukraine’s Donbas region as a “grinding campaign of attrition” that has reached a “stalemate.” US taxpayers have invested nearly $80 billion in the conflict over the past 14 months, leading to questions about whether a “stalemate” in a “grinding campaign of attrition” is a good deal for Americans.

Americans should demand answers from the bipartisan Washington consensus that supports indefinitely funding the war. They should explain the strategy, define the American interest in it, and detail how they plan to achieve something beyond an interminable war of attrition. It risks pulling the US into direct conflict with nuclear-armed Russia. It is unclear if the US is getting any return on investment from the billions spent, and the Biden administration’s platitudes about “Ukrainian victory” and “standing united” are not convincing.

The leaked documents reveal a severe shortage of air defense weapons in Ukraine. This could mean the difference between a stalemate and a Russian victory in the coming weeks or months. Without adequate air defenses, Russian warplanes could bomb the Ukrainian positions at will, making Ukraine’s planned spring offensive impossible. Earlier this month, the Biden administration pledged $2.6 billion to rush air defense systems to Ukraine.

The war has not been an unbroken chain of brilliant underdog battlefield victories for Ukraine, as the corporate media and the Washington political establishment would have us believe. Weapons and cash are pouring in from all over the world, sustaining a war of attrition of chaos and indecisive butchery on both sides. U.S. officials predict modest territorial gains from Ukraine’s spring counteroffensive, recent surges of US weapons and air defense systems notwithstanding.

The slow, grinding warfare leading to the rapid expenditure of munitions, at least on the Ukrainian side, has badly depleted US weapons stockpiles. The defense industrial base is taxed to the point that the US has had difficulty delivering the $20 billion in promised military supplies to Taiwan. This raises the question of China, which the Biden administration, along with Republican leaders in Congress, refuse to talk about candidly in the context of the Ukraine war.

What is the plan if Beijing decides to invade Taiwan, and how will sponsoring Ukraine push Moscow into Bejing’s arms, accelerating a China-led coalition to challenge the US reserve currency status and usher in a multi-polar world? Meanwhile, economic uncertainty prevails in the US, with surging inflation and an impending recession, making the $80 billion spent on Ukraine more disconcerting.

It is unclear what the US taxpayer has bought with all this largesse sent to Ukraine. The Ukrainian state is notoriously corrupt, which might be even worse now given the sheer volume of US dollars washing through the country. Without transparency about the aid and cash given, we are left asking who it benefits. White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby indicates that US special forces are only there “to help us work on accountability,” but no one in Washington seems willing to talk about where the weapons and cash are going in Ukraine.

It appears that the US taxpayer has bought nothing more than a bloody stalemate in Ukraine that increasingly runs the risk of ending in a nuclear showdown. Escalation or total abandonment seem to be the available options. The only question is how much more US taxpayers will have to spend before finding out how the Ukraine conflict ends.