$13 Billion Of Aid To Ukraine
The US government has approved an Emergency Spending package that will send $13 billion of aid to Ukraine to help them with the war with Russia. Should your country send aid to Ukraine and, if the answer is yes, what type of aid should it send? Would it be lethal weapons, nonlethal aid, or humanitarian aid? And if you could vote directly on this Emergency Spending Package directly, would you vote in favor of it or against it?
In the meantime, if you’re new to my content, One Direct Democracy is a movement for upgrading the global democratic system by taking the power away from politicians and putting it in the hands of the people by using Direct Democracy. It will also eliminate left and right politics. I’ve created the technology and a plan for how to make it work.
I’ll pick an important issue, give you an outline of the problem, talk about possible solutions then you can decide how you would vote.
In this case, we’ll be talking about how much aid should be provided to Ukraine.
Okay, so what exactly did Congress approve? According to this article from The Conversation:
“President Joe Biden signed off on an emergency spending package that included US$13.6 billion in aid for Ukraine on March 11, 2022. Roughly half the money, approved by Congress over the prior two days, is for military purposes. It includes $3.65 billion for weapons transfers and sales to Ukraine and another $3 billion to support more U.S. troops in Europe.”
So, $3 billion will be used to support US troops who are NOT participating in the war.
“A portion of the funds will support economic warfare against Russia, including efforts to seize the assets of Russian oligarchs, but most of the economic aid will pay for humanitarian relief and disaster assistance. That includes helping refugees and aiding people displaced within Ukraine.”
Now, if you’ve been following the war, you probably know that the US has also provided more assistance that is not included in this emergency spending package.
“The total amount of aid the U.S. is providing Ukraine exceeds the $13.6 billion in the spending package. On March 12, just one day after Biden signed the spending package, the White House announced another $200 million in immediate military assistance to Ukraine. It includes small arms and anti-tank and anti-aircraft weapons from U.S. defense stocks.”
As a result of being in a war, Ukraine also needs a lot of emergency supplies.
“On the ground, the U.S. Agency for International Development, or USAID, is partnering with United Nations agencies to position critical relief supplies throughout Ukraine, including emergency food, surgery, and medical kits, thermal blankets, and sanitation supplies. Since Russia invaded, USAID has provided $107 million in humanitarian aid.”
Some aid was provided back in December when Russia first started moving troops alongside the Ukraine border.
“By the time Russia attacked on Feb. 24, Ukraine had already received most of the weapons from a $200 million military assistance package announced in December 2021.”
Then was more aid provided immediately after the war started.
“Immediately after the invasion, Biden announced an additional $350 million in U.S. weapons. That was on top of the U.S.-provided Stinger anti-aircraft weapons and Javelin missile systems being transferred, with American authorization, from Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania to Ukraine.”
Another important point we have to consider is how much aid has been provided since the Russian annexation of Crimea.
The reason this matter is obvious. If Russia decided to invade Crimea and then it’s not a stretch to anticipate that Russia might also invade all of Ukraine. So, the world should have been providing assistance to Ukraine to build its military and prepare for a possible invasion in the future.
“Between the annexation of Crimea and Russia’s invasion, the U.S. had provided more than $2.7 billion in security assistance. Most of this money has funded weapons, training, and intelligence cooperation to help Ukraine fight these militias. More than 14,000 Ukrainians were killed between 2014 and 2021.”
Ukraine did receive more military assistance but it was categorized as nonlethal assistance.
“Ukraine has also received roughly $418 million annually since 2014 from the State Department and USAID. Some of this is officially designated as “nonlethal assistance,” but it includes items such as body armor, helmets, vehicles, heavy engineering equipment, and patrol boats that directly support the U.S. and Ukrainian security objectives.”
Okay, what about humanitarian aid?
“In addition, an average of more than $350 million in U.S. humanitarian aid has flowed to Ukraine annually since 2014. This funding provides essential relief items such as blankets and food vouchers, training for health care workers, and structural repairs to homes destroyed by conflict.”
What about aid from countries other than the US?
“Military assistance is coming from many additional countries, including $70 million from Australia and about $1.1 billion in military supplies from the European Union.”
Now, how is Russia responding to the fact that everybody is helping Ukraine nobody’s helping Russia?
“Russia has threatened to target military aid shipments. When and how military aid to Ukraine will be delivered, given Russian airstrikes on a Ukrainian military base near the Polish border, is unclear. Military analysts emphasize that Ukraine’s strategy relies on urban warfare and protracted war of attrition.”
I’ve created a listing on the ODD platform so that we can develop ideas about the best way to help Ukraine. You can add your own ideas or vote and comment on ideas from other people. You can also create your own listings for people to vote on. It’s a simple way to get used to using the ODD system.
So that’s the summary of the key issues.
Should your country send aid to Ukraine and, if the answer is yes, what type of aid should it send? Would it be lethal weapons, nonlethal aid, or humanitarian aid? And if you could vote on this Emergency Spending package directly, would you vote for it or against it?
The reality is that we have reached a point in time in our evolution where Representative Democracy no longer serves the will of the people and technology can solve the problems that made Direct Democracy impractical.
That’s why I created One Direct Democracy. It’s a movement for upgrading the global democratic system by taking the power away from politicians and putting it in the hands of the people by using Direct Democracy.
I’ve created the technology and a plan for how to make this work. We don’t have to convince any politicians or powerful people to do anything to make this happen. We have the power to do it on our own. We just have to decide to do it.
If you’re new to all of this, check out the other videos on my channel and the links in the description. Direct Democracy is the purest form of democracy. Representative Democracy is an outdated blunt instrument.
