Congress Passes Ukraine Aid

I love the smell of angry vatnik in the morning!

Upset Russian Orc; courtesy of Bonkalf Brovary the Grey on X (formerly Twitter)

I don’t generally wax political on my site, and I hope this is not going to be perceived as such. It’s no secret that I absolutely support helping Ukraine after two years of Russian attacks, torture, genocide, kidnapping, rape, and other abuses of Ukrainian civilians. Aside from my heart tearing apart at daily news of Russia’s war crimes, as an Army veteran and former intelligence officer, I also understand the national security implications for the United States helping Ukraine against Russian aggression.

And that’s why I was thrilled that Congress finally passed aid to Ukraine this weekend. The Ukraine aid passed with 311 votes in favor, 112 votes against, and one present, along with the Israel aid bill, aid for Taiwan and a bill that forces TikTok's parent company to sell the platform. 

There were 101 Republicans and 210 Democrats who voted in favor, while Rep. Dan Meuser, R-Pa., pusillanimously and pathetically voted “present.” Pathetic, since the majority of those funds are staying in the United States, helping US defense enterprises and creating American jobs, but let’s break apart the vatnik arguments gradually, shall we?

First, what is a vatnik?

Vatnik—or ватник in Russian—is a political pejorative used to describe those who blindly follow Russian governmenty propaganda. It comes from a political cartoon from 2011, which depicts a character made from the material of a padded cotton wool jacket (vata means “cotton” in Russian) and bearing a black eye, indicating a blindly patriotic, jingoistic imbecile who pushes Russian narratives.

Courtesy of the New York Post.

Whether it’s fraudulent stories about Ukrainian president Zelensky buying yachts or mansions in Europe, or fake claims about Russia winning the war in Ukraine despite all indications to the contrary, vatniks simply don’t want to hear anything that challenges their biases.

They still spell Kyiv as “Kiev,” which is the Russian way to write the name of the city that is the capital of a sovereign nation that is most certainly NOT Russia. They call those who voted for aid to Ukraine traitors to the United States and accuse those who waved Ukrainian flags in Congress after the bill finally passed of violating their oaths. They continue to claim that most of the aid sent to Ukraine by the United States and our allies is disappearing into a black hole of corruption, despite the fact that without actually using the aid as intended, Ukraine would have never been able to hold off the Russian invaders for more than two years.

Here’s vatnik extraordinaire, entrepreneur David Sacks, who has been spreading pro-Russian propaganda for years claiming on X (formerly Twitter) that he’s more patriotic than those waving Ukrainian flags in Congress after finally passing an aid package, having been born abroad, been naturalized as a US Citizen.

My reply was simple:

I became a US citizen in 1986. Took the same oath. Served my country in the Army and later, in the intelligence community. So I understand why helping Ukraine is critical for US national security. I still abide by my oath. By spreading Kremlin propaganda, YOU are violating it.

I have written numerous times why helping Ukraine and stopping Russia is absolutely in the interest of US national security, but I’ll repeat it again, just for the obtuse out there.

Pushing back the Russians is in the interest of the national security of the United States. Russia has been pushing the envelope with its invasions of its neighbors, including Georgia in 2008, Crimea in 2014, and its full-on attack on Ukraine two years ago. It has funded—through various means—the separatist activities in eastern Ukraine for years. Russia is also after Moldova and the Baltic states, and if we allow it to attack one country with impunity, you can be sure our NATO allies will be next.

US troops are not fighting the war in Ukraine right now, but they almost certainly will if Russia proceeds to attack a NATO ally.

In addition, if we turn our backs on our allies now, we will be considered an unreliable partner. Like it or not, the United States is a world leader. We have obligations as NATO allies. NATO was created to provide collective security against the Soviet Union. Yes, the USSR has been discarded into the dustbin of history, but Vladimir Putin is certainly leading Russia into what he appears to believe as a reemergence of the country as a great power.

The populist meathead Kevin Roberts in an opinion piece in the Hill recently pouted that the Biden administration is playing a “shell game” with Ukraine funds, implying that the funds sent to Ukraine are disappearing into a black hole of corruption… or something. Citing the usual suspects who each need to be issued a Russian medal of the Order for Merit to the Fatherland (Rand Paul, JD Vance, Roger Marshall, Marjorie Taylor-Greene, and Mike Lee), Roberts claims that they “exposed” nearly $14 billion in Ukraine aid that the Biden administration’s Office of Management and Budget had failed to take into account.

Citing, little more than a conservative blog as “proof,” Roberts claims that some of the funds provided to Ukraine will be in the form of loans, rather than unconditional grants, and that the loans provided to Ukraine will never be paid back.

This bill isn’t intended to come due. The “loan” would be structured at 0 percent interest, would be waivable by President Biden, and would be financed with more U.S. debt. No one in Washington seriously plans to ask for the money back. And if they did, Ukraine could simply default on the loan.

Let’s start with the fact that the vatniks’ lord and master, Donald Trump, already suggested aid to Ukraine in the form of loans a couple of weeks ago. Let’s also not forget that the G7 is actually considering using frozen Russian funds as collateral for loans to Ukraine. Roberts also has zero evidence that Ukraine will default on the loans provided to it, but hey - don’t let a little thing like a lack of evidence stop you! He just claims Ukraine will default, so it will, OK?

Let’s also remember that the House yesterday passed a bill that would allow the seizure and transfer of frozen Russian assets held in the United States to Ukraine. The measure would enable the US executive branch to seize frozen Russian assets and use them to help Ukraine’s defense and recovery efforts.

I’d say that given the fact that aid to Ukraine only comprises less than 1 percent of our budget, and that about $5 billion in frozen Russian sovereign funds could be sent as well without endangering any lives of US soldiers and that Putin’s attack has prompted our NATO allies to finally increase their defense spending, as well as step up to the plate to help Ukraine, we’re getting a pretty good deal.

Is there corruption in Ukraine? Yes. No one has said otherwise.

There’s also corruption in the United States and in many other countries.

But in the middle of a brutal war, with Russia attacking civilian infrastructure, murdering Ukrainian people, and kidnapping Ukrainian children, Ukraine is actually fighting corruption and improving on that front!

Did the Defense Department fail to properly track about $1 billion worth of military equipment sent to Ukraine? According to the Pentagon Inspector General, it did. But at least some of those problems have already been mitigated, although challenges still remain, according to the watchdog.

(U) Since the December 2022 update to the SAMM, the DoD’s and the Ukrainian Armed Forces’ revised inventory processes contributed to an improved delinquency rate, reducing the overall delinquency rate of [enhanced end-use monitoring] EEUM-designated defense articles by 27 percentage points from February 10, 2023, to June 2, 2023, but significant personnel limitations and accountability challenges remain. Until the DoD resolves these challenges, it will be unable to fully comply with the EEUM program requirements to account for all of the more than $1.699 billion in EEUM-designated defense articles provided to Ukraine.

Does this mean that the articles which the DOD failed to track somehow disappeared or were diverted? No, and the report never assessed anything of the sort. In addition, it flagged that the Inspector General now has personnel stationed in Ukraine, and that the Defense Criminal Investigative Service continues to investigate any allegations of criminal conduct regarding US security assistance.

And finally, there are those who claim that the individuals waving Ukrainian flags on the House floor are somehow either traitors or oath violators.

Here’s the oath each member of Congress takes:

I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter: So help me God

Traitors are individuals who are guilty of treason. Treason is legally defined as the betrayal of one’s own country by attempting to overthrow the government through waging war against the state or materially aiding its enemies.

According to the United States Constitution, Article III, Section 3, “Treason against the United States, shall consist only in levying war against them, or in adhering to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort.

Is Ukraine an enemy of the United States? Nope.

Is waving a Ukrainian flag in celebration of helping our ally fall under the definition of “treason?” Nope.

Does passing critical aid to help our allies defeat our adversary, which Russia certainly is, given their constant nuclear threats, their support for illicit cyber actors who target critical infrastructure in the West, and their continued efforts to meddle in US and foreign elections, somehow constitute a violation of the oath of office?

Not unless you’re a vatnik.