WASHINGTON – As Congress considers President Biden’s request for $75.7 billion to send additional weapons to Ukraine and Israel, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said Tuesday he does not believe either country can win their respective wars without American help.
“My assessment is that if the United States does not continue to support Ukraine, they will not succeed,” Austin said, adding that Israel would also fail to eliminate Hamas in the Gaza Strip without US help.
Austin made the remarks at a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing, where he and Secretary of State Antony Blinken lobbied lawmakers to support the defense and diplomatic portions of Biden’s $107 billion supplemental funding request submitted to Congress on Oct. 20.
The White House request includes $61.4 billion for Ukraine and $14.3 billion for Israel.
It also includes about $10 billion for humanitarian efforts in Ukraine, Israel and Gaza.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said Tuesday he does not believe any country can win its own war without American help.ZUMAPRESS.com
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The remaining funds are allocated to deal with the crisis on the US southern border.
While the Biden administration wants the entire package passed together, House Republicans want to see aid for Ukraine, Israel and the border split into separate bills because support for Kyiv has waned among some Republicans.
Earlier this month, NATO Military Committee head Admiral Rob Bauer, the alliance’s top military officer, said that when it comes to Western munitions in Ukraine, “the bottom of the barrel is now visible.”
“My assessment is that if the United States does not continue to support Ukraine, they will not succeed,” Austin said, adding that Israel will also fail to eliminate Hamas in the Gaza Strip without US help.HANNIBAL HANSCHKE/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
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As of Tuesday, the US had about $5.4 billion left to deliver weapons and military equipment to Ukraine from Defense Department stockpiles, Pentagon spokesman Brig. General Patrick Ryder told reporters.
The new $61.4 billion request for Ukraine includes $12 billion to buy new major weapons; $18 billion to restock equipment in US military storage that has been given to Kyiv; $10.7 billion for “cyber security and intelligence support,” as well as to maintain an “enhanced presence of US personnel stationed in Europe” since the war began, Austin said.
Support for Israel so far comes from the $3.3 billion the US sends annually in military aid as part of a ten-year memorandum of understanding signed in 2018.
Austin and Secretary of State Antony Blinken have lobbied lawmakers to support the defense and diplomatic portions of Biden’s $107 billion additional funding request submitted to Congress last week.ZUMAPRESS.com
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That support includes air defense capabilities, precision-guided munitions, small-diameter bombs and interceptors for the nation’s vital Iron Dome system delivered “at the speed of war,” Austin said.
But as the US increased its security aid to the Jewish state in response to the October 7 Hamas terror attack, defense officials said the country needed more than annual funding to successfully fight the war.
Israel’s request includes “$5.2 billion to help Israel increase the capacity of Iron Dome and other air defense systems,” as well as $4.4 billion to increase the Pentagon’s stockpile of weapons given to Israel and $1 billion “to increase our own capacity to produce critical munitions, especially artillery 155 millimeters,” Austin said.
While the Biden administration wants the entire package passed together, House Republicans want to see aid for Ukraine, Israel and the border split into separate bills as support for Kyiv wanes among some Republicans.Getty Images
The Israel-Hamas War: How we got here
2005: Israel unilaterally withdraws from the Gaza Strip three decades after winning the territory from Egypt in the Six-Day War.
2006: The terrorist group Hamas wins Palestinian legislative elections.
2007: Hamas takes control of Gaza in a civil war.
2008: Israel launched a military offensive against Gaza after Palestinian terrorists fired rockets into the city of Sderot.
2023: Hamas launches its biggest attack on Israel in 50 years, in an early morning ambush on Oct. 7, firing thousands of rockets and sending dozens of militants into Israeli cities.
The terrorists killed over 1,400 Israelis, injured over 4,200, and took at least 200 hostages.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu quickly announced “We are at war,” and promised Hamas would pay an “unprecedented price.”
Health officials in Gaza – which is controlled by Hamas – reported at least 3,000 Palestinians killed and more than 12,500 injured since the war began.
Additionally, Ryder said the US had sent Israel “precision-guided munitions,” but declined to list any other military equipment being sent, citing security concerns.
If Congress agrees to provide the requested funding, it is unclear how quickly military aid could be delivered as America’s defense industrial base has struggled to keep up with demands caused by the Ukraine war while keeping its own troops supplied with enough weapons and equipment.
“If we only need to resource ourselves, (we will produce enough), but we are at a time where we are getting the resources of allies and partners like Ukraine, and it will need more,” said Austin.
To help address that need, DOD is also asking for “$3.7 billion to expand production capacity in our industrial base” as part of the package, he added.
“This investment will also significantly increase our production capacity in the future – and help ensure we are ready to address security challenges around the world.”
Austin added that about $50 billion of the request will “flow through our defense industrial base, accelerating aid to our partners while creating good American jobs in more than 30 states.”
“When we send weapons to our friends from our stockpiles, the money to replenish our supplies strengthens our military readiness — and we invest in American industry and American workers.”
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
