Weapon

• About $61 billion of this aid package will be spent on Ukraine, while $26 billion will go to Israel.
• The new legislation means that U.S. military supplies could be moved to Ukraine in a matter of days.
• Pressure increased on lawmakers to pass the aid package after Iran’s drone missile attack on Israel on April 14, 2024.
• The U.S. has been the largest single donor backing Ukraine since Russian troops invaded the country in February 2022.
• As a scholar of Eastern Europe, I think there are a few important reasons why the U.S. has a lot at stake in supporting Ukraine.

Republicans divided over Ukraine aid

• Since February 2024, Johnson had delayed initiating a vote on the Ukraine foreign aid bill in the House of Representatives for a few reasons.
• One major factor was fighting between Republicans, who hold a slim majority in the House.
• While some centrist Republican politicians supported Ukraine funding and pushed for a vote on the foreign aid package, others – hard-right Republicans – wanted a bill that prioritized what they said are American interests, meaning more of a focus on domestic U.S. problems.

Delays on Ukraine benefit Putin

• As the House was stalling on a vote, Ukraine was rationing ammunition and supplies.
• Delays with foreign aid to Ukraine give Putin time to move forward with plans to purchase ballistic missiles from Iran.
• Without foreign aid from the U.S., Ukraine faces a strategic disadvantage that could lead to Russia winning the war.

The US needs Europe to compete with China

• One factor is U.S. global power competition with China.
• Russian and Chinese leaders declared a military and political partnership days before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
• They announced on April 9, 2024, that they want to find ways to strengthen their joint security work across Asia and Europe.
• U.S. political and military leaders have noted that supporting Ukraine and pushing back against Russia is one clear way to deter China from strengthening its global political power and military reach.
• The U.S. needs its long-standing allies in Europe to help push back against China – and deterrence is only as effective as the size of the force doing the deterring.

Foreign aid benefits US arms industry

• Most of America’s military aid to Ukraine consists of arms and ammunition from existing U.S. stockpiles.
• More than one-third of the $61 billion spending includes $23 billion dedicated to replenishing weapons and ammunition systems for the U.S. military.
• In December 2023, Biden signed a U.S. defense policy bill that authorizes a record-high $886 billion in spending from July 2023 through June 2024.
• But it also allows for the purchasing of new ships, aircraft and other types of ammunition.

Americans continue to support Ukraine aid

A majority of Americans still favor U.S. support of Ukraine, though about half of Republicans said in December 2023 that the U.S. is giving too much money to the country. Even though politicians do not always follow public opinion, there are clear reasons why it is in the U.S.’s best interests to keep funding Ukraine. This story is an update of an earlier article published on April 10, 2023.
Tatsiana Kulakevich does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

• Iran’s attack involved around 170 drones, over 30 cruise missiles and more than 120 ballistic missiles, all directed against Israel and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.
• But various options have been canvassed, including a strike of some sort against Iran’s nuclear weapons programme.
• It has assassinated a number of nuclear scientists over the years, and launched a number of attacks on the country’s nuclear facilities.
• Believed to have been created through collaboration between US and Israeli intelligence, the Stuxnet malware was designed to severely disrupt centrifuge operations at Natanz and is thought to have set back Iran’s nuclear weapons programme by years.

Iran’s nuclear weapons history

• The country developed a civil nuclear programme under the late Shah, and in 1970 ratified the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, committing the country not to possess nor develop nuclear weapons.
• During the late 1990s and early 2000s, Iran pursued a secret nuclear weapons development project, known as the Amad Plan.

• But it is thought that by then, Iran had the capacility to build a small and fairly crude nuclear device.
• A great deal of what we know about the development of Iran’s nuclear weapons programme stems from the 2018 Mossad raid.
• This revealed that work on weapons development was not entirely halted, and that Iran continued to work on improving its nuclear weapons capability.
• It has resumed operations at nuclear facilities previously prohibited under the terms of the agreement and, since February 2021, has prevented the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) from effectively monitoring its nuclear sites.

Can an Iranian ‘bomb’ be prevented?

• First, Iran possesses the requisite expertise to develop nuclear weapons, which cannot be eradicated through bombing raids.
• While targeting Iranian facilities would temporarily hinder the programme, any setbacks would likely be short-lived.
• Destroying Iran’s nuclear facilities in Natanz would be essential, but accessing these facilities would necessitate a significant number of airstrikes penetrating deep into Iranian territory, while circumventing or overpowering its air defence systems.

Christoph Bluth does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

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• NEW YORK, April 08, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Pomerantz LLP announces that a class action lawsuit has been filed against Evolv Technologies Holdings, Inc. f/k/a NewHold Investment Corp. (“Evolv” or the “Company”) (NASDAQ: EVLV).
• Those who inquire by e-mail are encouraged to include their mailing address, telephone number, and the number of shares purchased.
• The class action concerns whether Evolv and certain of its officers and/or directors have engaged in securities fraud or other unlawful business practices.
• Founded by the late Abraham L. Pomerantz, known as the dean of the class action bar, Pomerantz pioneered the field of securities class actions.