Evidently NO ONE has been keeping an eye on the arms and supplies Joe Biden is sending to Ukraine. Per the U.S. Inspector General’s office we find out that the lack of oversight and accountability has given criminals free rein.

Dozens of rifles, thousands of rounds of ammunition and other military equipment donated to Ukraine in the early months of Russia’s invasion were stolen last year, according to a Pentagon report.

Remember how we’ve been asking for accountability and oversight on all of this? This report involves information from LAST YEAR. What equipment and supplies have been stolen since then? 

https://twitter.com/OversightPR/status/1682398352426643457

But rest assured! Some of it was found! But not all of it. And, I daresay, criminals have stolen more than we know. Currently we are at 43 aid packages to Ukraine and counting. Yes, the Biden Administration just announced another $400 million gift to Ukraine. 

The US intends to send another military aid package for Ukraine worth up to $400 million. The package is expected to include artillery, air defense missiles, and ground vehicles in an effort to support Ukraine’s counteroffensive.

~Snip

The officials noted that the incoming package will include “Stryker armored personnel carriers, mine clear equipment, munitions for National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile System, munitions for High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems, anti-tank weapons including TOW and Javelin, and munitions for Patriot and Stinger anti-aircraft systems,” per the report.

Well, at least cluster bombs aren’t on the list …this time. Some were already sent earlier this month. That said, the watchdog report admitted that personnel weren’t in place in 2022 to track all these shipments. Are there personnel in place NOW to conduct oversight and deter thieves?? 

Meanwhile, Ukraine could get F-16’s and have pilots trained by early next year or sooner. 

NATO allies are scrambling to arrange the training and transfer of F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine, according to U.S. and European officials, raising the prospect that the U.S.-made fighter jets could enter the war sooner than some would think.

~Snip

That timeline is admittedly optimistic relative to general expectations, particularly in the wake of recent reports that President Joe Biden has not given a final authorization for a pilot training initiative, despite his general approval of the plan. The initiative, which has been propelled by an 11-member bloc of NATO allies, is expected to begin next month, and Biden’s team was at pains Friday to assure a transatlantic audience that they are backing the plan with all deliberate haste.

I guess it’s a good thing that not all of the drones were stolen. Some were used by Ukraine military to run an attack on Moscow. 

Meanwhile Putin tanked the grain deal, which will have a detrimental impact on countries in the Middle East and areas such as East Africa. Furthermore, Putin is attacking ports and specifically targeting infrastructure that is directly tied to the shipment of grain around the world. Keep in mind, Ukraine and Russia accounted for, before all this mess started, nearly 80% of East Africa’s grain supply. 

Russia is bad, Putin is worse. And Putin won’t stop until he has a victory of any kind. So yes, while I do understand that Ukraine needs military and humanitarian aid, accountability and oversight should’ve been in place from the get go. 

In an all-caps headline on p.5:
"The [DOD] Office of Defense Cooperation Was Unable to Conduct End-Use Monitoring of Equipment Provided to Ukraine."

So there's no way of knowing how much stuff was misappropriated by crooks.

— William Bell (@wumhenry) July 23, 2023

It’s actually on page 11, and they admit elsewhere in the report that monitoring isn’t or wasn’t in place even by the end of last year due to logistics and not enough people. You can read the entire report, here. 

The list of what was sent by last fall to Ukraine starts on page 14. How much of it actually made it to the front lines? How much has been stolen by criminals and where has it ended up?

Again, accountability and oversight SHOULD’VE been a priority from day one. Not after the fact. 

Exit question: The President is using the Presidential Drawdown Authority to circumvent Congress on all these gifts to Ukraine. He’s raiding the surplus inventory our military has. What happens when the surplus is depleted?

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Feature Photo Credit: Ukraine Russia flags military weapon via iStock, cropped and modified