Democrats focused on gun control for U.S. citizens often have trouble keeping track of weapons they send to foreign nations. Operation Fast and Furious under the Obama administration allowed hundreds of firearms to “walk” across the border to Mexico, where they were used to kill over 300 people. President Biden presided over a hasty U.S. Military retreat from Afghanistan that left behind millions of weapons—including 250,000 automatic rifles— along with billions of dollars in cash.
The latest such debacle has involved weapons sent to the war effort in Ukraine. Sec. of Defense Lloyd Austin has sent over one billion dollars of weapons to Ukraine whose whereabouts he is unable to track. According to a New York Times piece, there could be as many as 40,000 lost weapons involved.
Back in May 2022, Austin testified before a subpanel of the United States Senate Appropriations Committee: “We have to depend on the Ukrainians at this point to do the right thing and make sure that they are prudent and careful.”
The concern over these particular weapons is that they are subject to special Pentagon auditing requirements known as: “Enhanced End-Use Monitoring” (EEUM). These extra conditions are imposed on weapons that are particularly valuable to arms traffickers due to possible sensitive or classified technology involved. But Alexandra Baker, acting Undersecretary of Defense for Policy, wrote a letter responding to a Pentagon audit stating that full EEUM accounting of the missing weapons was an “unrealistic and unobtainable expectation.”
Some of the weapons may even have ended up in the possession of Russian gangs.
DoD IG Report: $1 billion in US military weapons sent to Ukraine cannot be accounted for and is not being fully tracked. US relies on Ukrainians to do the right thing, but corruption is rampant. Recommendations made to improve accountability, but Biden… https://t.co/z246oszgv6
— The America One News (@am1_news) January 12, 2024
Funding for the Ukraine war may run this month out unless Congress approves additional spending. The lack of accountability for vast amounts of weapons will surely be an issue in a House of Representatives now controlled by the GOP.
The current war in Ukraine stems from a conflict with Russia that dates back to 2014 when Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine. It escalated when the former Soviet republic was invaded by Russia in February 2022. The United States quickly sided with Ukraine, and since the war began America has sent a total of $45 billion in aid there.
