CD286: Prolonging the War in Ukraine

Congress is probably going to send approximately $50 billion more, most of that for weapons, to continue the war in Ukraine. In November, high ranking officials from the State Department testified about how the Biden administration intends to use our money and why. In this episode, hear the highlights of their testimony and decide for yourself if you think their goals are worth sacrificing more American money and Ukrainian lives. Please Support Congressional Dish – Quick Links Contribute monthly or a lump sum via PayPal Support Congressional Dish via Patreon (donations per episode) Send Zelle payments to: Donation@congressionaldish.com Send Venmo payments to: @Jennifer-Briney Send Cash App payments to: $CongressionalDish or Donation@congressionaldish.com Use your bank's online bill pay function to mail contributions to: 5753 Hwy 85 North, Number 4576, Crestview, FL 32536. Please make checks payable to Congressional Dish Thank you for supporting truly independent media! View the show notes on our website at congressionaldish.com/cd286-prolonging-the-war… Background Sources Recommended Congressional Dish Episodes CD284: Thieving Russia CD253: Escalation of War CD248: Understanding the Enemy CD244: Keeping Ukraine CD167: Combating Russia (NDAA 2018) LIVE CD068: Ukraine Aid Bill CD067: What Do We Want In Ukraine? WTF is the World Trade System? The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism. Naomi Klein. Picador: 2008. "How the US became Israel's closest ally." Nicole Narea. October 13, 2023. Vox. "Leviathan Gas Field, Mediterranean Sea, Israel." Offshore Technology. Ukraine: How We Got Here "A US-Backed, Far Right–Led Revolution in Ukraine Helped Bring Us to the Brink of War." Branko Marcetic. February 7, 2022. Jacobin. "Chevron and Ukraine Set Shale Gas Deal." Stanley Reed and Andrew E. Kramer. November 5, 2013. The New York Times. "Monsanto to expand its operation in Ukraine." Marieke Ploegmakers. February 5, 2012. All About Feed. "Biography: Arseniy Yatsenyuk." Arseniy Yatsenyuk Official Website. "Arseniy Yatsenyuk." Retrieved on December 16, 2023. Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. The Ukraine War, by the Map "Update on Ukraine: Battlefield Situation." Defence Intelligence, UK Ministry of Defense. December 15, 2023. GlobalSecurity.org. "Ukraine in maps: Tracking the war with Russia." Visual Journalism Team. November 16, 2023. BBC News. "Who's Gaining Ground in Ukraine? This Year, No One." Josh Holder. September 28, 2023. The New York Times. "Russia-Ukraine War Map." @war_mapper. December 31, 2022. GlobalSecurity.org. U.S. Support for Ukraine "Republicans Block Aid to Ukraine, Jeopardizing Its Fight Against Russia." Karoun Demirjian. December 6, 2023. The New York Times. The IMF in Ukraine "Unpacking Ukraine's New IMF Program." Oleksandra Betliy. May 5, 2023. Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. "Ukraine: Request for an Extended Arrangement Under the Extended Fund Facility and Review of Program Monitoring with Board Involvement — Press Release; Staff Report; and Statement by the Executive Director for Ukraine," [IMF Country Report No. 2023/132]. March 31, 2023. International Monetary Fund. "Ukraine: New media law sparks division." Estelle Nilsson-Julien and Ilaria Federico. March 5, 2023. Euronews. "Ukraine: Program Monitoring with Board Involvement — Press Release; Staff Report; and Statement by the Executive Director for Ukraine," [IMF Country Report No. 2022/387]. December 21, 2022. International Monetary Fund. Diplomacy "Diplomacy Watch: New revelations shed light on early talks." Connor Echols. December 1, 2023. Responsible Statecraft. "General to General." Seymour Hersh. December 1, 2023. Seymour Hersh on Substack. "Head of Ukraine's leading party claims Russia proposed 'peace' in exchange for neutrality." Olena Roshchina. November 24, 2023. Ukrainska Pravda. The Toll of War "U.S. intelligence assesses Ukraine war has cost Russia 315,000 casualties - source." Jonathan Landay. December 12, 2023. Reuters. "Hundreds of thousands wounded and dead in Ukraine as war grinds on, intelligence suggests." John Mazerolle. December 8, 2023. CBC News. "As Death Toll in Gaza Surpasses 10,000, the House Censures Rashida Tlaib." Inae Oh. November 8, 2023. Mother Jones. "Why Ukraine likely won't hold elections next year." Oleg Sukhov. September 28, 2023. The Kyiv Independent. Israel-Palestine Enemies and Neighbors: Arabs and Jews in Palestine and Israel, 1917-2017. Ian Black. Narrated by Michael Page. Tantor Audio: 2018. "Fear & Loathing in the New Jerusalem" Darryl Cooper. The Martyrmade Podcast. Audio Sources U.S. National Security Interests in Ukraine November 8, 2023 Senate Foreign Relations Committee Witnesses: James O'Brien, Assistant Secretary of State, European and Eurasian Affairs Geoffrey R. Pyatt, Assistant Secretary of State, Energy Resources Erin McKee, Assistant Administrator, Europe and Eurasia, United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Clips 1:55 Sen. Ben Cardin (D-MD): The supplemental funding will strengthen governance and anti-corruption systems. It will improve the resilience of our economies and our energy supply. It will support efforts to come out of the other side of this. We're ready for Ukraine to join EU and also NATO. But this investment in Ukraine goes far beyond its borders. By degrading Russia's military capabilities, we're also degrading the capabilities of those who Russia works with, like Iran, Hamas, and Hezbollah. 10:30 Sen. Ben Cardin (D-MD): First Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs James O'Brien. Assistant Secretary O'Brien assumed his role just last month after serving as sanctions coordinator at the State Department. He is a former career employee of the department receiving numerous performance awards and serve to previous US administration's as Special Presidential Envoy for hostages and for the Balkans. 11:00 Sen. Ben Cardin (D-MD): The next will be Assistant Secretary for Energy Resources, Jeffrey R. Pyatt. No stranger to this committee, career diplomat Assistant Secretary Pyatt has been in his current role since September 2022. He served as US Ambassador to Greece and Ukraine. He has held numerous leadership positions through out the department and has won numerous awards. 11:25 Sen. Ben Cardin (D-MD): And our third witness is Assistant Administrator Erin McKee, who serves as the Assistant Administrator in the Bureau of Europe and Eurasia at USAID. Prior to this position, she was the US Ambassador to Papua New Guinea and to the Solomon Islands. Prior to her Ambassador appointments, as a member of the Senior Foreign Service she served in numerous leadership roles throughout USAID and the embassies abroad. Before her US government career she developed private sector experience including throughout the former Soviet Union. 14:40 James O'Brien: This is around the Black Sea and Crimea. Ukraine has, through its own ingenuity and with weapons that have been provided, loosened Russia's grip. Russia tried to blockade the ability of Ukraine to export, but now Ukraine is starting to export more grain, more metals. And this is enabling it to pay for more of its war itself. So just a few numbers as we go through this. Ukraine is hoping to get about 8 million tons of grain and metals out through the Black Sea over the course of the next year. If it does that, it will provide about $5-6 billion more for its tax base than it has now. That helps to make up the shortfall that our supplemental will cover for the meantime. But it also then provides the employment for millions of its citizens to work within Ukraine. Now, that is a path to victory where we help Ukraine by providing assistance to have its energy grid strengthened, air defense over its employment centers, and the export routed needs so that it is able to fight this fight over the long term and to hold Russia off thereafter. 15:50 James O'Brien: The military assistance in the supplemental is about $45 …