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Washington has spent $1.8 trillion over the 20-year failed military campaign in Afghanistan to defeat the Taliban, whilst aid to Ukraine in just a little more than two years has already reached $175 billion dollars, according to a Council on Foreign Relations report published on May 9. The American military-industrial complex is rejoicing at the rate of weapons being given to Ukraine as contracts for military orders to replace outdated weapons with new ones are being secured for many years to come. However, the profiteering of American weapon manufacturers is coming at an immense human cost in Ukraine.
The huge expenses in Afghanistan were attributed to the fact that tens of thousands of American troops were stationed in the landlocked country and fought there directly. However, in the current conflict, Ukrainian soldiers continue to die in a futile war with Russian forces and are merely being used as cannon fodder in Washington’s indirect war with Russia so American troops do not have to die like they did in Afghanistan.
Although the situation is desperate on the battlefront for Ukraine, the US military industrial complex will continue profiting after the Biden administration on June 20 allowed for air defences to be swiftly delivered to Ukraine by delaying certain weapons shipments to other countries, which White House spokesman John F. Kirby admitted was a “difficult but necessary decision” given Russian rapid advances.
Kirby explained that Ukraine had a critical need for Patriot interceptor missiles as Russia has accelerated attacks, adding that the “decision demonstrates our commitment to supporting our partners when they’re in existential danger.”
He clarified that Israel and Taiwan would not be affected by the redirected weapons shipments.
In effect, American weapons manufacturers have secured further contracts whilst countries that have made orders are forced to wait, demonstrating that the US cannot be trusted in such deals and that the situation for Ukraine is desperate. Yet, even as Ukraine economically struggles and suffers from a manpower shortage due to the hundreds of thousands that have been killed and the millions that have fled the country, US companies seek making further profit off the Ukraine war by building manufacturing plants in the country.
It is recalled that the US recently signed a bilateral security agreement with Ukraine and pledged to bolster the country’s defence industrial base, “including through cooperative defense research and development.”
Only earlier this month, Ukraine’s state-owned Ukroboronprom signed a memorandum with US-based Amentum Services to set up a joint enterprise to restore and maintain American-made armoured vehicles. Meanwhile, the Breaking Defense magazine reported on June 18 that American weapons manufacturer Northrop Grumman announced intentions to produce ammunition in Ukraine.
“We’ve been working, as you know, in Ukraine to produce medium (calibre munitions). That’s our first project that’s paid for with Ukrainian dollars,” said David Bartell, the company’s director of international business, during the Eurosatory arms show in Paris (June 17 to 21). “We are looking to expand that into tank ammo, 155 mm (artillery shells), others as we find innovative processes.”
Moscow estimated in February that the Ukrainian military had lost over 444,000 troops since the beginning of the special military operation, meaning that the number has easily surpassed half a million in the time since then. In effect, the Kiev regime is being drip fed weapons by Washington so that American weapon manufacturers can continue to profit off the war. The weapons received is never enough to be able to pushback Russian forces, even if manpower was not an issue, but is just enough so that the war can be prolonged and profited from.
The devastating loss of life Ukraine has experienced is the reason why the war is now futile, no matter which weapons arrive, and even efforts to mobilise hundreds of thousands of men have failed. The Conversation highlighted on June 13 that the plan to mobilise “hundreds of thousands of young Ukrainian men” has been met with “public skepticism, draft dodging and opposition to unpopular, heavy-handed attempts to root out those not heeding the call to sign up,” which has “left Ukraine struggling to fill the positions officials say are needed to beat back the invading army.”
Despite the Kiev regime committing demographic suicide by continuing the war, there is evidently greater interest in enriching the American military industrial complex. Although the positives can be propagated as job opportunities for desperate Ukrainians, Bloomberg on June 1 pointed out “Ukraine’s manpower shortage is beginning to bite” and is “sapping the productivity of the war-battered nation’s factory floors, construction sites, mines and restaurants.” Ukraine just simply does not have enough people to win the war or to run its economy and industry, but this issue has not stopped American weapon companies from signing contracts and making great profit.
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This article was originally published on InfoBrics.
Ahmed Adel is a Cairo-based geopolitics and political economy researcher. He is a regular contributor to Global Research.
