Passed in 1941, the Act to Promote the Defense of the United States allowed the U.S. government to easily and quickly transfer food, oil, and military material to allied nations during World War II.
Better known as the Lend-Lease Act, it proved to be a game-changer in helping defeat the Axis Powers, something that Joseph Stalin had to deny after the war lest defeating the Third Reich be seen as anything other than a purely Soviet victory.
Yesterday, the U.S. Senate unanimously approved a resurrected Lend-Lease Act known as the Ukraine Democracy Defense Lend-Lease Act of 2022. Since 2014, the Office of Defense Cooperation at the U.S. Embassy in Ukraine has faced bureaucratic hurdles in arming and equipping the Ukrainian military, with the issuing of the Javelin missile system particularly convoluted with red tape during the Obama administration.
After Russia launched an invasion in late February, the Ukrainians proved willing and able to fight and made great use of the Javelin and British NLAW anti-armor weapon systems. President Joe Biden has approved numerous requests for lethal aid in the run-up to the war and during it, most recently an additional 100 million dollars worth of the deadly anti-tank weapon.
The resurrect of the Lend-Lease Act will cut through any remaining red tape and help the U.S. government deliver aid, including war material, to the Ukrainian government, provided it passes in the house. As the name Lend-Lease implies, the aid would be given to Ukraine with the expectation that it be paid for at a later date.
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The revelation of war crimes committed by Russian troops in previously held towns north of Kyiv such as Bucha likely motivated the Senate to pass the bill, as evidence emerges of mass graves and civilians executed after their hands had been tied behind their backs.
With Russian forces withdrawing from Northern Ukraine, back into Belarus, it is now expected that they will refit and regroup before redeploying to Eastern Ukraine. Chechens, Syrian mercenaries, and new conscripts are expected to be deployed by the Russians to backfill the estimated 10,000 soldiers that they have lost so far, with as many as 30,000 wounded or missing in action.
Reach Jack Murphy: jack@connectingvets.com or @JackMurphyRGR. Want to get more connected to the stories and resources Connecting Vets has to offer? Click here to sign up for our weekly newsletter.
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