From conservative anti-MAGA columnist Jennifer Rubin, writing in this morning's Washington Post not to give right-wing MAGA House Speaker Mike "Moses" Johnson credit for aiding Ukraine after so many months of delay:
"When the vote on Ukraine aid finally came, it was overwhelming, 311-112. That raised the question: Why in the world did such a popular measure take so long? It could have been done long ago, when President Biden requested the aid in October, had Johnson simply ignored the histrionics from pro-Putin House members who take their cues from Donald Trump.
A week … a month … six months ago, the vote to deliver critical aid could have prevented countless Ukrainian deaths. Just last week, Russian missiles struck an apartment building in the northern Ukrainian city of Chernihiv, killing 17 people and injuring at least 61. That was merely one strike among many Russia has successfully carried out in recent months while Ukraine has been hampered by munitions shortages and inadequate antimissile defenses.
The delay had serious, widespread consequences for Ukraine. Max Bergmann, a former State Department official and director of the Europe, Russia and Eurasia program for the Center for Strategic and International Studies, tells me, 'Their power sector has been decimated by lack of air defense, which will be incredibly costly to repair.' He adds that on the front 'Ukrainians have lost a lot of soldiers because if you don’t have artillery you have to hold the line with men.' In other words, Ukraine has 'lost a lot of people simply because we stopped providing them ammo.'” (our emphasis)
