Senators Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas), Roger Wicker (R-Mississippi), Susan Collins (R-Maine), and Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina) have penned a letter to Joe Biden, urging him to send MGM-140 Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS) to Ukraine. The senators argue that not doing so will “only prolong the war” between Ukraine and Russia. The senators’ proposal is misguided and perilous for the United States and global stability.
The senators’ letter comes on the heels of the Senate Armed Services Committee’s unanimous approval for the Department of Defense to send long-range missiles to Ukraine.
The senators claim that the U.S. can provide these weapons “without any appreciable risk to its own combat capability.” They further argue that Ukraine “only requires a small portion of our stockpiled ATACMS” and that the U.S. can easily replenish its inventory.
This sense of urgency and the notion that the U.S. has an endless supply of missiles to spare is absurd. The Gateway Pundit previously reported that Joe Biden mentioned that the United States was running low on military ammunition.
Joe Biden admitted on national television that the US gave cluster bombs to Ukraine “because the US is low on other ammunition.”
“This is a war relating to munitions. And [Ukraine] is running out of that ammunition, and we’re low on it. And so what I finally did, I took the recommendation of the Defense Department to not permanently, but to allow for in this transition period where we had more 155 weapons… these shells for Ukrainians to provide them with something as a very low DUD rate,” said Biden.
“I wrote to President Biden with my colleagues and urged him to provide Ukraine with the missiles its military needs to win. Not doing so will only prolong the war and cost lives,” Cotton wrote.
Read the letter:
We write to urge you to immediately send MGM-140 Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS) to Ukraine. Additional delay will only further undermine U.S. national security interests and extend this conflict.
For many months, Ukrainian officials have stated the need for ATACMS to fill a critical gap in long-range fires capability. Providing ATACMS would enable Ukraine to strike key Russian logistics and communications targets as well as cruise missile and drone launch sites within Russian-occupied Ukraine. In particular, the longerrange unitary warhead variant of ATACMS should be sent without delay. The recent Ukrainian strike on Sevastopol naval port using the British Storm Shadow long-range weapon demonstrated the battlefield effectiveness of such weapons. Providing these weapons to Ukraine would maximize the likelihood of success in its current counteroffensive and follow-on operations. ATACMS could also augment Ukraine’s ability to destroy Russian defensive formations.
The Ukrainian military has achieved some breakthroughs in Russian-occupied territory. However, there are reportedly as few as 30 days left before the end of the typical fighting season. It is essential that the United States immediately provide ATACMS so Ukraine can achieve vital objectives before winter and deny Russia the ability to fortify its positions.
The U.S. is fully capable of providing these weapons without any appreciable risk to its own combat capability. Ukraine has significantly degraded Russian combat power and only requires a small portion of our stockpiled ATACMS. Further, the U.S. has the capability to produce hundreds of ATACMS and Precision Strike Missiles a year and replenish its inventory in the near term.
The Senate Armed Services Committee unanimously approved an amendment to the 2024 National Defense Authorization Act urging the Department of Defense to consider sending long-range missiles to Ukraine. Delay will only cost more lives and prolong the conflict. We urge you to authorize the immediate shipment of ATACMS to Ukraine.
the senators’ proposal has not gone unnoticed by social media users, many of whom have labeled Senators Cotton, Wicker, Collins, and Graham as “RINOs” and “warmongers.”
STOP GIVING MONEY TO UKRAINE !!!
— Catturd
(@catturd2) September 16, 2023
You’re a traitor to your country
— Hodgetwins (@hodgetwins) September 16, 2023
Retract the letter, retract the American taxpayer funds from Ukraine
— Robert Bowes (@Robert_B_Bowes) September 16, 2023
You, Sir, are a traitor and a warmonger. It was Ukraine that started this conflict in 2013, and it’s your weapons that are prolonging it.
How much does the military-industrial complex pay you?
— Dr. Simon Goddek (@goddeketal) September 16, 2023
Tom Cotton is the Adam Kinzinger of Lyndsey Grahams
— Vince Langman (@LangmanVince) September 16, 2023
The post GOP Senators Cotton, Wicker, Collins, and Graham Urge Joe Biden to Send Tactical Missile Systems to Ukraine: “Not Doing So Will Only Prolong the War” appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.