WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 17th May, 2022) US weapons flowing into Ukraine will still fall into the hands of terrorists and end up threatening the United States and its allies even if proposals to boost oversight are implemented, analysts told Sputnik.
Last week, Senator Rand Paul single-handedly delayed a Senate attempt to fast track a $40 billion Ukraine aid bill, citing concerns over government spending, debt and inflation. Paul has demanded an amendment to the legislation be added that would provide for further Federal oversight of the money and weapons being sent to Ukraine.
On Monday, the Senate voted in favor of ending debate, setting the stage for a final vote on the bill later this week.
The 32-page piece of legislation requires the Pentagon and State Department to document how each weapon will be used and monitored but has no other clauses about oversight.
Paul said US Congress should establish a special inspector general to oversee the economic, humanitarian, and military aid being sent to Ukraine like the one created to do the same for Afghanistan, including monitoring weaponry and ensuring it is used as intended.
The Pentagon said it left behind about $7.1 billion worth of military equipment the US had transferred to Afghan forces. After the fall of Kabul in August of 2021, social media posts went viral of the Taliban fighters showcasing their newly-acquired weaponry.
Eurasia Center Vice President Earl Rasmussen believes a similar fate awaits much of the US security assistance sent to Ukraine.
"Much of the equipment (to Ukraine) will never reach the front lines," Rasmussen told Sputnik. "It will either be sold on the black market or destroyed by the Russians in its staging area."
He said most will likely fall into the hands of not only ultra-nationalists but other terrorist organizations.
"Ironically, some of these extreme elements may infiltrate back into Europe and the US," Rasmussen said. "We are essentially creating an increased terrorist threat to our own country."
American University Professor of History Peter Kuznick also pointed to previous US attempts to arm surrogate forces around the world - including in Syria.
The Obama administration approved a $1 billion CIA program called Timber Sycamore to arm Syria's opposition, a New York Times-Aljazeera probe revealed in 2016.
"The US got their fingers burnt in the Syrian conflict by supplying supposedly tame jihadis, trained by the United States in Jordan, with weaponry which within days had been passed on to al-Qaeda affiliates (terror groups banned in Russia)," Kuznick said.
There was absolutely no way of knowing where the war materiel being passed to Ukrainian forces would end up, Kuznick explained.
Historian and political commentator Dan Lazare observed how US and Saudi-supplied weapons in Syria and Libya wound up in the hands of terrorist groups like the Islamic State (banned in Russia) and al-Qaeda or vanished on global black markets.
"The problem, basically, is that all wars have unwanted spillover effects in the form of lost or stolen materiel that winds up being sold or re-used," Lazare told Sputnik. "My understanding is that vast amounts of US military goods ended up on the black market after 1945 and that the Vietnamese wound up with a windfall in terms of US weapons and supplies 30 years later."
The $40 billion in funding, more than half of which is military aid, once passed will be added to $4.5 billion the Biden administration has already committed to Ukraine - about $3.8 billion of which came after Russia launched its military operation in late February.
Corruption is another factor that could exacerbate the situation regardless whether the US establishes an oversight committee or process, the experts said.
"Taking into account that Ukraine is one of the world's most corrupt countries, and ...(the) Pentagon's reputation in this category is very far from 'admirable' the chances that these weapons fall into wrong hands or are sold on the black market are pretty high. According to some reliable sources this is already happening," American University in Moscow President Professor Edward Lozansky said.
Lazare warned that this time around the problem could be worse given the size of the funding alone.
"As for Ukraine, all we know is that the volume of such supplies is vast and the Kiev government has a proven record for corruption that is nonpareil. From that, it seems clear that we'll see a similar phenomenon, but perhaps on an even bigger scale," Lazare said.
Rasmussen said as the bill is currently written there is no accountability.
"Senator Rand is correct in slowing the process down and inserting more appropriate oversight and auditing requirements. However, visibility of weapons and funds is very limited. Once transition to Ukraine is completed, we lose all visibility and control," he said.
