President Biden Should Embrace the Lend-Lease to Help Ukraine
Or risk being left behind
A great many things that occurred at the onset of the Second World War seem eerily similar to what is happening today.
Every problem facing the current administration in the United States was faced by the administration of that time. The only difference between the current administration and the one during the Second World War is that they actually had a “whatever it takes” attitude. They dedicated significantly more time to finding solutions than to creating problems for themselves and the rest of the world.
There is a reason why President Franklin D. Roosevelt occupies so many pages in global history. He deserves every ounce of ink that has been spent covering his words, actions, and life.
When war broke out in Europe in September 1939 and spread like wildfire across the continent, it became clear that it would eventually reach the United Kingdom. It also became extremely evident that if Britain fell, Hitler would cement his control over the entire continent, and eventually, the war would indeed reach the shores of the United States.
Britain was in desperate need of assistance. However, they did not have money to buy the military goods, food, and raw materials required from the United States.
President Roosevelt had multiple problems at hand, none of which were even remotely comparable to what the current administration faces. The challenges he confronted were at levels significantly higher than those faced by the present administration.
The litany of troubles President Roosevelt faced:
- “The Neutrality Act of 1939 allowed belligerents to purchase war materiel from the United States, but only on a “cash and carry” basis.
- The Johnson Act of 1934 also prohibited the extension of credit to countries that had not repaid U.S. loans made to them during World War I — which included Great Britain.
- The American military opposed the diversion of military supplies to the United Kingdom. The Army’s Chief of Staff, General George C. Marshall, anticipated that Britain would surrender following the collapse of France, and thus American supplies sent to the British would fall into German hands. Marshall and others therefore argued that U.S. national security would be better served by reserving military supplies for the defense of the Western Hemisphere.
- American public opinion also limited Roosevelt’s options. Many Americans opposed involving the United States in another war”.
It was under these circumstances that the Roosevelt administration came up with a creative solution: The Lend-Lease act.
Roosevelt wanted to help Britain, but he also understood that if he adopted an “I am the president and I will do whatever I want” attitude, support for his actions would have plummeted, and he would have made his own life difficult.
He took a calibrated response to delivering aid. The Lend-Lease Act gave him significant leeway to provide weapons to the United Kingdom without facing a huge political backlash.
The Biden administration faces many political issues similar to those confronted by the Roosevelt administration. People do not understand why we need to help Ukraine and how we are going to win. However, compared to the legal and policy hurdles faced by the Roosevelt administration, this administration does not face such challenges. They could have achieved much more if they had the political will. They still have the opportunity to do so.
There is no clarity with the Biden Administration
“When Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, Congress passed a new Lend-Lease Act that President Biden then signed. ” But the Biden administration never used the authorization.
After watching the current administration squander every available opportunity to help Ukraine, Stephen Blank, Ph.D., senior fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute wrote “Should this level of strategic incompetence throughout the West continue, it is not only history that will not forgive us. The citizens of Ukraine and Europe who are witnessing the horror of this war will know that Western leaders’ irresolution, self-centered refusal to confront evil, weakness of heart and lack of courage betrayed them. And then what will we tell them when they are left face-to-face with a resurgent Russia?”
Did the administration play politics over Ukraine aid? I am not exactly sure.
It is either politics or sheer incompetence, coupled with overconfidence. After the way the American troops withdrew from Afghanistan, it is really hard to distance oneself from labeling the national security apparatus of the current administration as ‘incompetent’.
If they looked at what President Roosevelt did, they would have understood that they should take a stance that would become extremely difficult for the opposition to argue against. The Lend-Lease Act would have undermined the opposition.
The worst part is that Congress gave authorization for Lend-Lease on May 9, 2022. This administration allowed the program to expire last year. At the very least, they could have renewed it. Or a smart administration would have set the expiry date for January 15th, 2025. But no, they did nothing. They did not use the program. They did not renew it. All they wanted was more fighting in Congress.
If their goal was to expedite the approval of Ukraine aid in Congress, then what is this administration doing? Why are 36 progressive caucus members still opposing the discharge petition that will force the Ukraine aid vote in the House circumventing Speaker Johnson?
Why is the White House not finding ways to secure signatures from their own party members on the Ukraine-only bill?
Is there a way out?
The administration has two choices. They can either get the 36 progressives to sign off on the Ukraine aid bill or they work with the Republican party to get the lend-lease authorization.
How will lend lease work for Ukraine?
The situation is not the same as passing the Inflation Reduction Act. You can go back and forth for a year and afford yourself all the time to work the congressional votes. But with Russia, the more time you spend bickering, more and more regions around the world will come to a boil. Russian state media proudly carries the message that Houthis are against the unipolar world led by the United States.
Delay helps the enemy.
Doing things the perfect way is not going to cut it.
You have to do what the Roosevelt administration did. Find what needs to be done and get creative about it.
The way Western media covers the war against Ukraine has gone off-track. As a result, I have decided to make my Ukraine stories public, without placing them behind the paywall.
