Eli Clifton reports on money in politics and US foreign policy. He previously reported for the American Independent New Network, ThinkProgress, and Inter Press Service.
The letter’s signatories, many of whom have a financial stake in a ballooning Pentagon budget and congressional approval for the export of sophisticated weapons, repeatedly cite the need for greater weapons transfers to Ukraine as a central tenet of their justification for Ukraine’s NATO membership. “The focus should be on the transition to Western weapons systems; creation of a modern, NATO-compatible air and missile defense system; creation of a medical rehabilitation system for wounded soldiers, as well as a system for soldier reintegration into civilian life and a comprehensive demining effort,” they concluded.