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The first day of 2023 was another horrific day for both sides of the Ukraine war. The rt.com reported citing local authorities that at least six civilians were killed in the Ukrainian attack on a hospital, located at the town of Pervomaysk in the LPR. More than 15 civilians were injured in the city of Donetsk as well as other locations across the Donetsk (DPR) and Lugansk (LPR) People’s Republics that came under heavy artillery and rocket attacks by Kiev forces overnight. The Ukrainian military used 155mm NATO-caliber artillery and Western-supplied multiple rocket launchers.
AlJazeera reported a barrage of more than 20 cruise missiles was fired at targets across Ukraine killing at least one person and injuring 20 in the capital city in the second wave of attacks on the country in three days. It reported that Russia and Ukraine have freed more than 200 captured soldiers in a latest prisoner exchange between the two sides.
Both sides have suffered huge losses even on 313 day of the Ukraine war. Yet, no signs to conclude the savage. All diplomatic efforts between the two warring countries remain unfruitful while no effort is seen to stop the US-NATO military fueling the Ukraine war.
The New York based Council of Foreign Relations (CFR) has reported that the US foreign assistance in 2022 was driven by various priorities of the Biden administration, including combating climate change, responding to the COVID-19 pandemic, and countering authoritarianism. But since Russia’s invasion in February, Ukraine has become far and away the top recipient of US foreign aid. It’s the first time that a European country has held the top spot since Harry S. Truman administration directed vast sums into rebuilding the continent through the Marshall Plan after World War-II.”
Kiel Institute for the World Economy, a German research institute, has noted that “In 2022, the Biden administration and the US Congress have directed nearly $50 billion in assistance to Ukraine”. It is the highest ever US financial assistance to any country in 10 months after the second world war. It includes humanitarian, financial, and military support. The historic sums are helping a broad set of Ukrainian people and institutions, including refugees, law enforcement, and independent radio broadcasters, though most of the aid has been military-related. Dozens of other countries, including most members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the European Union, are also providing large aid packages to Ukraine.
After directing huge sums to Ukraine, the US is unable to fulfil its commitments to its allies in the Asia-Pacific region due to the increased focus on the Ukraine crisis. Washington has significantly delayed the originally announced deadline for the implementation of the nuclear submarine supply programme to Canberra, which was envisaged by the agreement on the creation of the US-UK-Australian military alliance (AUKUS) of 2021.
In September this year a US naval spokesman said there was overcrowding in the nuclear shipyards and a labor shortage in the United States, which pushed back the delivery of American nuclear submarines to the Australian navy by a decade from 2030 to 2040. Such a move, which is conditional on limited US industrial capability due to the excessive cost of military assistance to Ukraine, undermines the credibility of the Joe Biden administration on the part of the AUKUS pact participants. Moreover, this situation clearly demonstrates the futility of potential cooperation with this bloc for Japan, the Republic of Korea and other Southeast Asian countries, at the expense of which the Anglo-Saxon triangle planned to strengthen its influence in the region.
As many as 73 percent of the US citizens believe that “the US has changed to worse in the last 50 years because of funding the ‘conflicts’ around the world. It has led to unfulfilled commitments with its own citizens”, a policy think tank mentioned in its December 2022 report.
Stephen M. Walt, a columnist at the US think tank Foreign Policy, has cited eight reasons why America has a commitment problem world over. “……. infused with a crusading, universalist ideology, especially prone to overcommitment because they believe their political principles are valid everywhere and will inevitably be tempted to spread them abroad.”
He has also noted while deliberating on the eight reasons that Washington has repeatedly made the mistake of making promises around the world it can’t keep because of the ‘civilian leaders’ intended to launch wars in different parts of the word than the Pentagon.
Pakistan is still waiting for the development aid after the US restored its bilateral relation in May 2020 despite firm commitments.
It is obvious that the US cannot fulfil its commitments until it stops funding the geopolitical conflicts that it believes are against its “political principles” or its vested interests. No country shall whim to indulge its resources in fueling the conflicts, instead invest in the human development, and efforts for peace and prosperity, and to fulfil its development commitments.
