Members of the Senate didn't have to vote on the $1.7 trillion omnibus spending bill to ensure money was available for Ukraine, retired U.S. Air Force Brigadier Gen. Blaine Holt, a Newsmax contributor, commented Sunday morning.
"We haven't even spent all the money that we authorized at the beginning of this thing," Holt commented on Newsmax's "Wake Up America." "We'll continue to support Ukraine, and both sides do."
The $45 billion package to Ukraine included as part of the bill approved last week comes mostly in military materials, along with humanitarian aid for the wartorn country.
The vote came after Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy spoke to a joint session of Congress last week, and Holt said it was "very brave" for him to announce the trip and then come during a time of war.
"It was very telling that the Russians left him unfettered," said Holt. "He went back and he was safe and right back at work after it."
Addressing Congress, he continued, is the "biggest megaphone in the world."
During his address, Zelenskyy said he'd presented a peace plan to President Joe Biden during their closed-door meeting earlier in the day.
"We can't know what's in it, but what we can say is will the White House and will the State Department act on that?" said Holt. "Will they pick these things up these ideas and say, without preconditions? Let's get to a table. Let's hit Vienna with the Russians and sit down and map out what these ideas look like, and if there's nothing there, well, nothing lost. Let's start that dialogue. I think I think everybody around the world would like to see that."
Holt also on Sunday commented about Secretary of State Antony Blinken's final press conference of the year, when he said the administration rallied the world around Ukraine, accelerated strategic conversations with allies and partners concerning China, mobilized coalitions to deliver solutions to global challenges, and used the power of diplomacy to advance peace and prevent and mitigate conflict.
"At the risk of being too tongue-in-cheek, I would say two words: Cognitive dissonance," said Holt. "You had a deterrable war that we didn't have to have, coming on the failure of Kabul. China has eaten our lunch in a variety of ways. Let's remember, they're still sitting on 200,000 acres of our land and threatening us daily in the commons while they threaten Taiwan."
And when it comes to deterring wars, "have we ever heard the term World War III more than in 2022?" said Holt. "They should hang their hats, sharpen their pencils and go to work and do a little bit more for the American people, especially with $1.7 trillion swirling around Washington, D.C."
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Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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