Ukraine war: nine months and $19 billion

Wars are rarely short-lived. The Gulf War of 1991 when a US-led coalition liberated Kuwait from Iraqi occupying forces, lasted 100 hours. That was short. It could have gone on longer but President George HW Bush decided enough was enough. He didn't want a long turkey shoot, killing all the Iraqi troops in retreat and then driving on to ovethrow Saddam Hussein in Baghdad. That was to come later, in 2003 when his son launched the invasion of Iraq. Ukraine, in the mind of President Putin, was going to be a short war. Seven days, or 168 hours. But he got his tactics and dreams all muddled up and here we are more than nine months later with the slaughter and destruction still going on at a terrifying level and no sign of it abating, although perhaps slowing down during the freezng winter months. Nine months of war for Ukraine and Russia, and $19 billion for the US. With the latest arms package announced, the total spend for supporting Ukraine has moved beyond $19 billion. That is a truly remarkable figure. The Pentagon's huge stocks of ammunition, artillery shells, missiles and rockets have been dwindling at a furious rate, and defence companies are upping production levels to try and keep pace. The staggering sum of money has allowed the Ukrainian forces to confront an enemy far superior in troop numbers and equipment. How many more months will this war continue and how many more dollars will the US taxpayer be prepared to spend? I fear the answer to these two questions lies in the hands of Vladimir Putin.