Pence denies that Iran war hurting Ukraine by depleting US stockpiles

There is something almost quaint about a politician insisting that the pantry is fully stocked while the groceries keep flying off the shelves. Mike Pence's Sunday morning deflection is the latest chapter in a long-running Washington tradition: the art of reassuring allies abroad while managing anxieties at home about American power being stretched too thin. Whether he's right or wrong, Pence's confidence stands in stark contrast to a growing chorus of defense officials and procurement watchdogs who have spent months warning that U.S. ammunition reserves are not what they used to be. The former vice president's insistence that the Ukrainians share his rosy assessment is, at the very least, an unverifiable claim. Ukrainian officials, after all, have been publicly circumspect about criticizing their largest benefactor, even as they privately lobby for more artillery rounds and air defense systems. The more interesting question Pence's comments raise is one of prioritization: if the United States is forced to choose between replenishing Israeli Iron Dome batteries or Ukrainian HIMARS launchers, does anyone truly believe the decision happens on the merits alone? What makes this particular denial so intriguing is the timing. We are living through an era of simultaneous, overlapping global crises, and the American defense industrial base is being asked to play whack-a-mole with geopolitics. Pence's framing suggests a "both/and" approach, that America's arsenal is vast enough to handle every contingency without meaningful tradeoffs. That may well be true in the aggregate—the United States outspends the next several nations combined on defense. But the logistics of production, transportation, and political will are not always captured in a budget line item. Of course, it is also possible Pence is simply reading the room correctly. The American public, weary of endless foreign entanglements, may have little appetite for a debate about whether we are doing too much in too many places. By reframing the question away from stockpiles and toward resolve, he offers a familiar comfort: that the United States can walk and chew gum at the same time. Whether history remembers this as principled confidence or willful optimism may depend entirely on what happens on the ground in the coming months. For now, the American people are left to decide whether the glass is half full, half empty, or simply in need of a refill. Source: https://thehill.com/policy/international/6045828-pence-denies-that-iran-war-hurting-ukraine-by-depleting-us-stockpiles/