US spends billions abroad as fentanyl kills at home

Ten Americans have died of drug overdoses for every Ukrainian soldier killed in the war with Russia, but you wouldn’t know it based on the Biden administration’s policy choices.

Joe Biden’s support for the Ukrainian cause, in dollars and diplomacy, dwarfs his response to the crisis of addiction and death ravaging the American interior. While Biden signed a much-praised anti-fentanyl bill, a close examination reveals the law will do little toward reducing overdose deaths, which continue apace at all-time highs.

The number of migrants Joe Biden has led America to face at the border is nearly double the size of the Russian army.

The fentanyl crisis is a far greater calamity for America than a distant border war in Europe. The 31,000 Ukrainian soldiers who died since Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine in February 2022 equals 10% of the 300,000 Americans who have died of drug overdoses during Biden’s first three years in office. As with the war in Ukraine, there is no end in sight for the fentanyl crisis, only assurances of more suffering.

The federal government has passed five bills and spent more than $175 billion to help the Ukrainians defend their borders. These appropriations have furnished Ukraine with tanks, anti-aircraft missiles, artillery shells, and other expensive military equipment. Some $68 billion is allocated to support the nations neighboring Ukraine and other undefined U.S. interests.

Compare this legislative largesse with this administration’s “landmark” anti-drug law, the awkwardly named Fentanyl Eradication and Narcotics Deterrence Off Fentanyl Act or the FEND Off Fentanyl Act. Though the media heralded the bill as a major accomplishment, it does not deserve the hype.

For example, the law is designed to combat money laundering, which has become significantly harder to do. Mexican drug cartels have partnered with China. They no longer utilize smaller countries, such as Panama, to launder their ill-gotten profits. Communist China is now the preferred country to launder drug money. High-level Chinese officials will be much harder to bring to justice than Panama dictator Manuel Noriega, who was captured by U.S. forces in Operation Just Cause in the 1980s.

The FEND Off Fentanyl Act mandates that federal law enforcement seize assets from cartels to help cover enforcement costs. While law enforcement has been confiscating such assets for some time, cartels continue to generate substantial profits through human trafficking. They have divided the Mexican side of the border into territories that they control tightly, charging thousands of dollars per person to smugglers, known as "coyotes," for illegal crossings. However, these lucrative operations remain unaffected by the new law.

This uneven policy response is particularly puzzling given the numbers involved. The Russian military tops 3.5 million personnel, including active soldiers, reservists, and paramilitary units. Meanwhile, the House Committee on Homeland Security reports that by the end of this summer, the Biden administration is projected to face over 10 million migrants attempting illegal crossings into the United States. Additionally, Biden’s Department of Homeland Security has already reported 6.5 million illegal crossings at the southern border.

Even accepting the lower figures from the DHS, the number of migrants Joe Biden has led America to face at the border is nearly double the size of the Russian army.

Ironically, the Russians understand fentanyl’s potency as a weapon better than anyone. The Russians invented a gas aerosol version of the drug to end a hostage crisis caused by 50 well-armed Chechen terrorists. The fentanyl gas killed all the terrorists and more than 100 hostages, but it effectively ended the crisis. Since this incident, fentanyl has only gotten stronger as Mexican drug cartels manufacture Chinese precursor chemicals into more powerful analog versions of fentanyl.

It is not far-fetched to suggest that America is under attack, and fentanyl is a lethal weapon.