Cluster Munitions To Ukraine A Source Of Concern

Despite human rights groups warning about the potential harm to civilians, the United States will provide Ukraine with cluster munitions to fortify its defense against Russia, and to aid in their lackluster counteroffensive.

Colin Kahl, the Undersecretary of Defense for Policy, on his recent Friday briefing at the Pentagon, declared the approval of an additional $800 million in military aid, which includes the provision of DPICM cluster bombs.

American officials have stated that Ukraine has committed in writing to make every effort to prevent civilian casualties while utilizing these controversial weapons. However, human rights organizations argue that these munitions, which scatter multiple bomblets over a broad area, pose a significant threat to civilian populations. Moreover, they warn that these bombs can continue to present a lethal risk even after the cessation of hostilities due to unexploded ordnance.

Such weapons are prohibited in more than 100 nations because to the risk of damage or death to people from picking up unexploded bomblets.

In an exclusive interview with CNN, President Biden stated that it was “very difficult” to decide to deliver Ukraine cluster munitions.

“And by the way, I discussed this with our allies, I discussed this with our friends up on the Hill,” Biden said, according to CNN. “The Ukrainians are running out of ammunition.”

As the United States seeks to increase production of other types of artillery to send to Ukraine, Jake Sullivan, Biden’s national security advisor, told reporters at the White House that Ukraine needs cluster munitions as a “bridge of supplies”.

“We will not leave Ukraine defenseless at any point in this conflict, period,” Sullivan said.

Sullivan acknowledged that the United States had initially paused the provision of these munitions while assessing their potential risk to civilians and seeking the views of its allies on the matter.

He pointed out that Russia has been employing cluster munitions in their attacks on Ukraine, which implies that the US will be compelled to aid Ukraine in post-conflict demining under any circumstances. According to Sullivan, Ukraine is intent on employing these weapons in a manner that reduces risks to its civilian population and has officially committed to their careful usage.

Failure rate of the munitions is a major concern raised by detractors of cluster munitions. One estimate places the percentage of bomblets that don’t detonate upon impact as intended at 40%. However, the cluster munitions that the US is supplying to Ukraine will have a failure rate of less than 3%, as stated by John Kirby, the White House National Security Council spokesperson.

A 2008 United Nations convention outlawing its usage was ratified by more than 120 nations. The United States, Russia, and Ukraine are not included.

Before the revelation, Sera Koulabdara of the US Campaign to Ban Landmines and Cluster Munition Coalition called cluster munitions “horrific.”

“Once they’re scattered, they’re scattered through a vast amount of areas, and they have very, very high failure rates,” Koulabdara told Morning Edition. “Once they’re dropped, they’ll continue to impact civilian lives for decades to come, as well as, killing civilians today.”

Koulabdara asked Ukrainian and American leaders “to look at history and for the United States of America, our own history in countries like Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, Afghanistan [and] Iraq.”

“You learn from the impacts and the legacies of wars that this will have on human lives,” Koulabdara said, “lives of civilians who have a name, who have mothers, who have fathers who care about them.”

Concerns over the administration of President Joe Biden’s plan to deliver cluster bombs to Ukraine in order to stave off the Russian invasion were expressed on Sunday by Democratic U.S. Senator Tim Kaine and Representative Barbara Lee.

Kaine expressed “some real qualms” about the U.S. decision to supply cluster bombs to Ukraine, saying that it would encourage other nations to ignore an international treaty that forbids the deployment of such weapons.

“It could give a green light to other nations to do something different as well,” Kaine told Fox News Sunday. However, he added he “appreciates the Biden administration has grappled with the risks.”

Of Ukraine’s potential use of cluster munitions, Kaine, an Armed Services Committee member appears confident the cluster bombs will not be used against the Russian civilian population.

“They’re not gonna use these munitions against Russian civilians,” Kaine said regarding assurances made by Kyiv meant to assuage concerns by Americans over the transfer of the powerful weapons to Ukraine.

Lee pushed the Biden administration to rethink the decision.

“Cluster bombs should never be used. That’s crossing a line,” she told CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday, adding the United States risked losing its “moral leadership” by sending cluster bombs to Ukraine.

Kirby defended the choice and stated that American demining efforts in Ukraine were a top priority.

“We are very mindful of the concerns about civilian casualties and unexploded ordnance being picked up by civilians or children and being hurt,” Kirby said in an interview with ABC’s “This Week.”

“But these munitions do provide a useful battlefield capability,” he said. According to Kirby, Russia is currently using cluster munitions in the war with Ukraine and is “indiscriminately killing civilians,” whereas, according to Kirby, Ukrainian’s use of the munitions is strictly for the defense of their land.

In the wake of Russia’s invasion, support for Ukraine has mostly been bipartisan in the US. The Biden administration and numerous Democratic and Republican senators in the United States have supported the choice to supply the contentious weapons to Ukraine, claiming that doing so will hasten Kyiv’s counteroffensive.

The head of the House of Representatives’ Foreign Affairs Committee, Republican Michael McCaul, claimed that the cluster bombs might prove a “game changer” for the Ukrainians despite the counteroffensive’s sluggish progress.

“They would be a game changer in the counteroffensive. And I’m really pleased the administration has finally agreed to do this,” McCaul told CNN on Sunday.