WASHINGTON – A group of Democrat lawmakers denounced United States President Joe Biden’s decision yesterday to provide cluster munitions to Ukraine because it “undermines” Washington’s moral authority, reported Anadolu Agency.
“The decision by the Biden administration to transfer cluster munitions to Ukraine is unnecessary and a terrible mistake,” the top Democrat on the House of Representatives Appropriations Defence subcommittee, Betty McCollum, warned in a statement.
“Allowing legacy US cluster munitions onto the battlefield in Ukraine undermines our moral authority and places the US in a position that directly contradicts 23 of our Nato allies who have joined the Convention on Cluster Munitions,” the Minnesota congresswoman added.
Barbara Lee, from the state of California, said she is “alarmed” that Biden is “considering sending cluster bombs to Ukraine”.
Pointing to the threats the munitions have been to civilians for decades, Lee said lawmakers wrote to the president about the “need to end the use of cluster bombs”.
Air Force veteran Chrissy Houlahan from Pennsylvania wrote on Twitter that she “strongly” opposes the administration’s decision to provide Ukraine with cluster munitions.
“Cluster munitions can be indiscriminate and have the potential to harm civilians years after conflicts have ended. Now, there are some who will say that these weapons are necessary to level the battlefield, given Russia’s reported use of them. I challenge that assessment,” she wrote.
“I challenge the notion that we should employ the same tactics Russia is using. And I challenge all of us to remember that this war will end and that the broken pieces of Ukraine will need to be rebuilt. History remembers not only who wins a war but also how a war is won,” she added.
Jim McGovern from Massachusetts said he would continue to “strongly support” helping Ukraine against Russia, but “cluster munitions won’t help”.
“I universally oppose the use of these internationally banned weapons. I urge President Biden to listen to our Nato allies, such as the United Kingdom, France, Germany, and Spain, who oppose sending cluster munitions to Ukraine for the same reasons,” he said.
Biden earlier said that sending cluster munitions to Ukraine for the first time was a “difficult decision”, but he believes Kyiv needs them as it is running out of ammunition.
“It was a very difficult decision on my part. And by the way, I discussed this with our allies; I discussed this with our friends up on the Hill,” Biden told CNN.
Noting that Ukrainians were “brutally attacked” by cluster munitions, he said: “This is a war relating to munitions. And they’re running out of that ammunition, and we’re low on it.”
“I took the recommendation of the Defence Department to, not permanently, but to allow for this transition period while we get more 155 weapons, these shells, for the Ukrainians,” he said.
“They’re trying to get through those trenches and stop those tanks from rolling. But it was not an easy decision.”
“We’re not signatories to that agreement, but it took me a while to be convinced to do it,” he said. – Bernama, July 8, 2023
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