Four leading Republicans in Congress have sent a letter to President Biden urging him to provide Kyiv with cluster bombs, controversial munitions that endanger civilians by spreading small bomblets over large areas.
Due to the harm they cause civilians, cluster bombs have been banned by over 100 countries under the 2008 Convention on Cluster Munitions. But Russia, Ukraine, and the US are not signatories to the treaty.
The letter to Biden was signed by Rep. Michael McCaul (R-TX), the chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Rep. Mike Rogers (R-AL), the chair of the House Armed Services Committee, Sen. Roger Wicker (R-MS), the ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, and Jim Risch (R-ID), the ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
Ukraine has been asking the US to send cluster bombs, specifically the MK-20, an air-delivered cluster bomb, and a 155mm artillery cluster shell. Both Russian and Ukrainian forces have used cluster munitions in the war. Kyiv had used them years earlier in the Donbas war against populated areas of Donestk in 2014.
In the letter, the Republican lawmakers urged Biden to send cluster munitions, including the Dual Purpose Improved Conventional Munitions (DPICM), which have several types of variants. DPICM are available as 155mm artillery rounds, GMLRS rockets that Ukraine has been using with the HIMARS rocket systems, and ATACMS, missiles that have a range of up to 190 miles that the US has not yet provided Kyiv.
According to the lawmakers, the US has three million rounds of DPICMs available. They argue sending the widely-banned munition could alleviate pressure on other US stockpiles. They said Ukrainian leaders are aware of the “risks to noncombatants associated” with cluster bombs but say the risk to civilians “pales in comparison” to the threat posed by Russia.
The US needs to decide if it is an ARMS DEALER or a global leader to help promote peaceful solutions. I’m putting my money on “arms dealer”.
I second the motion.
Pushing the Ukrainians to accept a peace deal involving a Russian land grab, will only serve to cause a lot more wars like the SMO as other countries with an appetite for neighboring resource rich or strategically important regions use the new world order established by such a peace deal – they will do so in the chaos created when the Chinese take Taiwan.
I’m a bit surprised that you who seem to genuinely want peace, is so blinded by you very understandable ‘hate’ of the very bad US foreign policies, that you cannot see the very bad precedent such a peace would set.
so far the russians have “land grabbed” the territories where the people speak the russian language and had been seriously menaced by ukrainian forces in the first place. but hey, i’m sure there are many instances of those peoples begging uncle sam to be saved from their new evil russian overlords, right?
…… crickets …..
No the Russians were not in majority in neither Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia nor in Kherson – as for what language they prefer to speak that has little bearing on what nation they want to belong to.
And yes the people of many of the areas the Ukrainians have been able to liberate certainly celebrated that liberation more than we have seen any people cheering for the Russians when they marched in.
We in the west are not going to see anybody cheering for the Russians. That could only happen with a free press.
We in the West will definitely not cheer for a country that invaded a neighbor to annex its rich lands for control and profit. The cheering only happens within the Pro Russia groups.
None of our business.
And Israel. And apparently us invading Mexico now. And SA.
We cheered when we obliterated Iraq and Libya and Afghanistan. Then we just walked out – rebuilding it is not OUR problem.
And as KH pointed out earlier – Russia WILL be rebuilding its annexed territory.
We do have a free press – in at least large parts of the west – we’ve e.g. have politicians arguing for peace with Putin on national TV in Denmark – don’t know where you live but I know that Tucker Carlson has also been saying much the same in the US – so perhaps you are confusing the fact that few are cheering for the Russians because few feel like doing that, with the idea that they are not doing so because they are not allowed?
To the highest bidder, the US doesn’t discriminate either, they’ll sell arms to revolutionaries, dictators, terrorists, corrupt regimes they’ve accused of harming US citizens.
The best example is the arming of Syrian Al Nusra rebels affiliated with Al Qaeda.
I would say that everyone in the world wants Peace except the US and Israel.Actions speak louder then words
Everyone wants peace but they all want it on their own terms – that includes the US and Israel!
E.g. if the Russians wanted peace they would not have invaded, or they would now pull out.
if russia pulled out then uncle sam would immediately move in.
and that is one of the reasons why russia attacked ukraine in the first place.
Whatever gave you that bizarre idea – they would not have the manpower nor the logistics to do this, nor would they be foolish enough to violate that which they claim to support and thus lose the support of their NATO allies.
Uncle Sam was not about to move in in 2022 nor was Ukraine on a fast track to NATO membership back then – they had actually been told that they could not become members any time soon – as they could not become members as long as they had a territorial dispute with Russia.
You seem to be inventing stuff here.
I think that it is very easy to backup and state your position, without making personal remarks (or attacks).
I agree I should not have suggested that Spy was inventing stuff.
As the antiwar person you claim to be, I wished you would defend the rest of us when insulted. Hmm, you jumped, as usual to support and defend the pro Russia crowd here.
But perhaps my observations are wrong and one day be a bit more objective (like true antiwar folks).
Russia is facing the existential threat, not the US./
Many Americans have been counting on NATO armies to retake Crimea, move east all the way to Moscow, and replace Putin with a more acceptable leader, with Putin getting the Hussein treatment.
Biden made it clear that this is official US policy when he stated quite clearly that Putin cannot stay as leader (I forget the exact quote).
People are expecting our Spring or Summer Offensive to do just that, and that Russian forces are so depleted that they will be unable to prevent this.
None with their hands on the levers of power and I would argue none with even a bit of sanity.
No saying that Putin cannot stay as leader is a very far cry from calling for an invasion – we can agree that it is fairly stupid though.
We do have a spring or summer offensive the Ukrainians may have one – if/when it starts it will like the one in Kharkiv stop at the 2014 border – neither Ukraine nor any NATO country have any desire to move into what is internationally recognized Russian territory – no matter how much the Russian military may collapse – if for no other reason then because they have plenty of nukes and they would use them if NATO or Ukraine was to threaten the survival of the Russian state.
Quid Pro Quo?
“Four Leading Republicans Urge Biden to Send Cluster Bombs to Ukraine – Cluster bombs endanger civilians by scattering small bombs across a large area and have been banned by over 100 countries”
Sure, why not give the insane Ukrainians Nuclear weapons and Biological weapons?
p.s. That my friends is sarcasm, for the less erudite stopping by here!
eliminating uncle sam’s biological weapons labs was one of the reasons russia invaded ukraine in the first place
It’s hilarious to read all this pro-war bloodlust for more weapons to fuel the Ukraine slaughter on Antiwar.com. Do Dave and Scott appreciate the irony their website brings?
Is that the so-called apocalypse?
Four riders of apocalypse. We had DISEASE now PESTILENCE is arriving in the shape of algie bloom depriving sea life of oxygen, killing all underneath accross Atlanti, from Africa to Caribbean and Florida. The third rider, INFIGHTING , is alreadyy bliding everyone to reality. The fourth one, the DEATH is being courted every single day. Somebody ordered B-52 bombers on a practice run right up to Russia’s border on Baltic sea, a 50 miles from St.Petersburg! Russia had to scrable fighers to warn them off.
Such brilliant ideas by our infantile leaders will have us all killed. These people are a mutual adoration society, convinced of invulnerability. They are forgetting that they are not here threatening some helpless little country. Russia can strike back.
We must be tired of good life and are courting death. People like these four politicians who do not care about our children and new generations — are already dead inside.
This article failed to point out that Russia has already used cluster bomb munitions in Ukraine. Plenty of evidence on this matter.
“Ukraine is the only country in the world where cluster munitions are being used today, Human Rights Watch said. Hundreds of Russian cluster munition attacks have been documented, reported, or alleged in at least 10 of Ukraine’s 24 regions, or oblasts.”
https://www.hrw.org/news/2022/08/25/growing-civilian-toll-russian-cluster-munition-attacks
“Both Russian and Ukrainian forces have used cluster munitions in the war. Kyiv had used them years earlier in the Donbas war against populated areas of Donestk in 2014.”
It does mention prior use.
I always wonder about people whose morality revolves around doing the same things as the evil people that can’t stop talking about.
Sorry, doing evil to evil isn’t good.
Cluster bombs endanger civilians by scattering small bombs across a large area and have been banned by over 100 countries
right then. give kiev cluster bombs and they will spread them throughout ukraine with the only result being death to ukrainian peoples. or maybe uncle sam has magic discriminatory cluster bombs that only explode when they detect the russian language – which a huge part of eastern ukrainians speak. ie; crimea, who appealed to russia for protection from kiev who was menacing them which started this war in the first place.
but go ahead uncle sam, dig a bigger hole for everybody else to lie in.
certainly history will ignore your role in all of this.
Maybe they’ll ask for nerve gas next!
What pieces of shit.
Be careful what you wish for, Ukraine- remember Russia can reply with 10-20:1 firepower with artillery, and since you don’t have any air superiority whatsoever the Russians can unload THEIR cluster bombs at will, right on top of your troops. Do you really want to go there?
It’s good to know the Offense Industry still has access to few pockets of GOP.