In a move causing waves of controversy, the Biden administration announced on Friday its decision to provide cluster munitions to Ukraine, The Associated Press (AP) reports.
Joe Biden’s former White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki had said in Feb 2022 that the use cluster bombs “would potentially be a war crime.”
The administration’s current national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, conveyed the controversial strategy ahead of the NATO summit in Lithuania where President Biden will likely face stern queries from alliance members.
The majority of these members oppose the use of cluster bombs due to the inherent risks of civilian casualties.
“Ukraine does not have enough artillery. That is intolerable to us,” Sullivan claimed at a White House briefing.
He asserted that the U.S. would be supplying cluster munitions with significantly lower “dud rates,” in a bid to reduce the possibility of unexploded bomblets causing unintended civilian harm.
Despite the administration’s assertion, the specific quantity of munitions remains undisclosed, AP notes.
Defending the use of these weapons, Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Colin Kahl, pointed out the U.S. would only supply the most modern cluster bombs with dud rates below 2.35 percent.
Kahl, confident about the low failure rate following multiple tests between 1998 and 2020, emphasized the strategic reason to equip Ukraine with such weaponry.
He said this was to ensure that “Ukrainians are going to stay in the game.”
Reactions to this decision varied within the U.S. political arena.
Democratic representatives Betty McCollum and Jim McGovern criticized the move citing the persistent risk to civilians, while Republican Senator Tom Cotton from Arkansas expressed his support, arguing that Ukraine needed access to weapons that Russia already wielded.
In an international context, the United Nations called for an immediate halt to the use of such munitions, and the International Committee of the Red Cross highlighted the high risk of unexploded bomblets.
Over 120 countries have joined a convention banning the use of cluster bombs, while some, including the U.S., Russia, and Ukraine, have abstained.
Notably, several NATO members closest to Russia have also not signed the ban.
The contentious cluster bombs are part of an $800 million military aid package the U.S. plans to dispatch to Ukraine.
This package will comprise Bradley and Stryker armored vehicles, ammunition for howitzers, and the High Mobility Artillery Rocket System.
The cluster munitions, compatible with the conventional 155 mm artillery, will provide Ukraine with potent capabilities while relieving the strain on limited U.S. ammunition stockpiles.
The last significant use of cluster bombs by the U.S. was during the Iraq invasion in 2003, AP notes.
Despite controversies, U.S. forces deemed them an essential asset in the 2001 Afghanistan invasion.
According to Human Rights Watch, the U.S.-led coalition deployed over 1,500 cluster bombs in Afghanistan within the first three years of the conflict.
