(monday PO) The U.S. is sending cluster bombs to Ukraine despite humanitarian warnings

[GuideToACrazyWorld]

The United States is supplying cluster munitions to Ukraine to help defend its territory against Russia, despite concerns from human rights groups that the deployment of such weapons endangers civilians.

Speaking at the Pentagon on Friday, Colin Kahl, undersecretary of defense for policy, announced a new drawdown of $800 million in military assistance, including DPICMS or cluster bombs.

U.S. officials maintained that Ukraine has provided written assurances to minimize civilian casualties with the use of the controversial munitions as human rights groups stress that the weapons drop dozens of bomblets that endanger civilians. Cluster bombs release a larger number of bomblets over a wide area, and they can continue to pose a deadly risk long after the fighting has ended.

More than 100 countries ban such weapons because unexploded bomblets can be picked up by civilians, causing injury or death.

NPR first learned of the plan to send cluster bombs to Ukraine earlier this week.
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Explainer: What are cluster munitions and why are they controversial

President Biden told CNN in an exclusive interview that the decision to send Ukraine cluster munitions was "very difficult."

"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."

Biden's national security adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters at the White House that Ukraine needs cluster munitions as a "bridge of supplies" as the U.S. works to ramp up production of other types of artillery to supply to Ukraine.

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

A boy runs past rusted halves of cluster bomb shells and other military hardware in a scrap metal shop along the main street in Phonsavanh, Laos on August 1, 1998.
Jerry Redfern/LightRocket via Getty Images

Sullivan said the United States held off on supplying the munitions as it weighed the risk to civilians, and consulted with allies about the decision.

He said Russia has been using cluster munitions to attack Ukraine, meaning that the United States will need to help Ukraine with post-conflict demining in any scenario. Sullivan said Ukraine is motivated to use the weapons in a way that minimizes risk to its citizens, and has also formally agreed to use them carefully.

As many as 40% of bomblets fail to detonate on impact, per one estimate. The cluster munitions the U.S. are providing to Ukraine will have less than a 3% failure rate, according to White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby.
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Kirby told All Things Considered that Ukraine needs these kinds of "innovative" additional tools to achieve a successful counteroffensive against Russian defenses, which, he said, "are proving very formidable."
Humanitarian groups warn against their danger to civilians

More than 120 countries have agreed to a 2008 United Nations treaty banning their use. The U.S., Russia and Ukraine are not among them.

Ahead of the announcement, Sera Koulabdara of the U.S. Campaign to Ban Landmines and Cluster Munition Coalition described cluster munitions as "horrific."
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The Biden administration will provide controversial cluster munitions to Ukraine

"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 urged Ukrainian and U.S. 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 cares about them."

[Tarmaque]

While I understand the logic of this and I understand why they're asking for them, I personally am really opposed to this move. But on the other hand Russia is already using such munitions and they are extremely effective, so providing them to Ukraine may be justified. Just as long as we acknowledge it will be decades before all this ordinance is cleaned up.

Man, I can't wait for this war to be over.

Hidden text.

I am toying with the idea that maybe it's time for NATO to send a delegation to Putin to tell him: "We are accepting Ukraine into NATO on August 4th, 2025. (or whenever) You have until that date to remove all of your forces from all of Ukraine's lands to points outside the border as it was observed in 2000. Any Russian forces or personnel found to be in those areas after that date will face the full Military might of NATO in support of its new member Ukraine. This shall include all areas of the annexed regions of the Donbas, and Crimea."

It probably wouldn't work, but it's an interesting thought experiment. The entire reason Ukraine is in this situation is we on the west have sent mixed signals to Putin, and never drew that line in the sand.

[Slip Shod]

Tar : "Man, I can't wait for this war to be over"
•
. We've come a long way over thousands of years and haven't learned much

[GuideToACrazyWorld]

It probably wouldn't work, but it's an interesting thought experiment. The entire reason Ukraine is in this situation is we on the west have sent mixed signals to Putin, and never drew that line in the sand.

Adding the Ukraine to NATO is in essence declaring war on Russia. I doubt congress has the guts to pull such a move. It might ultimately be the only way this war ends.

[Slip Shod]

Cluster bombs are right there with poison gas and land mines, indiscriminate - it's a whosoever's there at the wrong place, wrong time weapon - enemy combatants, women or children / old, young, whoever

[Tarmaque]

Adding the Ukraine to NATO is in essence declaring war on Russia. I doubt congress has the guts to pull such a move. It might ultimately be the only way this war ends.

I honestly don't know how this war ends without Putin's head in a basket. Even then we just have to hope we don't end up with a Putin Junior on our hands. I think my worst nightmare short of a nuclear exchange (even a small one) would be for Ukraine and Russia to remain technically at war for another 70 years, like North and South Korea.

[GuideToACrazyWorld]

I honestly don't know how this war ends without Putin's head in a basket. Even then we just have to hope we don't end up with a Putin Junior on our hands. I think my worst nightmare short of a nuclear exchange (even a small one) would be for Ukraine and Russia to remain technically at war for another 70 years, like North and South Korea.

I think that is exactly where we are headed.