US President Joe Biden's decision to transfer lethal cluster munitions to Ukraine has been denounced as a "terrible mistake" by a chorus of top Democratic lawmakers.
Congressional Democrats on the House Rules Committee and those manning panels funding the Pentagon and State Department have echoed a plethora of human rights organizations and arms control advocates in slamming the move.
The Pentagon announced the planned transfer of cluster munitions as part of a new $800 million military assistance package for Ukraine being assembled by the Biden administration on Friday afternoon. In response, 19 House of Representatives progressives issued a statement on the White House’s decision, saying:
“The United States has a proud commitment to global moral leadership and the defense of human rights. That commitment should have included refusing to transfer cluster munitions that, by design, hold a serious risk of severe harm to civilians."
The lawmakers warned that, "cluster munitions have been banned by nearly 125 countries under the United Nations Convention on Cluster Munitions because of the indiscriminate harm they cause, including mass civilian injury and death."
Key Democrats also issued individual statements and expressed their alarm on social media over the decision on cluster munitions.
Bomblets inside the cluster munitions "remain a threat to civilians for decades," progressive Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.), the ranking member of the House panel that funds the State Department, warned. She added that dozens of organizations had written to Joe Biden a month ago, "warning him about the harm these bombs pose."
Screengrab of Twitter post by Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.).
© Photo : Twitter
Rep. Betty McCollum (D-Mo.), a ranking member of the House Defense Appropriations Subcommittee, tweeted her alarm over the "unnecessary and a terrible mistake" that the Biden team at the White House was embarking upon.
Screengrab of Twitter post by Rep. Betty McCollum (D-Mo.), ranking member of the US House’s defense appropriations subcommittee.
© Photo : Twitter
House Rules Committee ranking member Jim McGovern urged to listen to "NATO allies," pointing out that "the United Kingdom, France, Germany and Spain...oppose sending cluster munitions to Ukraine for the same reasons."
Chrissy Houlahan, House Armed Services member and Air Force veteran, said in her statement that the decision by the Biden administration was "blurring the lines of moral high ground."
"Cluster munitions are illegal under international law," Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., reiterated, as she announced that together with Rep. Sara Jacobs, D-Calif., she would introduce an amendment to the annual defense policy bill that would ban the sale of cluster munitions.
Twitter screenshot.
© Photo : Twitter
Cluster munitions, typically dropped from aircraft or fired from the ground or sea, carry multiple smaller bomblets. When the canisters containing them open, the falling explosive submunitions spread over a wide area. The scattered cluster bomblets can maim and kill civilians, as their proportion of "duds" - bomblets that fail to explode initially - can then do so at a later date if trodden on.
The decision by the United States to deliver cluster munitions to Ukraine was denounced as a provocation, Russian Ambassador in Washington Anatoly Antonov said on Friday.
"With tenacity worthy of a better use, Washington continues to ‘raise the stakes’ in the conflict," Antonov said in a statement, adding:
"No one doubted the deep involvement of the United States in the confrontation in Ukraine even without cluster munitions. However, the current level of American provocations is really off scale, bringing humanity closer to a new world war."