Even though the Biden administration has repeatedly called the provision of ATACMS to the Kiev regime potentially "escalatory", the White House reportedly gave a nod to the delivery of a limited stash of the weapons to Ukraine this week.
The Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS) is a surface-to-surface, inertially guided tactical ballistic missile manufactured by the US defense company Lockheed Martin. These missiles boast a strike range of 190 miles (300 kilometers). ATACMS were widely used in both Operation Desert Storm (1991) and during the US invasion of Iraq.
The potential targets of these weapons could include command headquarters, weapons depots and supply networks, and railways. However, Washington is allegedly going to supply Kiev with a version armed with cluster submunitions rather than a single warhead, per the US press.
The White House decision raises concerns, as per American observers.
First, the delivery of US cluster weapons to Ukraine has already triggered criticism from American progressives and European human rights activists. Long-range cluster missiles fired by the Ukrainian military would definitely mean more civilian casualties in Russia's new territories and Crimea. Ukraine has a long record of using cluster munitions against residential areas. Likewise, the Kiev regime has repeatedly used British-French long-range Storm Shadows against civilian infrastructure, including roads, bridges, and buildings.
Second, US media cites American military observers as saying that Ukraine's biggest problem "is not a hundred kilometers away, it's one kilometer in front of them with the minefields" laid by the Russians. So, even if ATACMS are delivered in a few weeks to Ukraine, it won't help Kiev break through Russia's multi-layered defense lines. In fact, it won't change the status quo on the battlefield at all, they say.
Third, US media suggests that apparently Kiev wanted ATACMS armed with single warheads to launch strikes against Russia's big civilian or military assets in order to inflict some considerable material damage, but instead could get an anti-personnel weapon. One can't take out big, high-value targets with cluster munitions, American intelligence analysts highlight.
Given all of the above, Washington's ATACMS deliveries to Ukraine appear to be of zero strategic value for the Ukrainian Army. However, on the other hand, they fit into Washington and NATO's logic, as explained by former Marine intelligence officer Scott Ritter earlier this month.
Speaking to Sputnik's New Rules podcast, Ritter pointed out that NATO's objectives in the unfolding proxy war don't actually coincide with those of the Ukrainian military which seeks to seize former Ukrainian lands that voluntarily joined Russia. NATO's goal is not so much about achieving a decisive military victory on the battlefield, but to inflict as much pain on Russians as possible.
"NATO, and we hear this over and over again in the rhetoric of American politicians, whether it be Senator Lindsey Graham or we have Nikki Haley running for office, we have others out there echoing the same thing, that the expenditure of US taxpayer money in support of Ukraine is money well-spent because we're killing Russians, and no Americans are dying. Now, what's left out of this perverse equation is the Ukrainians who are dying. But for the United States and NATO, it simply doesn't matter," Ritter said.
The US and NATO could be behind Kiev's terror attacks on Russia's nuclear facilities, civilian facilities and residential areas, as Russian and foreign military and intelligence experts suggested in interviews with Sputnik. Despite the West being in denial of taking part in those strikes, it was US and NATO high-profile intelligence forces who provided sensitive data and coordinates to the Ukrainian military, Sputnik's interlocutors repeatedly stressed. This anti-humane agenda could well be behind Washington's rationale for sending long-range cluster missiles to Kiev.