WASHINGTON DC – The sending of cluster bombs to Ukraine by the US, announced this Friday, was met with rejection by the pro-government Democratic side and praise by the Republicans, for whom sending weapons is the fastest way to defeat Russia.
“Cluster bombs have the potential to harm civilians years after the conflicts end,” Democratic Congresswoman Chrissy Houlahan, a representative of Pennsylvania, stressed on Twitter and opposed to the idea that it is necessary to use the same weapons that she is resorting to. Russia.
“History remembers both the winner of a war and the way in which it is given,” said the member of the House of Representatives, co-chair of the bipartisan Demining caucus, for whom the Ukrainian victory cannot come “at the expense” of American values.
The decision to send this type of weapon, which the United States does not see as a definitive solution, was confirmed this Friday and, according to the Pentagon, it will serve to ensure the supply of artillery throughout the coalition that supports Ukraine.
“I remain strongly supportive of helping Ukraine deal with Russia’s brutal aggression, but cluster bombs are not going to help. I call on (President Joe) Biden to listen to our NATO allies like the UK United Kingdom, France, Germany and Spain, who oppose shipping,” Democrat Jim McGovern also added on Twitter.
For the equally progressive Sara Jacobs, representative of California, it has already been seen in Cambodia and Vietnam how these bombs injure civilians in the postwar period and everything possible should be done to avoid “suffering, mutilation and death”.
Cluster bombs disperse large numbers of explosive submunitions, some of which do not explode and end up buried in the ground, where they can injure civilians long after the end of a war.
Just on Thursday, Democratic lawmaker Ilhan Omar introduced an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) to ban the sale of such weapons, recalling that 123 countries, including Ukraine , have ratified a convention that vetoes its use.
Biden himself acknowledged this Friday in an interview with CNN that the decision was “difficult” but necessary since “the Ukrainians are running out of ammunition.”
Republicans applauded the step taken. “The sooner Ukraine kicks out Russian troops, the sooner civilians will be safe. Sending Ukraine the weapons it needs is the fastest way to end the war,” Republican Senator Tom Cotton said on Twitter.
Michael McCaul, also a conservative, chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the House of Representatives, stressed that the US Executive cannot stop there.
“It is critical that they also send ATACMS (missiles), which have a similar range to the Storm Shadow cruise missile that the UK has already sent, and they must expedite the delivery of the F-16 (fighters),” he said in a signed statement. along with his bench colleagues Roger Wicker and Jim Risch.
