Democrats slam Biden’s decision to send cluster munitions to Ukraine
President Biden’s decision to send cluster munitions to Ukraine has angered a large number of Democrats, who accuse his administration of making a hypocritical decision that jeopardized the moral standing of the United States.
The move answered a months-long call from Republicans in Congress to arm Kiev, but Mr Biden’s political allies denounced it.
“A victory for Ukraine is a vital victory for democracies around the world, but that victory should not come at the cost of our American values and therefore democracy itself,” said Representative Chrissy Houlahan, a Pennsylvania Democrat and Air Force veteran who co-chairs a bipartisan congressional caucus on unexploded ordinances and demining, it said in a statement Friday. “I challenge the idea that we should be using the same tactics that Russia is using, blurring the boundaries of moral high grounds.”
She and other Democrats argued that cluster munitions of the kind the government plans to send to Ukraine inflict indiscriminate harm on civilians long after they have been used in combat.
The weapons “spread hundreds of bombs, which can reach far beyond military targets and injure, maim and kill civilians — often long after a conflict is over,” said Massachusetts Democrat Representative Jim McGovern. In a statement, he pointed out that several NATO members — but not the United States — are parties to an international treaty that prohibits their use.
However, the few Republicans who spoke about Mr Biden’s decision on Friday praised him for taking what they said was a necessary step.
“In order for Ukrainian forces to defeat Putin’s invasion, Ukraine must at least have equal access to the weapons that Russia is already using against them, such as cluster munitions,” Arkansas Senator Tom Cotton said in a statement. “Providing this new opportunity is the right decision – even if it’s taken too long – and I’ve been behind it for a long time.”
For months, the top Republicans on the Senate and House Committees on Foreign Affairs and Armed Forces — Representatives Michael McCaul of Texas and Mike Rogers of Alabama, and Senators James Risch of Idaho and Roger Wicker of Mississippi — have been calling on the Biden administration to provide Ukraine with upgraded conventional dual-purpose ammunition, of the kind approved Friday.
In a joint letter to Mr Biden in March, the four wrote that the weapons “will allow Ukraine to offset Russia’s quantitative advantage in both personnel and artillery rounds, and allow the Ukrainian armed forces to scale back their use of centralized warheads. concentrate against higher-value Russian targets.”
They added that the ammunition could “help fill a significant gap for the Ukrainian military and, in conjunction with other capabilities provided, continue to drive Putin’s forces out of Ukraine.”
But most Democrats insisted that even if that were true, the cluster munitions would jeopardize the larger goal of building a sustainable Ukrainian state.
“Cluster munitions are hindering the successful economic reconstruction and recovery needed to ensure a prosperous Ukraine and maintain anti-corruption gains,” California Democrat Representative Sara Jacobs said in a statement. She this week joined Minnesota Democrat Representative Ilhan Omar in introducing legislation banning the export of cluster munitions as military aid. The duo plan to introduce the measure as an amendment to the annual defense bill when the House considers it next week.