Xinhua News Agency, Washington, July 7th Hot Questions: How U.S. Supply of Mass-Destruction Cluster Munitions Affects Ukraine Crisis
Xinhua News Agency reporter
The U.S. government announced on the 7th that it would provide Ukraine with additional military aid worth 800 million U.S. dollars, including cluster munitions of mass destruction that are classified as prohibited by U.S. law.
How lethal are cluster munitions? Why did the United States break through its own legal constraints and provide such ammunition to Ukraine? How do the parties view this move?
How lethal are cluster munitions?
The so-called cluster munitions are airborne bombs or artillery shells made of a collection of more than ten or even hundreds of small ammunition. After being dropped, small bombs will be released in a large area in the air, and will detonate when they touch the ground or after . But these small bombs may also fail to detonate normally and become duds, posing a long-term threat to civilians near the scattered site.
Cluster munitions are more lethal and more likely to cause civilian casualties than ordinary munitions. The U.S. military used cluster munitions in the Vietnam War, the Gulf War, the Kosovo War, the Afghanistan War, and the Iraq War, causing damage to a large number of civilian facilities and killing and injuring many civilians.
Why the United States provides cluster munitions
US National Security Adviser Sullivan argued at a regular White House press conference on the 7th that the United States recognizes that duds in cluster munitions may harm civilians. He said that in the absence of ammunition in Ukraine, Russia may “occupy more Ukrainian territory”, which is unacceptable to the United States.
The U.S. Department of Defense issued a statement on the same day saying that the provision of cluster munitions to Ukraine was a decision made by the Biden administration after “extensive consultations” with Congress, U.S. allies and partners. The list of weapons and equipment listed in the statement shows that the cluster munitions aided to Ukraine this time are fired by 155mm caliber howitzers, but the specific number has not been announced.
US Department of Defense spokesman Patrick Ryder previously said that the latest test data showed that the dud rate of cluster munitions aided by the US this time has dropped to no higher than 2.35%, which is the result of “careful selection”.
Even so, the U.S. government’s supply of cluster munitions to Ukraine is still in violation of U.S. laws. U.S. law prohibits the production, use, or transfer to other countries of cluster munitions with a dud rate greater than 1%. According to the “Washington Post” report, the cluster munitions aided by the United States to Ukraine this time contain 72 small bombs, and the dud rate is about 6%. This means that for every such cluster bomb fired, on average at least 4 small bomblets were duds.
how did the parties react
After the United States announced the provision of cluster munitions to Ukraine, Farhan Haq, deputy spokesman of the UN Secretary-General, immediately stated that UN Secretary-General Guterres did not want cluster munitions to continue to be used on the battlefield.
U.S. Democratic senators Patrick Leahy and Jeff Merkley said the decision to supply Ukraine with cluster munitions was a grave mistake and the U.S. would have to pay an “unbearable moral and political price.”
Kosachev, vice chairman of the Russian Federation Council (upper house of parliament), said on social media that the United States’ doing so means getting involved in the Russia-Ukraine conflict at all costs, including killing civilians. The United States bears full responsibility for all future casualties from this horrific weapon.
TASS reported that Russian Ambassador to the United States Antonov said on the 7th that the U.S. government completely ignored the views put forward by relevant experts and legislators on the inhumane use of cluster munitions, and turned a blind eye to civilian casualties.
According to US media reports, at least 38 human rights organizations have publicly opposed the US supply of cluster munitions to Ukraine.
Since the Ukrainian crisis escalated in February last year, the U.S. government has continued to “add fuel to the flames” and provided Ukraine with more than 40 batches of military aid totaling more than 40 billion U.S. dollars. More and more American people are opposed to using a large amount of funds to support overseas conflict parties such as the Ukraine crisis. Russia has repeatedly criticized Western countries led by the United States for “fueling the fire” in the Ukraine crisis.
[Responsible editor: Dong Jing]
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2023-07-08 13:32:00