Biden Administration to give controversial cluster munitions to Ukraine…

The White House will send cluster munitions to Ukraine. Officials say they'll be effective against dug-in Russian troops, but the controversial munitions are also banned by more than 100 countries.

NPR has learned that the Biden administration has decided it will send cluster munitions to Ukraine. These are large bombs dropped by aircraft or fired by artillery that scatter small bomblets over hundreds of yards. An announcement on this is expected tomorrow. Officials say these weapons will be effective against dug-in Russian troops, but the controversial munitions are also banned by more than a hundred countries, including Great Britain, France and Germany.

Ukraine is running out of artillery shells, mostly 155 Howitzer rounds, and have been pressing for months to get cluster bombs from the U.S. Biden administration has been reluctant because there is some opposition from Capitol Hill, as well as American allies. Still, this counteroffensive is difficult and taking time in the sense as these cluster bombs will help speed it up. I'm told they could be in Ukrainian hands within two weeks after the White House announcement.

And again, these munitions are very effective against troops, as well as tanks and armored personnel carriers. The Ukrainians, as well as the Russians, are already using cluster bombs, which, again, they open up in the air and they scatter these bomblets over a wide area, maybe even several football fields wide. <Source>

National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan at White House Press Briefing…

As I mentioned, because we’ve seen all of these reports on the provision of cluster munitions to Ukraine, I will leave it to the Pentagon to make a formal announcement later this afternoon for the next drawdown package and to go into the details of that drawdown package and the specifics on the types of munitions being provided.  But I will use this opportunity here today to make a few points.

First, we base our security assistance decision on Ukraine’s needs on the ground, and Ukraine needs artillery to sustain its offensive and defensive operations.

Artillery is at the core of this conflict.  Ukraine is firing thousands of rounds a day to defend against Russian efforts to advance and also to support its own efforts to retake its sovereign territory.

We have provided Ukraine with a historic amount of unitary artillery rounds, and we are ramping up domestic production of these rounds.  We’ve already seen substantial increases in production, but this process will continue to take time, and it will be critical to provide Ukraine with a bridge of supplies while our domestic production is ramped up.  We will not leave Ukraine defenseless at any point in this conflict, period. 

Second, Russia has been using cluster munitions since the start of this war to attack Ukraine.  Russia has been using cluster munitions with high dud or failure rates of between 30 and 40 percent.  In this environment, Ukraine has been requesting cluster munitions in order to defend its own sovereign territory.  The cluster munitions that we would provide have dud rates far below what Russia is doing — is providing — not higher than 2.5 percent.

[OCS: This is bullshit. Dead is dead! Duds, by definition, are failed and unexploded munitions. Ironically, they want you to believe duds are more dangerous than active delayed munitions. And let us not forget those lucrative private contractor post-conflict clean-ups of unexploded ordinance.]

And third, we are closely coordinating with Ukraine, as it has requested these munitions.  Ukraine is committed to post-conflict de-mining efforts to mitigate any potential harm to civilians.  And this will be necessary regardless of whether the United States provides these munitions or not because of Russia’s widespread use of cluster munitions.  We will have to continue to assist Ukraine with de-mining efforts no matter what, given the significant use of cluster munitions already perpetrated by Russia.

So the bottom line is this: We recognize that cluster munitions create a risk of civilian harm from unexploded ordnance.  This is why we’ve deferred — deferred the decision for as long as we could.  But there is also a massive risk of civilian harm if Russian troops and tanks roll over Ukrainian positions and take more Ukrainian territory and subjugate more Ukrainian civilians because Ukraine does not have enough artillery.  That is intolerable to us. 

[OCS: The fighting is in Ukrainian cities heavily populated with civilians.]

Ukraine would not be using these munitions in some foreign land.  This is their country they’re defending.  These are their citizens they’re protecting.  And they are motivated to use any weapons system they have in a way that minimizes risks to those citizens.  <Source>

Cluster munitions, intended to spread small explosive submunitions over a wide area, are designed exclusively for military use and to create a hazardous area that restricts the movement of enemy troops or vehicles. The presence of unexploded submunitions can deter the enemy from entering or using certain regions, effectively denying them access to vital locations. In addition to their effectiveness in area denial, cluster munitions are efficient and cost-effective. They can cover a larger area with a single delivery and engage multiple targets more efficiently than individual munitions.

Submunitions contained in cluster munitions are indiscriminate and more likely to cause harm to civilians and civilian infrastructure when used in or near populated areas as bomblets that fail to detonate on impact can remain hazardous for an extended period, turning into de facto landmines and placing the civilian population, especially children, at risk following a conflict.

Cluster munitions are generally considered subject to international law on humanitarian grounds, the requirement to distinguish between military targets and civilians, and the prohibition of indiscriminate attacks.

More specifically, the Convention on Cluster Munitions, adopted in 2008, aims to eliminate cluster munitions' use, production, transfer, and stockpiling and assist affected communities. As of my last update in September 2021, 123 states had joined the convention. However, the United States, Russia, and Ukraine are not signatories to the treaty.

Cluster munitions can also carry nerve gas, such as Sarin.