The decision to transfer arms to kyiv, recognized as criminal by most of Washington’s allies, could be fatal
Photo: wikimedia.org
US President Biden’s justification of his decision to supply Ukraine with cluster munitions by saying that others “have run out of them, and we too have few” is exhaustive proof of the accuracy of the words of the Russian ambassador to Washington, Anatoly Antonov. : “This is a gesture of despair.” The verbiage of Biden’s national security adviser Sullivan and White House National Security Council spokesman Kirby about the fact that these weapons, they say, are not so scary to the population, because they will help defeat Russia and thus to “save the civilians” of Ukraine. just confirm this.
Why the “gesture of despair”? Because in order to prolong the conflict in Ukraine, in the absence of success on the battlefield, the United States has to take measures that hit them. First of all, the very acknowledgment of the President of the United States that the Ukrainian Armed Forces have run out of “other ammunition”, and the Americans “have very little”, says a lot. Second, the decision to transfer lethal weapons that pose an immediate and long-term threat primarily to civilians is a move condemned by many US allies. Of the 123 countries that have signed the convention banning cluster bombs, 18 are members of NATO. Among those who have already condemned Biden’s decision, the Canadian and British authorities are considered Washington’s most trusted allies. Italy and Spain are also against it. So, at the summit of the Western military alliance, which opens on July 11 in Vilnius, at which it is so necessary to demonstrate its “invincible unity”, it is clear that there is no way to avoid irritation on this issue.
And finally, the effect of Biden’s “difficult decision” on the US itself is not in favor of the administration either. Not surprisingly, some forty human rights organizations have publicly opposed the transfer of cluster munitions to Ukraine. Opposition protests among Republican lawmakers are not particularly worrying to the White House either. Although the formulations here seem brilliant. For example, the words of representative Paul Godard that the transfer of US cluster bombs to Ukraine is another step towards escalation, which shows that the current administration does not want peace.
But even in the camp of the Democrats, as it turned out, there are many opponents. “President Biden’s decision to send cluster munitions to Ukraine has angered much of Democrats,” The New York Times said in a report. The Democrats, he writes, accuse the US administration of “taking a hypocritical decision that endangers” the authority of the country.
It is striking that it is The New York Times, considered the spokesperson for the ideas of the Democratic Party, which harshly criticizes Biden’s decision. The editorial, written by authorized commentators on the publication, states: “Sending cluster munitions to Ukraine amounts to a clear escalation of a conflict that has already become too violent and destructive. But a bigger problem is the use of weapons, which has been condemned by most of the world, including most of America’s closest allies. (…) The rain of bombs may give Ukraine a short-term military advantage, but it will not be decisive and will not compensate for the damage caused to the civilian population of Ukraine now and probably to future generations”.
The authors of the editorial comment also point to another fundamental thing. They emphasize that they are completely on the side of Ukraine and against Russia, which “grossly violated the norms that guarantee peace and stability in Europe”, that is, “the world order based on rules”. But what happens? By deciding to transfer weapons to kyiv, which are recognized as criminal by most of Washington’s allies, isn’t the White House itself undermining these notorious “rules”? Just kind of a doodle, you know, it turns out…
READ ALSO
Particularly inhumane weapons: what the transfer of cluster bombs from the United States to Ukraine will change and how Russia will respond
Baranets military observer: cluster missiles leave nothing alive (more)
White House: Ukraine vowed not to use cluster bombs in Russia
Kyiv allegedly gave Washington guarantees that the shells received would not be used on Russian territory (more)
