Global Courant
President Joe Biden defended what he called his “very difficult decision” to supply cluster munitions to Ukraine in an interview aired Sunday, saying the war-torn country “needed” the controversial weapons to fend off invading Russian forces. to fend off.
“It took me a while to be convinced to do it. But the important thing is that they either have the weapons to stop the Russians from their now – they stop the Ukrainian offensive through these areas – or they have them not. And I think they needed them,” Biden said in an interview on CNN’s “Fareed Zakaria GPS.”
The administration’s announcement Friday that it would send cluster munitions to Ukraine in a US military aid package was met with opposition from some of Biden’s fellow Democrats, who noted the surface-to-surface warheads, which disperse small munitions or bombs over large areas. can explode after combat and sometimes injure or kill innocent people.
President Joe Biden at the White House last week.Drew Angerer/Getty Images
The weapons have been banned in more than 100 countries and the White House suggested last year that Russia’s use of the weapons in Ukraine potential war crimes.
Biden said the move was necessary now as the Ukrainian military is running low on ammunition, stressing that it is a temporary measure.
“The Ukrainians are out of ammunition, the ammunition they used to call 155-millimeter weapons. This is a — this is a war on ammunition, and they are out of ammunition, and we. And so what I finally did was take the recommendation of the Ministry of Defense not to permanently, but to allow (its use) in this transitional period,” he said in the interview conducted on Friday.
Biden said the bombs would not be used in civilian areas.
While some Republicans have criticized Biden for sending the guns, Michael McCaul, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, R-Texas, said it was the right thing to do.
“Russia is currently dropping cluster bombs with impunity in Ukraine, the country of Ukraine,” McCaul said on CNN’s “State of the Union” Sunday.
“All the Ukrainians and (President Volodymyr) Zelenskyy are asking for is to give them the same weapons that the Russians should use in their own country against Russians who are in their own country. They don’t want these to be used in Russia. They want these as self-defense to use against Russians in their own country, Ukraine. I don’t see anything wrong with that,” McCaul said.
“These weapons would be a game changer. They are very effective and particularly hit flanks of troops in Ukraine. They would be a game changer in the counteroffensive,” he added.
Rep. However, Barbara Lee, D-Calif., told CNN that “cluster bombs should never be used. That’s crossing a line.”
Lee urged Biden to reconsider his decision “because they are very dangerous bombs”. When asked if she thought it could be a war crime if the government didn’t change its stance, Lee said, “What I think is that we risk losing our moral leadership.”
