Ukraine, which is now engaged in a counter-offensive against Russian forces, is set to receive a round of cluster bombs from the Biden administration in a drawdown of weapons that bypasses U.S. law.
Despite American law prohibiting the production, use, or transfer of cluster munitions with a failure rate of more than 1%, President Joe Biden is able to bypass the law through a rarely used provision of the Foreign Assistance Act, The Washington Post reported.
Cluster bombs, first developed and used during World War II, are banned by most countries in the world due to the view that they are inhumane because of high failure rates and unexploded fragments that can linger for years, according to the BBC.
Biden approved sending the controversial weapons to Ukraine after a “unanimous” recommendation from his national security team, according to National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, who said on Friday it was a “difficult” decision made “in consultation with allies and partners and in consultation with members of Congress.”
The president is using the Foreign Assistance Act to approve the cluster munitions for Ukraine, which allows him to bypass arms export restrictions as long as he determines the move is vital to U.S. national security, The Washington Post reported. U.S. officials said the cluster bombs that will make their way to Ukraine have a failure rate of less than 3%.
The weapons pose a heightened risk to civilians as they explode in the air and release dozens of smaller submunitions, also called “bomblets,” over a wide area. The bombs, intended to destroy multiple targets at once, have been sought after by the Ukrainians as their ammunition runs low, according to The New York Times.
The U.S., Ukraine, and Russia did not join the 120 countries that banned the use of cluster bombs. Russia has been using the munitions in its war against Ukraine, according to the Pentagon, and the United Nations also believes Ukraine has already been using cluster bombs, although the country denies it.
According to the Associated Press, the transfer of cluster bombs to Ukraine will come out of Pentagon stocks in a fresh batch of military aid that also includes armored vehicles and more ammunition.
Read more at: www.dailywire.com