Comprehensive Russian media "Russia Today" (RT), US media Fox News and other reports on the 10th, the United States' decision to agree to provide cluster munitions to Ukraine triggered international public opinion to lash out, and US President Biden's recent interview with US media caused an uproar in his country.
According to the report, Biden casually "leaked" a "potentially sensitive fact" related to the US military during the interview - the shortage of ammunition in the United States, which conservatives in the United States fiercely attacked. And China is inexplicably "lying on the gun", US podcast host Steve Guest accused Biden of blurting out information that should be a state secret, cursing: "It's so stupid, isn't he worried that China will hear it?" ”
Screenshot from RT
On July 7, local time, the White House announced that it would send cluster munitions to Ukraine for the first time to help Ukraine replenish ammunition.
Before the start of his European trip, Biden recently defended his government's shipment of cluster munitions to Ukraine in an interview with US media CNN, saying that providing controversial ammunition to Ukraine was a "difficult decision", but he was convinced that it was "necessary" because Ukraine's ammunition was about to run out.
RT reported that at the same time, Biden also revealed a "potentially sensitive fact" about the US army - the lack of ammunition for American 155mm caliber shells.
"This is a war related to ammunition," he said. They (Ukraine) are running out of ammunition, and ours (the United States) are running out. So the last thing I did was, I took the advice of the Ministry of Defense, not permanently, but allowed more 155mm shells for Ukrainians during the transition period. ”
Biden also mentioned that although the United States did not sign the Convention on Cluster Munitions, it took him a long time to be persuaded to agree to the move, "The main thing is that they have weapons to stop the Russian attack." I think they need these weapons. ”
Screenshot from CNN
According to Fox News, Biden's public admission of the shortage of ammunition in the United States in a national television interview has puzzled a number of conservative authorities and experts in the United States, and the reaction on social media has shifted from "confusion to anger."
Conservative critics such as American podcast host Steve Geist believe that Biden casually leaked content about state secrets, "Biden broadcast to the world that the United States does not have enough 155mm shells. It's stupid. Isn't he worried that China will hear? ”
There are also many Republican lawmakers who believe that Biden's statement proves that the US-led military aid to Ukraine has led to a "backlash" and weakened the United States' own defense capability.
Senator J.D. Vance, Republican of Ohio, said, "I've warned about this several times over the past year, and surprisingly, Biden admitted that he said we were running out of 155mm shells." The war in Ukraine has caused great damage to our national security. ”
Arizona Republican Congressman Andy Biggs also said that given that Biden has acknowledged the shortage of ammunition in the United States, the United States should not send more ammunition to Ukraine because "America First."
Other lawmakers mentioned that the West is using the conflict in Ukraine to launch a "proxy war" against Russia. David Sacks, a US podcast host and tech entrepreneur, said that although Washington spends far more on defense than Russia, the Biden administration's strategy now seems to be counterproductive.
"The purpose of proxy wars is to weaken Russia, but the United States runs out of ammunition first. So, who exactly is weakening whom? He asked rhetorically on Twitter.
Fox News said that an unnamed White House official refuted Biden's statement, saying that military aid to Ukraine has not led to a shortage of ammunition supplies to the United States, and that "in response to emergencies or military conflicts, the military has specific requirements for the number of weapons systems and ammunition we have in reserve... The United States itself does not experience a shortage of ammunition. ”
The official further defended the administration's approval to supply cluster munitions to Ukraine, saying the U.S. move was intended to ensure that Ukraine would not "lose its defenses."
"This is done to ensure that Ukraine is not defenseless while waiting for a significant increase in domestic ammunition production." We are doing this, and so are our allies and partners," he said, adding, "These cluster munitions are a bridge for us to significantly increase our production in the coming months, and soon our production will increase significantly." ”
However, in fact, since Biden's decision to provide Ukraine with "controversial weapons", it has not been supported by allies such as Canada, Britain, Germany, and New Zealand, and many European countries such as Spain and Austria have criticized and successively expressed "euphemistic" or "direct" objections, and the United Nations, the International Committee of the Red Cross and at least 38 human rights organizations and international organizations have also spoken out against it, which undoubtedly shows the growing concern of Western society about this decision.
The United Kingdom is a party to the Convention on Cluster Munitions, an international convention that explicitly prohibits the use of such weapons, and has been signed by 111 countries, including the United Kingdom, France, Germany, New Zealand and Spain, excluding the United States. Cluster munitions are widely believed to have killed large numbers of innocent civilians over a decades-long period.
U.S. Army soldiers bring out cluster munitions during an exercise in September 2016. Image source: Reuters
"US allies are troubled by aid to Ukraine cluster munitions", the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) reported on the 9th that the Biden administration's highly controversial decision has made its allies distance from it. More analysts believe that this has caused discord within its allies, and "to some extent, there is a risk of breaking the harmony within NATO."
Cambodia suffered greatly from the use of air-dropped cluster munitions in Southeast Asia by the United States in the 70s of last century, and recently, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen clearly pointed out on social media that "the decision of the United States will constitute a century-old scourge to the Ukrainian people."
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Kanani also condemned on Twitter, saying that the US decision to provide cluster munitions to Ukraine shows that the United States is determined to continue to delay the war and further complicate the Russian-Ukrainian conflict.
"This action is a manifestation of America's destabilizing behavior and yet another example of America's bottomless arms exports and leading to more killing and destruction." Kanani wrote.
However, the United States Government has turned a blind eye to possible civilian casualties. U.S. Deputy Secretary of Defense Colin Carr, speaking about the dangers of cluster munitions, said that the worst thing for Ukrainian civilians is for Russia to win the war.
Retired US Army Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Vindman even praised the Biden administration for "doing the right thing" and that "instead of letting this war go on indefinitely, it is quite humane to draw a clear end to this war."
On July 7, 2023, local time, in Washington, D.C., the U.S. Undersecretary for Policy Affairs, Colin Carr, deputy secretary of defense for policy affairs, spoke at a press conference held at the Pentagon. Source: Visual China
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