On July 13, local time, according to the Ukrainian State News Agency, the commander of the Ukrainian army said that Ukraine has obtained cluster munitions provided by the United States and is not currently in use.
△Screenshot of the report on the website of the Ukrainian State News Agency
Since the day the news that the United States provided cluster munitions to Ukraine, it has been unanimously criticized by the international community. However, the United States has "turned a deaf ear" to the growing opposition at home and abroad. For the United States, how to perpetuate the war it single-handedly provoked is far more important than the safety of civilians.
Does committing to "limited use" work?
The so-called cluster munition is an airborne bomb or artillery shell made by collecting more than ten or even hundreds of small munitions, and after dropping, small bomblets are released in the air in a large area, and detonated when they hit the ground or later, causing large-scale damage to the target. However, these bomblets may also fail to detonate properly and become duds, posing a long-term threat to civilians in the vicinity of the scattering sites.
Tanavsky, commander of the Ukrainian "Tavria" operational and strategic group, said in an interview with CNN a few days ago that cluster munitions are a very powerful weapon and need to wait for the Ukrainian top level to decide which areas can be used.
Although US Secretary of Defense Austin told CNN on the 13th that Kiev has promised "in writing" to ensure that these munitions will not be used in populated areas, however, once cluster munitions are put into use, no one can give a clear answer whether they can be strictly implemented.
△ Screenshot of CNN report (the title picture is Tanavsky, commander of the Ukrainian "Tavria" operational and strategic group)
The Convention on Cluster Munitions was adopted and signed in 2008 and entered into force on 1 August 2010. The Convention prohibits States Parties from producing, using, stockpiling or transferring cluster munitions.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres recently stressed the importance of the Convention.
"I have always supported an international convention banning cluster munitions, which has been a very important instrument. These ammunition cannot be used on the battlefield. ”
△Screenshot of CNN report (caption picture is United Nations Secretary-General Guterres)
The issue of the supply of cluster munitions by the United States to Ukraine is deeply divided within NATO.
British Prime Minister Sunak stressed that "the United Kingdom has signed the Convention on Cluster Munitions, which prohibits the production or use of cluster munitions and opposes the use of cluster munitions by other countries".
Spanish Defense Minister Margarita Robles said that the relevant decision was made unilaterally by the United States, Spain is a signatory to the Convention on Cluster Munitions, and the supply to Ukraine should be prohibited under any circumstances for certain specific weapons and ammunition.
△Screenshot of the US "Politico" website report (the title picture is Spanish Defense Minister Rowles on the left, and British Prime Minister Sunak on the right)
Italian Senator de Cristo Faro recently publicly said that the United States providing Ukraine with cluster munitions, a very lethal weapon, is a reckless act and is very worrying.
△Screenshot of China Global Television Network report
The US government's move has also aroused criticism and opposition from many people in the United States.
U.S. Democratic Senators Leahy and Merkley jointly warned that the United States would have to pay an "unbearable moral and political price."
△Screenshot of the Washington Post website report
Boyle, a law professor at the University of Illinois and a U.N. war crimes adviser, said the U.S. government's decision to provide cluster munitions means that the U.S. side is escalating its use of "terrorist weapons."
Giraldi, a former CIA official in charge of counterterrorism, bluntly said that the US government's provision of cluster munitions to Ukraine will not change the situation on the battlefield, but it will pose a danger to a large number of civilians; The decision of the United States Government to consider the use of such weapons to be tantamount to war crimes, similar to the use of poison gas or chemical weapons, is an indication of the hypocrisy of the United States.
Mark Cancien, a senior adviser to the Center for Strategic and International Studies and a former Marine Corps colonel, hit the nail on the head when he pointed out that the problem with cluster munitions is their "dud rate" because they drop large numbers of small munitions, some of which do not explode immediately depending on where they are dropped. This means that these duds will harm civilians in the future.
"The United States is getting involved in the conflict at all costs"
Historically, the US military has used cluster munitions in the Vietnam War, the Gulf War, the Kosovo War, the Afghan War, and the Iraq War, causing damage to a large number of civilian facilities and many civilian deaths and injuries.
During the Vietnam War, the U.S. military dropped more than 15 million tons of bombs on Vietnam, including cluster munitions and vacuum incendiary bombs.
According to statistics, Quang Tri province, which lies on the north-south dividing line in Viet Nam, has caused thousands of civilian casualties alone.
According to other figures, unexploded ordnance left over from the war has killed more than 42,000 people and injured 62,000 in Viet Nam, including many children. In order to clear these bombs, the Vietnamese side invested a lot of manpower and material resources.
△Screenshot of the Washington Post website report
In April 2003, after the outbreak of the Iraq War, the United States sent 30 fighter jets to drop 150 cluster bombs, each containing 4,000 bomblets, in the face of Iraq, which was far less militarily powerful than its own. Thousands of Iraqi armoured vehicles were blown up, while causing a large number of Iraqi deaths and injuries, including many civilians.
After the war, many cluster bomb duds were left in the area bombed by the US military, leaving a huge security risk to the future life of the Iraqi people. To this day, these hidden dangers have not been completely eliminated.
Syrian political analyst Mahmoud Saleh pointed out that the United States used cluster bombs in Iraq at that time, many of which have not exploded to this day, and these munitions explode when local farmers cultivate their land and build houses. "The supply of such weapons by the United States to Ukraine poses a high risk to the future security of local people and even everyone."
The supply of cluster munitions by the United States to Ukraine is undoubtedly another escalation of its ongoing flames in the Russian-Ukrainian conflict.
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu recently pointed out that the supply of cluster munitions by the United States to Ukraine will only prolong the conflict.
△Screenshot of the Russian TASS website report (the title picture is Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu)
Deputy Chairman of the Russian Federation Council (upper house of parliament) Kosachev said on social media that the United States doing so means getting involved in the Russian-Ukrainian conflict at all costs, including killing civilians.
Russian Presidential Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov responded: "There is no doubt that cluster munitions, once put into use, will have an impact on the change of the situation." Russia will have to take relevant countermeasures against this behavior of Ukraine. ”
△Screenshot of the report on the website of the Moscow Times
Su Xiaohui, deputy director of the Institute of International and Strategic Studies of the China Institute of International Studies, pointed out that in order to achieve its own strategic goals, the United States has gone farther and farther on the road of arch-fire conflict, and even braved the world's condemnation to transport cluster munitions to Ukraine, ignoring the safety of local civilians, fully exposing the hypocrisy of the United States.
"The United States has done whatever it takes to achieve its anti-Russian goals. The United States is certainly not concerned about the safety of Ukrainian civilians, not the interests of the Ukrainian side, but how to achieve the goal of suppressing the Russian army. ”
Source丨Global Information Broadcast "Global Deep Observation"
Reporter丨Liu Yun
Source: Global Information Broadcast