from thefreeonline on 8th July, 2023 by banned/World News
Washington could approve the controversial shipment as early as this week, the outlet reported.
Most EU and NATO countries (including Germany and UK but not Poland) have signed and ratified the International Treaty (wikipedia) banning obscene and inhuman Cluster Munitions . Yet all seem happy for their US rulers to unload their surplus Cluster Bombs, condemning ethnic Russian Ukrainian civilians for decades to come.
CIA advised Human Rights Watch (HRW) hides Ukraine War Crimes of Civilians with Butterfly Mines March 28, 2023
111 Countries have signed and ratified the Treaty banning the horrendous weapons, including most NATO and EU countries
Showing zero respect as usual for its vassal NATO members Washington may decide unilaterally to send controversial cluster munitions to Ukraine this week, CBS News reported on Wednesday, citing unnamed US officials. Kiev and its backers in the US have been urging such a move for months.
Russian Journalist Zemfira Suleymanova, born in 1997 Killed By ‘Butterfly’ Mine In Donbas – Zenger News Zemfira was blown up by a mine along with the driver and died in Donbas in Ukraine on Monday, Aug, 15, 2022.
In a rare break with US hegemony German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock stressed Berlin’s opposition to delivering cluster munitions to Ukraine.
I have followed the media reports. For us, as a state party, the Oslo agreement applies,” she told journalists, when asked about US plans.
The minister was referring to the Convention on Cluster Munitions (CCM), which was signed by 111 countries in the Norwegian capital in 2008 and bans this type of weapons, with a handful of exceptions.
FILE PHOTO: Unexploded bomblets from a cluster weapon © Onur Coban / Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
Germany is one of the signatories, but the US is not. Cluster weapons leave behind unexploded bomblets that maim or kill civilians, especially children, years after deployment.
Cluster weapons, which are subject to the international treaty, spread dozens of small bomblets over a large area. The Pentagon then claimed its stockpiles have “a lower dud rate” – the proportion of bomblets that fail to explode.
Some of those submunitions fail to detonate and remain a hazard for decades afterwards, especially to small children, who may find and pick them up without realizing the danger.
Over 100 countries, including most NATO members, even Lithuania, have signed the convention banning this type of arms, however the US, Ukraine and Russia have not.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said on Friday that the US run military bloc “does not have a position” on such weapons, even though the US is due to send them.
The particular artillery shells Kiev is requesting from the Pentagon are the dual-purpose improved conventional munitions, or DPICM, which the US stockpiled in large quantities during the Cold War.
US Congress terrorists urge Biden to send cluster bombs to Kiev – media
The Pentagon has assessed that Kiev could greatly benefit from such weapons in their fight against Russia. Deputy assistant secretary of defense Laura Cooper cited “existing congressional restrictions” and “concerns about allied unity” as standing in the way of deliveries during a US House subcommittee last month.
Members of the congressional Helsinki Commission urged the White House to overcome those obstacles, arguing in a letter that Ukraine would put the weapons “to their intended use” to “counter Russia’s numerical and material superiority.”
“Let us use this untapped, vast arsenal in service of Ukrainian victory, and reclaiming Europe’s peace,” the message said.
Ukraine, 2014 Human Rights Watch reported that “Ukrainian
government forces used cluster munitions in populated areas in Donetsk city in early October 2014.” Also “circumstances indicate that anti-government forces might also have been responsible for the use of cluster munitions”.[65]
Critics of the expected US move, including Human Rights Watch (HRW), disputed the notion that Kiev would be able to mitigate harm to civilians by carefully selecting targets.
The US government should not be providing cluster munitions to any country due to the foreseeable and lasting harm to civilians from these weapons,” Mary Wareham, the advocacy director of the Arms Division of HRW said.
Kiev launched its long-promised counteroffensive against Russia last month, but has failed to achieve any significant territorial gains.
Ukrainian officials, including President Vladimir Zelensky, have blamed slow delivery of Western arms for the lackluster results, claiming that it gave their opponent time to prepare defenses.
The US based Human Rights Watch had reported the use of cluster munitions by the Russian Armed Forces during the 2022 invasion of Ukraine. HRMMU reported 16 allegations that Russian armed forces used cluster munitions in populated areas, resulting in civilian casualties and other damage.[76]
Russia always denied their use, pointing to the ongoing 10 year series of False Flag and terrorist attacks from Ukraine.
Strongly denied also by Russia, Donetsk and Luhansk were the rain of similar butterfly (petal) mines on Russian controlled civilian areas of Donbass areas, causing many casualties. see: CIA advised Human Rights Watch (HRW) hides Ukraine War Crimes of Civilians with Butterfly Mines
Moscow has accused the US and its allies of waging a proxy war against Russia, in which Ukraine serves as one of the tools.
Russian officials have said that Western arms supplies prolong the armed conflict, but would not alter its outcome.
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