Biden OKs Cluster Bombs to Ukraine: Not a Wise Decision for Numerous Reasons

Cluster containers easily air dropped 

Six bombs inside a typical cluster container

Human Rights Watch (HRW) explains Cluster Bombs (formatted to fit the blog). 

Ukraine wants the U.S. to provide them and we are.

What are cluster bombs?

A cluster bomb opens in midair and releases smaller “bomblets” across a wide area (see image above). The bomblets are designed to take out tanks and equipment, as well as troops, hitting multiple targets at the same time.

The munitions are launched by the same artillery weapons that the U.S and allies have already provided to Ukraine for the war – such as howitzers – and the type of cluster munition that the U.S is planning to send is based on a common 155mm shell that is already widely in use across the battlefield.

Pro and Con (Note: More Cons as noted below):

Pro: Cluster munition is more effective than artillery shells because they inflict damage over a wider area that can be is important for trying to clear heavily fortified Russian positions in Ukraine for them go use.

1. Con: Cluster munitions have had a high dud rate. That means that thousands of unexploded bomblets remain behind enabling them to kill and maim people decades later. 

The U.S last used its cluster munitions in Iraq in 2003, then stopped using them as the conflict shifted to more urban environments with denser civilian populations.

2. Con: HRW and the UN accused Israel of firing as many as four million cluster munitions into Lebanon against Hezbollah in 2006. That left unexploded ordnance that threatens Lebanese civilians even to this day.

3. Con: The Saudi-led coalition in Yemen was criticized for its use of cluster bombs in the war with the Iran-backed Houthi that has ravaged the country. It was the second deadliest country for cluster munitions after Syria. Children were killed or maimed long after the bombs fell, making it difficult to know the true toll even today.

4. Con: In the 1980’s, Russia made heavy use of cluster bombs during their 10-year invasion of Afghanistan. As a result of decades of war, the Afghan countryside still remains one of the most heavily mined countries in the world.

My 2 Cents: I mostly agree with and seldom disagree with the Biden decisions regarding use of our military vis-à-vis giving more aid to Ukraine in their war against Russia.

However, giving thousands of cluster bombs to them now I believe is a “bridge too far.”

The pros and cons are explained above based on the results from unexploded (dud) bombs many years after they are dropped and that can still inflict death and destruction. 

Also, my decision is based on my two years of combat in VN and a couple of years after that when I called and controlled Naval gunfire, artillery, and airstrikes as a Marine A/O flying in OV-10’s.

I think it’s a bad move. We shall see, but that is my recommendation to President Biden – don’t provide them. Continue the way we are now, but no cluster bombs.

Thanks for stopping by.