CLUSTER MUNITIONS FOR UKRAINE
Cluster munitions are artillery shells or bombs that release small packets of bomblets on impact. Sometimes they fail to explode, contaminating large areas. Since World War II between 56,000 and 86,000 civilians, including children, have been killed by these munitions. They were widely used by the US in both Afghanistan and Iraq. They have been banned by over 100 countries including US allies France and Germany.
The US in announcing the move to supply Ukraine with cluster munitions admitted that the much-touted Ukrainian offensive against Russia is bogging down and that Ukrainian forces are running out of artillery shells. Whatever one thinks about the wisdom or morality of arming Ukraine to resist Russia with offensive weapons, providing cluster munitions to Ukraine is a very questionable decision.
Sources: The Guardian, and The New York Times, both 7/7/23