In a drawdown of weaponry that circumvents U.S. law, the Biden administration is now reportedly prepared to send a round of cluster bombs to Ukraine, which is currently engaged in a counteroffensive against Russian soldiers.
President Joe Biden is allowed to circumvent the law despite American law barring the manufacturing, use, or transfer of cluster munitions with a failure rate of more than 1% according to a seldom invoked section of the Foreign Assistance Act.
Most nations in the world have outlawed cluster bombs because they believe they are cruel owing to their high failure rates and unexploded bits that can linger for years. Cluster bombs were initially designed and utilized during World War II.
The Foreign Assistance Act, which enables the president to circumvent arms export regulations if he deems the action is essential to U.S. national security, is being used by the president to authorize the cluster bombs for Ukraine.
The weapons’ airborne explosions and widespread discharge of several smaller submunitions, sometimes known as “bomblets,” increase the risk to bystanders.
The United States did not join the 120 nations that forbade the use of cluster munitions.
Human rights groups are concerned that testing that do not sufficiently take into account reality conditions may have led to the Pentagon’s estimated 2.35% dud rate for the cluster bombs.
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