Cost is not the immediate issue: time is. The ammo required takes time to manufacture. Russia is not going to wait.
Whether that justifies cluster ammunition no idea. An audit would be enlightening for sure. Unfortunately, none of that results in ammo where it’s needed right now.
I don’t see how that justifies the use of bombs that nearly invariably risk the lives of innocent citizens.
I get that Russia is fucking shit up right now and very likely committing war crimes themselves, but not every Russian citizen is to blame, and the entire issue here is that giving these over increases risks of murdering innocents in attempts to win the war.
I’m not sure stooping to their level and hurting innocents on the path to victory is the best solution.
Biden could be working on fast-tracking Ukraine NATO membership and giving everybody else a reason to actually do more than send weapons, but he claims they are “not ready.” Also, couldn’t Ukraine’s use of cluster bombs, if used to commit war crimes, end up being another political roadblock to getting them into NATO?
If they use them purely on open battlefields then it’s not such an issue.
What is an “open battlefield” during a war is no longer a battlefield after the war is over. After the war is over, if you’ve littered what used to be a battlefield with unexploded bombs, you’ve ruined that area of land and made it extremely dangerous to civilians.
Cost is not the immediate issue: time is. The ammo required takes time to manufacture. Russia is not going to wait.
Whether that justifies cluster ammunition no idea. An audit would be enlightening for sure. Unfortunately, none of that results in ammo where it’s needed right now.
I don’t see how that justifies the use of bombs that nearly invariably risk the lives of innocent citizens.
I get that Russia is fucking shit up right now and very likely committing war crimes themselves, but not every Russian citizen is to blame, and the entire issue here is that giving these over increases risks of murdering innocents in attempts to win the war.
I’m not sure stooping to their level and hurting innocents on the path to victory is the best solution.
Biden could be working on fast-tracking Ukraine NATO membership and giving everybody else a reason to actually do more than send weapons, but he claims they are “not ready.” Also, couldn’t Ukraine’s use of cluster bombs, if used to commit war crimes, end up being another political roadblock to getting them into NATO?
It really depends where they use them. If they use them purely on open battlefields then it’s not such an issue.
Let’s also not forget during ww2 the allies leveled plenty of German cities.
What is an “open battlefield” during a war is no longer a battlefield after the war is over. After the war is over, if you’ve littered what used to be a battlefield with unexploded bombs, you’ve ruined that area of land and made it extremely dangerous to civilians.