he Resist US-Led War Movement condemns the reckless decision by the US government to supply cluster munitions to the Ukrainian military.[1] This will not only escalate the fighting in Ukraine, sending chances of a peaceful resolution further from reach, but it will make the war much more costly for civilian casualties, as has been proven by countless studies on the indiscriminate use of these deadly bombs.
Cluster munitions have been banned by over 120 countries and are sanctioned by the UN.[2] Cluster munitions became subject to UN convention due to their indiscriminate violence. These weapons take the form of a missile filled with smaller “bomblets” that are ejected in all directions when fired, spreading a series of explosions throughout an entire blast area. This makes them impossible to fire with precision, as by nature, they are meant to cause maximum damage to where they are fired.[3] They can also be armed with depleted uranium to make them “dirty” bombs spreading long-lasting radioactive debris.[4]
In addition, many of these bomblets do not explode upon impact. They can remain pieces of active ordinance for long periods, causing harm and death to civilians unknowingly walking near them when they explode. This makes their use by the US and their procurement to other countries illegal under international law, and it has even garnered criticism from the US’s own NATO allies such as the UK, Canada, and Spain.[5][6] The US and Russia, the US’ main target in the NATO proxy war in Ukraine, have not signed onto the treaty banning cluster munitions, meaning that Ukraine will become a further hellscape for civilians.[7]
This has been proven in areas bombed by Israel – a key ally and satellite state of the US, which has also not signed onto the UN convention against cluster munitions.[8] Israeli air raids are notorious worldwide for their incredibly high civilian death rate. The US has proved that it fully intends to make Ukraine, which has also refused to sign the convention, play a similar role to Israel as a satellite state and puppet military force. This further enables the US to sit back and appear to keep its hands clean while they force others to fight their wars of aggression.
NATO weapons to Ukraine have brought the war further from peace every step of the way. First with intermediate missiles, then tanks, then fighter jets, followed by promises of long-range missiles and advanced fighter jets at the G7 Summit, and now cluster munitions – these acts highlight how far in harm’s way the US and NATO are willing to put civilians in their desperate attempt to keep the post-Cold War unipolar world order in place.[9][10][11][12] With talks of so-called “tactical nuclear weapons” remaining on the table, this move could set a dangerous precedent.[13][14] Since so much fighting has been taking place within city outskirts in Ukraine, this development marks a harrowing future for Ukrainian and Russian-speaking civilians caught in the middle of the US’s deadly gamble against the political rise of Russia.
With this act of sending cluster munitions to Ukraine, the US has proven that it intends to disregard international humanitarian law whenever it chooses. As the 2023 NATO Summit begins in Vilnius, Lithuania, the world’s people must unite their voices in rage to hold the regime in Washington accountable for this dangerous act!
[1] https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/kirby-explains-us-sending-controversial-cluster-munitions-ukraine/story?id=100903339
[2] https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/7/7/us-to-give-ukraine-widely-banned-cluster-munitions-despite-fears
[3] http://www.stopclustermunitions.org/en-gb/cluster-bombs/what-is-a-cluster-bomb.aspx
[4] https://www.bbc.com/news/world-65051330
[5] https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-66142554
[6] https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-07-09/ukraines-supply-of-cluster-bombs-from-us-cops-criticism-from-hu/102580548
[7] https://www.bbc.com/news/world-10829976
[8] https://edition.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/meast/12/25/israel.cluster.bombs/index.html
[9] https://edition.cnn.com/2022/06/26/politics/us-missile-defense-system-ukraine-coming-announcement/index.html
[10] https://news.yahoo.com/russia-fumes-over-nato-tanks-heading-to-ukraine-revealing-a-kremlin-coming-to-grips-with-reality-154959457.html
[11] https://www.newsweek.com/fighter-jets-ukraine-full-list-poland-slovakia-russia-1788795
[12] https://www.npr.org/2023/05/21/1177394656/ukraine-zelenskyy-russia-g7-f16
[13] https://www.bbc.com/news/world-60664169
[14] https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/sep/28/ukraine-nato-russia-nuclear-weapons-devastating-poland-foreign-minister
NOTES: RESPONSES BY LAOS AND CAMBODIA
Laos voices concern over the announcement and the possible use of cluster munitions
The Lao People’s Democratic Republic has expressed its profound concern over the announcement of the supply and possible use of cluster munitions.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Monday issued a statement on the use of cluster munitions.
“As the world largest victim of cluster munitions and a state party to the Convention on Cluster Munitions, the Lao People’s Democratic Republic expresses its profound concern over the announcement and the possible use of cluster munitions,” the statement said.
“The Lao people were victimised by this deadly cluster munition more than five decades ago and even today they continue to be affected by the unexploded ordnance as it continues to pose serious threats to the lives and livelihood of our people.
Therefore, the Lao PDR calls upon any state or actor to refrain from all use, production, transfer and stockpiling of cluster munitions as prescribed in the Convention on Cluster Munitions so that no one in the world would be victimised by such heinous weapon.”
By Times Reporters
(Latest Update July 11, 2023)
Cambodian PM Hun Sen urges Ukraine not to use US cluster bombs
July 10, 2023
Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, whose country still grapples with deadly war remnants, on Sunday urged Ukraine not to use cluster bombs, after Washington announced plans to send the weapons to Kyiv to fight Russian troops.
Humanitarian groups have strongly condemned the US decision to supply cluster munitions, which can go undetonated and potentially endanger civilians for years to come.
“It would be the greatest danger for Ukrainians for many years or up to a hundred years if cluster bombs are used in Russian-occupied areas in the territory of Ukraine,” Hun Sen tweeted.
He cited Cambodia’s “painful experience” of US cluster munitions dropped in the early 1970s, a foreign legacy that has left tens of thousands maimed or killed.
“It has been more than half a century. There have been no means to destroy them all yet,” Hun Sen added.
“As my pity for the Ukrainian people, I appeal to the US president as the supplier and the Ukrainian president as the recipient not to use cluster bombs in the war because the real victims will be Ukrainians,” he said.
Washington said it had received assurances from Kyiv that it would seek to minimise the risk to civilians, with US President Joe Biden admitting that supplying Ukraine with the weapons was a “difficult decision”.
The United States dropped millions of bombs on Cambodia and Laos during the Vietnam War in the 1960s and 1970s in an attempt to hit communist bases.
And following 30 years of civil war which ended in 1998, Cambodia is among the most heavily mined countries in the world.
The effects of the US bombing campaign and minefields left from conflict have long been felt, with around 20,000 Cambodians killed over the last four decades after stepping on landmines or unexploded ordnance.
Clearance work continues to this day, with the government vowing to clear all mines and unexploded ordnance by 2025.
In January, a group of Ukrainian deminers visited Cambodian minefields to learn from decades of bitter experience.
By Agence France-Presse
https://www.vientianetimes.org.la/freeContent/FreeConten_132_Laos_voices_y23.php
JUST PEAce COMMITTEE 