Democratic 2024 contender Robert Fr. Kennedy Jr. echoed the concerns of many watchers of the Russo-Ukrainian conflict when he skewered Biden in a Friday, July 7 Twitter post for handing over “horrific” cluster munitions to the Ukrainian military.
As background, the Biden Administration announced on Friday that it would provide M864 155-millimeter artillery shells, known as Dual-Purpose Improved Conventional Munitions (DPICM), to the Ukrainian military. Those shells are referred to as cluster munitions because when over the target, they release a spread of smaller bomblets to destroy equipment and personnel over a wide area.
However, the Washington Post noted in a recent report that such cluster munitions are a problem because, though they can prove effective at stopping mechanized assaults if properly utilized, they contain a plethora of “dud” munitions that were faultily produced and don’t explode until handled later.
That often leads to horrific civilian casualties from them long after the war is over, as can be seen in Laos and Vietnam, where farmers that accidentally come in contact with such munitions lose life or limb without warning. Further, the US stockpile of such weapons was produced in the 1990s, so the age of them could indicate that there might be more duds per shell.
However, Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Colin Kahl told reporters on Friday that those munitions sent to Ukraine “will consist only of those with a dud rate of less than 2.35%,” so perhaps the dud rate has not been affected by the age of the weapons.
RFK Jr. tore into the decision on Twitter, writing that the type of munition, cluster munitions, that the Biden administration is now handing over to the Ukrainians are so horrible that more than 100 nations have banned them, saying, “Cluster bombs are munitions so horrific for civilians that more than a hundred nations have signed an international treaty banning them. Now the Biden administration is preparing to send them to Ukraine.”
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Continuing, RFK Jr. gave his own take on what makes cluster munitions particularly horrific, writing “These munitions scatter bomblets across the landscape. Many fail to explode — until children pick them up later. They have caused thousands of injuries and deaths to civilians.”
These munitions scatter bomblets across the landscape. Many fail to explode — until children pick them up later. They have caused thousands of injuries and deaths to civilians.
— Robert F. Kennedy Jr (@RobertKennedyJr) July 7, 2023
One commenter on RFK Jr’s post about what makes cluster munitions so horrific argued that the US is trying to get rid of its stockpiles of old weapons so that it has an excuse to spend even more on ramping up production of new ones, thus increasing the budget of the Pentagon and profits of weapon makers, saying, “Understand this is the business of war… we have a bunch of unusable bombs to get off the books and make room for new and improved. Understand it’s an inventory life cycle to the investment class… quarterly earnings need to continue. It’s grotesque.”
Similarly, another noted that the use of the weapons would lead to a huge contract to yet more contractors later down the road, writing, “Thus creating the need for multi-billion dollar unexploded ordnance disposal contracts once the war is over…“