JIMMY PANETTA SILENT ON CLUSTER BOMBS
Does Panetta support sending cluster munitions to Ukraine? Is this another endless war?
The US has just announced it plans to provide Ukraine with cluster munitions, a category of weapon that has been banned by over 120 nations [1] due to its disproportionate impact on civilians. The unexploded “bomblets” left behind can kill or maim people, often children, decades later. The move is highly controversial, receiving criticism and condemnation from human rights groups (e.g. Amnesty International [2]), the UN human rights office [1], NATO allies (e.g. Spain [2]), and members of Congress (e.g. Democrat Barbara Lee [3]). The transfer of cluster munitions to Ukraine had until now been a red line which the US would not cross.
The White House has chosen this dramatic escalation in policy because NATO has not been able to provide Ukraine with the conventional artillery shells and air cover it would need to execute the ongoing counter-offensive [1][4]. Ukraine has not been provided with the full complement of weapons necessary to succeed in the fight, and the cluster munitions are a desperate, inadequate stopgap.
The Ukrainian counter-offensive, launched this June, has failed to achieve any major objectives. This despite NATO providing billions of dollars of weapons as well as months of training for tens of thousands of troops. The magnitude of the failure of this offensive has caused a panic in NATO, since there’s not much that can change for at least a year or more – factories can’t be built overnight, and proper training in the use of heavy weapons takes at least a year. Even if NATO countries do succeed in ramping up their weapons production, the projected numbers still fall short of Russia’s current output.
While many Americans want to see Ukraine reclaim territory in its sovereign land, we can now see that isn’t possible. There’s no foreseeable path to military victory for Ukraine. It is becoming apparent this is yet another endless war; another Vietnam or Afghanistan. As it runs its course, the war in Ukraine would likely cost Americans hundreds of billions of dollars, if not trillions; Ukraine would likely pay a much stiffer price: hundreds of thousands of additional dead soldiers and civilians, a decimated economy and infrastucture, and millions more refugees.
Panetta owes us an explanation. What is his position on the change of policy on cluster munitions? How and when does he see this war ending?
Though hardly acceptable to the Ukrainians who want to continue fighting, the best option for resolving this conflict is to enter diplomatic talks immediately, which will almost certainly involve permanent territorial concessions. The only likely alternatives are military defeat with even more territorial loss still, or direct involvement of NATO, which would probably cost tens of thousands of US/NATO lives and a disproportionately high number of Ukrainian casualties. Unfortunately, US leaders like Panetta are incapable of admitting this reality. For the sake of Ukrainians, we must force the hand of US leaders; we must make them accept peace over endless war.
I propose one of the best ways to cut short another endless war is by voting out of office representatives like Panetta who have escalated the conflict and replacing them with firm supporters of peace. Please join me in my effort to wage peace: https://www.seanforpeace.org/join.