{"id":763834,"date":"2022-07-29T17:56:06","date_gmt":"2022-07-29T17:56:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/theintercept.com\/?p=403918"},"modified":"2022-07-29T17:56:06","modified_gmt":"2022-07-29T17:56:06","slug":"democrats-are-squandering-their-chance-to-ban-cluster-bomb-sales","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/2022\/07\/29\/democrats-are-squandering-their-chance-to-ban-cluster-bomb-sales\/","title":{"rendered":"Democrats Are Squandering Their Chance to Ban Cluster Bomb Sales"},"content":{"rendered":"

When Russia drew<\/u> widespread international condemnation for using cluster bombs in its war on Ukraine earlier this year, the U.S. was notably quiet. At first, United Nations Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield criticized Russia\u2019s deployment of the weapons, but the Biden administration quickly stepped in<\/a> to retract her comments. The episode was an embarrassing reminder of the U.S.\u2019s outdated cluster munitions policy<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Now that policy appears set to continue unabated. As lawmakers move ahead with negotiations over the final pieces of the 2023 fiscal year\u2019s appropriations package, congressional Democrats, led by anti-war stalwart<\/a> Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Calif., are poised to waste their best \u2014 and for the foreseeable future, likely last \u2014 shot at permanently ending American sales of cluster munitions.<\/p>\n

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The standard under international norms \u2014 embraced by more than 100 countries, including staunch U.S. allies like the U.K. and prior victims of\u00a0American cluster bombs like Iraq \u2014 is to ban the sales outright, recognizing that their unpredictable method of dispersal makes them particularly liable to cause noncombatant deaths. Lee, as chair of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs, has repeatedly advocated for a total ban on cluster bombs. \u201cCluster munitions are outdated and simply cruel,\u201d she said<\/a> in 2016. \u201cThey are indiscriminate killers, serve no useful purpose, and must be discontinued.\u201d<\/p>\n

Following the markup of the relevant appropriations bill by the subcommittee Lee leads, House Democrats are on track to once again embrace a George W. Bush-era policy that allows cluster munitions sales to continue with loose restrictions. Senate Democrats have indicated that they will follow suit. Lawmakers in both chambers point to\u00a0rules that purport to lessen the devastating toll on civilians the weapons are infamous for inflicting, but arms control experts told The Intercept that enforcement is questionable.<\/p>\n

When cluster munitions are launched, they disperse into smaller bomblets that rain over the targeted area. While most of those bomblets explode, a considerable portion often do not. Much like land mines, those unexploded bomblets pose risks to civilians and nonmilitary infrastructure for years after a conflict has ended.<\/p>\n

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Under current policy, U.S. transfers of cluster bombs are allowed as long as the bomblets dispersed by the weapons explode at least 99 percent of the time and purchasers agree to only use the munitions in noncivilian areas. Experts told The Intercept that those restrictions have made a considerable difference to the U.S.\u2019s complicity in the ongoing use of cluster bombs but fall far short of bringing the country in line with international standards.<\/p>\n

Over\u00a0100 countries have joined the Convention on Cluster Munitions, which bans the use and sale of the weapons outright. When that treaty was negotiated, between 2007 and 2008, the U.S. did not participate, even as an observer. But the international pressure helped set the stage for the current restrictions.<\/p>\n

According to Jeff Abramson, a senior fellow at the Arms Control Association, today\u2019s restrictions have led to a massive depletion of the U.S. arsenal of cluster munitions over time. While sales of the munitions remain legal, the high standard on unexploded bomblets has increased the weapons\u2019 costs and lessened their desirability. As a result, he told The Intercept, \u201cat this point, the United States is not really selling, transferring, or using cluster munitions.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rather than building on the reduction and progressing to an elimination, the ongoing reluctance to ban the weapons outright opens the door for future sales, Abramson warned. It also harms the U.S.\u2019s ability to apply political pressure on governments that continue to use these weapons.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe United States is weakened in its condemnation of countries like Russia by having poor policy and dangerous policy around cluster munitions,\u201d Abramson pointed out.<\/p>\n

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The Bush-era policy\u00a0was resuscitated following a brief regression in the early years of the Trump administration, but its inclusion this time around represents a surprising missed opportunity. Lee has been one of the only members of Congress to advocate consistently to rein in the U.S. war machine. As the Armed Services committees and Appropriations defense subcommittees in both chambers have predictably failed to make headway on the issue, Lee\u2019s current powerful seat puts her in a unique and fleeting position to do so.<\/p>\n

By custom,\u00a0appropriations bills originate in the House, so Lee\u2019s subcommittee is responsible for creating the starting position for negotiations. Should Democrats lose control over one or both chambers of Congress in November \u2014 as appears increasingly probable \u2014 Lee will likely be demoted to ranking member, and the party will lose its advantage in driving policy.<\/p>\n

Lee\u2019s office did not respond to multiple requests from The Intercept to clarify why her subcommittee has approved language that enables future cluster bomb transfers, given her history of vocal opposition to the weapons.<\/p>\n

Erik Sperling, the executive director of Just Foreign Policy and a former House staffer who worked on the issue, expressed surprise at the work produced by Lee\u2019s subcommittee. \u201cShe\u2019s always been a strong opponent of cluster bombs,\u201d he told The Intercept. \u201cSo I\u2019m surprised to hear that she or her team would want to keep an explicit exemption to allow the U.S. to transfer them in her own bill.\u201d<\/p>\n

On the Senate side, where the filibuster enables Republicans to wield some leverage over the process, the corresponding subcommittee is chaired by Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., a close ally of the Biden administration who has a history of deference to the demands of the Pentagon and State Department. But the larger Appropriations Committee is chaired by Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., who has a long history of advocacy against cluster munitions and land mines.<\/p>\n

Tim Rieser, an adviser to Leahy and the Senate Appropriations Committee, told The Intercept that the Vermont Democrat maintains his unconditional opposition to the munitions. But Rieser indicated that the Defense Department has opposed giving up the weapons \u2014 and the Pentagon\u2019s opposition, coupled with the narrow divide in both chambers of Congress, currently makes more aggressive policy changes impossible.<\/p>\n

Abramson, of\u00a0the Arms Control Association, lamented the lack of political will in the Biden administration to finally close the door on cluster munitions sales and transfers. In his view, Russia\u2019s war in Ukraine \u2014 which has also seen some uses of the weapons by Ukrainian forces \u2014 presents a\u00a0rare opportunity to align the United States with international norms.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe condemnation heaped on Russia for its indiscriminate attacks, including using cluster munitions, should have given President Biden the moment to finally reject these weapons,\u201d Abramson said. \u201cThe timing was right. The timing is still right.\u201d<\/p>\n

The post Democrats Are Squandering Their Chance to Ban Cluster Bomb Sales<\/a> appeared first on The Intercept<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A subcommittee led by Rep. Barbara Lee is embracing a Bush-era policy to let the U.S. skirt international standards.<\/p>\n

The post Democrats Are Squandering Their Chance to Ban Cluster Bomb Sales<\/a> appeared first on The Intercept<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7800,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14,1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/763834"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7800"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=763834"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/763834\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":763886,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/763834\/revisions\/763886"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=763834"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=763834"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=763834"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}