Cluster Bomb (Ukraine, MOD) Rep. Matt Gaetz on Monday announced that he stood ready to join Democrats in opposition to President Joe Biden sending
Rep. Matt Gaetz on Monday announced that he stood ready to join Democrats in opposition to President Joe Biden sending cluster bombs to Ukraine.
The Fort Walton Beach Republican said on his “Firebrand” podcast that he would support an amendment to the Pentagon’s primary spending bill that would block Biden from facilitating Ukraine using munitions Democrats once claimed were tools of “war crimes.”
Rep. Sara Jacobs, a California Democrat, introduced that amendment.
Gaetz said he would be the Republican co-sponsor of Jacobs’ measure in order to “stand against the warmongering Bidens.”
“These cluster bombs will not end the war in Ukraine,” Gaetz argued. “Cluster bombs are features of the world’s bloodiest and most inhumane wars.”
“It’s hardly the cornerstone of a path to peace,” he added. “Children will be left without limbs and without parents because of this decision if we do not work together in a bipartisan fashion to stop it.”
As the Tampa Free Press reported last week, 123 nations have banned the use of cluster bombs — which are bombs that burst above the ground and drop smaller bombs on their targets — although that list does not include the U.S., Russia, or Ukraine.
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The objection is that the bombs frequently leave behind unexploded ordnance that can be discovered by civilians, often with fatal consequences.
The conservative Journal editorial page took the unusual position of siding with Biden, saying, “If you can’t see a moral distinction between Russia’s aggression and Ukraine’s use of cluster bombs for defense, then you have the blurred vision. Those best suited to make the tradeoff between risks are the Ukrainians whose lives are on the line every day.”
The argument by Gaetz and Jacobs will be tested soon, as the defense bill, the National Defense Authorization Act, is expected to be voted on perhaps as early as this week.
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