Biden’s decision to send banned weapons to Ukraine won’t change the war. But it’s starting to alienate progressives
By Medea Benjamin and Marcy Winograd, Salon
President Biden may have crossed a new red line for the Democratic Party when he announced he would send banned cluster munitions to shore up Ukraine’s slow counter-offensive against Russian troops.
Last week, 19 House Democrats, led by Congressional Progressive Caucus chair Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., signed a letter to Biden warning that his decision to send cluster munitions to Ukraine “severely undermines our moral leadership.”
This time it’s not just left-leaning activists in CODEPINK and the Peace in Ukraine Coalition who recoil at Biden’s escalation in Ukraine, but congressional Democrats who previously stood by their president. These are the same Democrats who voted to approve more than $100 billion in Ukraine spending, approximately half of which went for weapons and military assistance with no accountability.
Rep. Betty McCollum, D-Minn., ranking member of the House Defense Appropriations Subcommittee, told Politico, “The decision by the Biden administration to transfer cluster munitions to Ukraine is unnecessary and a terrible mistake. …The legacy of cluster bombs is misery, death and expensive cleanup generations after their use.”
Recent Posts
There Are Easier Ways To Talk About War And Peace
Take Action Now We live in a very strange age in which spending money on death and destruction is understood as philanthropy… By David…
How America Hides The Human Toll Of Its Forever Wars, With Norman Solomon
Take Action Now A recent study from the Costs of War Project at Brown University found that the post-9/11 wars have been responsible for some 4.5…
Supreme Court Justices Have Financial Interest In Major Tax Case
Take Action Now John Roberts and Samuel Alito own shares of companies that could score billions in tax relief from the outcome of Moore v. United…
Depleted Uranium In Ukraine Will Only Ensure Long-Term Suffering
Take Action Now As a radioactive material, depleted uranium enters a human body through inhalation or as fragments puncturing the body. by Danaka…