President Biden’s decision to send cluster bomb munitions to Ukraine has been met with controversy even from within his own party. Representative Barbara Lee (D-CA), a progressive Democrat who is running for Dianne Feinstein’s (D-CA) senate seat in 2024, went public with her criticism over this transference of arms. She posted on Twitter that “Cluster bombs pose a fatal threat to civilians YEARS after wars end. Sending them to Ukraine is the wrong decision” and attached a video segment of her discussing her concerns with Jack Tapper of CNN.
Cluster bombs pose a fatal threat to civilians YEARS after wars end.
Sending them to Ukraine is the wrong decision. pic.twitter.com/yZDqjIdDqB
— Rep. Barbara Lee (@RepBarbaraLee) July 9, 2023
The interview begins with Tapper noting how only a few months ago the Biden administration was pontificating that the use of cluster bombs is bad and a potential war crime, but now they are ready to ship the same munitions they decried to Ukraine. Representative Lee responded to Tapper’s statement, saying, “What I think is that we risk losing our moral leadership because when you look at the fact that over 120 countries have signed the convention on cluster munitions saying they should never be used. They should never be used and in fact, many of us have urged the administration to sign on to this convention.”
Lee concluded by remarking that she is “hoping that the administration will reconsider this because these are very dangerous bombs, they’re dangerous weapons, and this is a line that I don’t believe we should cross.”
The leftwing journalist pundit Glenn Greenwald opined that “Pelosi and Schumer are demanding Feinstein not resign because they’re afraid her replacement will be Barbara Lee, and they want Adam Schiff in that seat instead. Lee is a 1,000 times better than Schiff. That’s why they want Schiff: a raging authoritarian and pathological liar.”
Pelosi and Schumer are demanding Feinstein not resign because they're afraid her replacement will be Barbara Lee, and they want Adam Schiff in that seat instead.
Lee is a 1,000 times better than Schiff. That's why they want Schiff: a raging authoritarian and pathological liar. https://t.co/d4v9AOSwyY
— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) July 10, 2023
Mr. Greenwald touted Lee’s anti-war credentials by recalling that she was the only one to cast a vote against going into Afghanistan after 9/11 and that this act “is a zillion times more courageous than anything Schiff has done or will do” as she was “mauled with accusations of being pro-Al-Qaeda: she needed security for months” yet “[e]verything she said was prescient.” He concluded by observing that “[a]s always, the identity politics “rules” of Dems are…malleable.”
Look at what @RepBarbaraLee did on September 13, 2001. For this speech and lone vote, she was mauled with accusations of being pro-Al-Qaeda: she needed security for months. Everything she said was prescient.
As always, the identity politics "rules" of Dems are…malleable: pic.twitter.com/hfgVJyAQEh
— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) July 10, 2023
On this occasion, her opposition to supplying Ukraine with cluster munitions has been reinforced by support within the Republican party. Members such as Representatives Matt Gaetz (R-FL) and Cory Mills (R-FL) have voiced concern over this decision.
Representative Mills wrote “The decision to send cluster bombs to Ukraine by the Biden Admin fails to address Russian aggression, goes against over 100 other nations who’ve signed pact to not use these types of munitions due to increased civilian collateral damages, and is intentionally rolling us further into warfare…Stop using Ukraine as a proxy, commit to diplomacy, and protect innocent lives. No more cluster munitions that will cause secondary UXO clearance needs and loss of civilian lives.”
The decision to send cluster bombs to Ukraine by the Biden Admin fails to address Russian aggression, goes against over 100 other nations who’ve signed pact to not use these types of munitions due to increased civilian collateral damages, and is intentionally rolling us further… pic.twitter.com/AoFVHMZLdR
— Rep. Cory Mills 🇺🇸 (@RepMillsPress) July 9, 2023
Representative Gaetz seconded this concern by writing “Rep. Mills is totally correct. Cluster bombs to Ukraine is a terrible idea.”
Rep. Mills is totally correct.
Cluster bombs to Ukraine is a terrible idea. https://t.co/yIy8rjU58D
— Matt Gaetz (@mattgaetz) July 10, 2023