Opinion: 'this is possibly the first time that cluster bombs will be used by a State inside their own territory, which changes everything'
US president Joe Biden's decision last week to send an $800m military aid package to Ukraine, which includes cluster bombs, has been met with general shock and dismay. The international condemnation of this tactical decision by Ukraine’s primary military backer has been widespread and resolute.
Amnesty International was quick off the blocks to register its moral indignation, pointing out that cluster munitions are an indiscriminate weapon that presents a grave threat to civilian lives. They even suggest that the transfer and use of cluster bombs by any country under any circumstances is incompatible with international law.
We need your consent to load this rte-player contentWe use rte-player to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content.Manage Preferences
From RTÉ News, human rights campaigners denounce US decision to send cluster bombs to Ukraine
There are two separate issues here that need to be untangled: one is legal, the other moral. On the legal front, things are fairly clear. There is an international treaty which prohibits all use, production, transfer and stockpiling of cluster munitions and has the backing of more than 100 states, including Ireland. In fact, the Convention on Cluster Munition was adopted in Dublin in 2008 and became binding international law when it came into force on August 1st 2010.
To date, a total of 123 States have signed up to the Convention, but the US, Russia and Ukraine are not parties to this agreement. While one can argue that they should be parties to it on moral grounds, the US is not infringing international law by transferring cluster munition to Ukraine.
The moral question regarding cluster bombs is much more opaque. The main reason behind the widespread moral disapproval behind Biden's decision to support Ukraine’s war effort with cluster munition is the threat this weapon poses to civilians.
We need your consent to load this rte-player contentWe use rte-player to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content.Manage Preferences
From RTÉ Radio 1's Today With Claire Byrne, The Guardian's foreign correspondent Luke Harding on the US decision to send cluster bombs to Ukraine
Cluster bombs scatter smaller bomblets indiscriminately over a large area, which increases the risk to civilians. Furthermore, many of the small bomblets released fail to detonate after hitting the ground. The duds from cluster bombs can be compared to land mines, which everyone agrees are ethically unacceptable and an extreme cause of danger to civilians both during and after a conflict.
The US has tried to mitigate the risks of cluster bombing by stating that, while the cluster bombs currently being used by the Russians have a failure rate of 40% (meaning that 40% of the bomblets effectively turn into land mines), the cluster bombs used by the US have a much higher rate of detonation. While there seems to be some disagreement on exactly how failure-proof the US cluster bombs are, the estimates varying between 2% and 14%, which is considerably lower compared to the Russian cluster bombs.
If we start from the assumption that it is morally prohibited in war to target civilians, or put them under unnecessary danger, then the technological reliability of the cluster bombs becomes relevant. US cluster bombs are supposedly ethically superior to Russian cluster bombs.
From CNN in April 2022, a video appears to show possible use of cluster munitions in a civilian area in the Kharkiv region of Ukraine
However, this attempt to justify US cluster bombs is not fully persuasive. A cluster bomb is a cluster bomb, and the rate of successful detonation of the bomblets a mere distraction from the fundamental moral issue. Namely, civilians and non-combatants are a moral priority, to be protected at all times so any military gadget that is known to put their lives and well-being in danger should not be used, produced, transferred, or stockpiled. Ever.
But while this unconditional rejection of cluster bombs is appealing, it cannot be absolute. A state at war has a moral imperative to minimise the risk to civilians, not to avoid that any civilian is put under any risk. If that was the case, no war effort, under any circumstance, not even for self-defence, could ever be justified. That can’t be right. Ukraine has a moral right to defend itself and a moral duty to protect its civilian population from external aggression, even if this involves a risk to civilians.
The question remains whether cluster bombs, in this war, can be used by Ukraine while respecting the moral imperative to minimize the risk to civilians. On this specific question, there is one important fact that, surprisingly, so far has not been picked up by the media or experts, which changes the way we assess the morality of the situation.
We need your consent to load this rte-player contentWe use rte-player to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content.Manage Preferences
From RTÉ Six One News, UN says it has credible reports of Russian cluster bomb use in populated areas of Ukraine
The reason behind the Convention on Cluster Munition, which explains why 123 states have joined this convention, is the horrific toll on civilians when cluster bombs are used in enemy territory. The Russians are using cluster bombs in Ukraine, to the detriment and suffering of Ukrainian civilians. That’s morally indefensible.
But in the case of US transferring cluster bombs to Ukraine, where would Ukraine use these bombs? Not in Russia, but in Ukrainian territories currently under Russia control. Ukrainian authorities have no desire or interest to put their own civilians under unnecessary, additional risk. Their intention is not to harm their own civilians, but only Russian combatants.
This is possibly the first time that cluster bombs will be used by a State inside their own territory. This changes everything. We have good reason to assume that the Ukrainian military command will do everything in their powers to minimise the risk to their own civilians, both during and after the war. This fact alone may be a sufficient reason for making cluster bombs, in this particular context, used by the invaded nation in this unjust war, morally justified.
The views expressed here are those of the author and do not represent or reflect the views of RTÉ
