Report: Joe Biden to Supply Ukraine with Controversial Cluster Bombs | BREITBART

Report: Joe Biden to Supply Ukraine with Controversial Cluster Bombs

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SUSAN WALSH/POOL/AFP, Pierre Crom/Getty Images

SEAN MORAN

6 Jul 20232,837

2:51

President Joe Biden is expected to supply Ukraine with cluster bombs, which much of the world has vowed not to use due to their long-term effects on civilians.

A senior Biden administration official told the New York Times that the United States will provide Ukraine with cluster munitions after Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky pushed for America to provide the country with the controversial and widely-banned weapon.

Cluster munitions are a category of rockets, bombs, missiles, and artillery projectiles that break apart in the air and blanket a large area. The munitions often fail and can devastate civilians.

Humanitarian groups state that a fifth or more of the munitions can linger and harm civilians years after the conflict. More than 100 countries have signed the Convention of Cluster Munitions, promising not to use them. However, Russia, the United States, and Ukraine have not signed the treaty.

• Ukraine has claimed that cluster munitions would help its counteroffensive against Russia.

Laura Cooper, the deputy assistant secretary of defense, recently told lawmakers that cluster munitions would help Ukraine against Russia’s “dug-in” positions.

Russia has reportedly used cluster munitions in the Ukraine conflict.

Lawmakers and human rights advocates have concerns about the move to supply Ukraine with cluster munitions.

“Transferring cluster munitions disregards the substantial danger they pose to civilians and undermines the global effort to ban them,” Mary Wareham, the Human Rights Watch advocacy director, said on Thursday.

Rep. Sara Jacobs (D-CA) said the move would undermine America’s status on human rights.

She said in a statement on Thursday, “We’ve seen Russia’s horrific use of cluster munitions in Ukraine – and we shouldn’t cede the moral high ground by criticizing their actions and then deciding to send cluster munitions ourselves.”

Jacobs continued:

Ultimately, our goal goes beyond winning this war – we want to win the future of Ukraine by building a free, open, and democratic Ukraine. But cluster munitions prevent the successful economic rebuilding and recovery that’s needed to ensure a prosperous Ukraine and maintain anti-corruption gains.

“We’re seen around the world as human rights defenders, but this decision would undermine that reputation, so I urge the Administration to stand up for our values and refuse to send cluster munitions to Ukraine,” the California Democrat added.

As Biden ratches up support for Ukraine, Zelenksy met with environmental activist Greta Thunberg to discuss Russia’s alleged environmental crimes:

President of Ukraine via Storyful

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Sean Moran is a policy reporter for Breitbart News. Follow him on Twitter @SeanMoran3. 

U.S. will provide controversial cluster munitions to Ukraine: report

PROFITEERING IN THE WEAPON$ RE$ALE MARKET$:

Ukrainian soldiers are selling war memorabilia — like downed Russian drones, artillery shells, and firsthand footage of Russian defeats — to raise funds for frontline soldiers, the New York Times reports. 

The New York Times

Ukrainian Soldiers Get Creative as Donors Become War-Weary

A robust fund-raising operation has been critical in supplying Ukraine's military. But as the war drags on, contributions have lagged.

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45 mins ago

Ukrainian soldiers are selling downed Russian drones and artillery shells to raise money for the war

Katie Hawkinson 

Jul 7, 2023, 8:40 AM PDT

Ukrainian soldiers are selling war memorabilia to raise funds for frontline soldiers. 

Sofiia Gatilova/Reuters

• Donations from civilians to the Ukrainian war effort have dwindled since it began in 2022.
• So soldiers are auctioning defunct weapons and war footage to raise money for supplies and weapons.
• "We don't get that stuff issued to us," one soldier said. "We buy it all with our own money."

Soldiers told the Times that several units fighting Russian forces in Ukraine have to buy their own weapons and supplies, usually relying on outside donations. Those donations have waned since the war first began, they told the outlet.
Ruslan Zubariev, for example, made money off a viral video of him single-handedly killing a group of Russian soldiers with a rocket launcher. The funds went straight to his unit — the 92nd Mechanized Brigade — to purchase equipment.
"We don't get that stuff issued to us," Zubariev told the Times. "We buy it all with our own money."
Others are sending defunct weapons — like disabled antitank missile launchers — to be decorated and sold to the highest bidder at an art center in Kyiv, according to the Times. 
Meanwhile, the head of the Come Back Alive foundation — a charity dedicated to funding the Ukrainian war effort — told the Times that the group has also seen donations dwindle since 2022 and has also turned to selling tokens of war, like downed Russian drones. 
"Civilians don't realize that if they're tired and stop donating, it doesn't mean the war is over," Zubariev told the Times."

Iraq War profiteers

Afghanistan War

During the Afghanistan War, defense sector stocks outperformed the average of the stock market by 58%. Commentators put into question whether the 2021 Taliban takeover of Afghanistan could be considered a failure for the United States. 

• Jon Schwarz of The Intercept argued that "These numbers suggest that it is incorrect to conclude [that the] Afghanistan War was a failure. 
• On the contrary, from the perspective of some of the most powerful people in the U.S., it may have been an extraordinary success. Notably, the boards of directors of all [top] five defense contractors include retired top-level military officers."^[47]
• From 2007, there were regularly more contractors than U.S. forces in Afghanistan. 
• By 2016, private contractors outnumbered US state personnel three to one.^[
•  In 2016, the Harris Corporation was awarded a $1.7 billion contract to supply communications equipment to Afghan security forces.

War in Ukraine[edit]

• The major oil and gas companies, including Shell,^[50] ExxonMobil,^[51] Chevron, Phillips 66, BP and Sinopec, and the major weapon manufacturers, such as Raytheon, Lockheed Martin and BAE Systems, reported sharp rises in interim revenues and profits.

The term "ABCD" refers to the four companies – ADM, Bunge, Cargill and Louis Dreyfus – that dominate world agricultural commodity trading. The ABCD commodity-trading companies have seen large profits as a result of the war in Ukraine and rising food prices.

In March 2022, Bloomberg reported that China was reselling its US LNG shipments to a desperate Europe at a "hefty profit". India was buying discounted oil from Russia.^[Saudi Arabia also increased imports of discounted Russian oil.

•  In September 2022, German Economy Minister Robert Habeck accused the United States and other "friendly" gas supplier nations that they were profiting from the Ukraine war with "astronomical prices". He called for more solidarity by the US to assist energy-pressed allies in Europe.

In April 2022, Russia supplied 45% of EU's gas imports, earning $900 million a day. In the first two months after Russia invaded Ukraine, Russia earned $66.5 billion from fossil fuel exports, and the EU accounted for 71% of that trade.

State actors and Politicians

Though war initially had the objective of territorial expansion and resource gathering, the country may also profit politically and strategically, replacing governments that do not fulfill its interests by key allied governments. 

• One example of this is the CIA supporting the Contras with weapons to carry out terror attacks against the Nicaraguan government between the late 1970s and early 1990s 
• Modern-day war profiteering among politicians has increased with the recent wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. 
• According to an article by USA Today in 2011 the top 100 largest contractors sold 410 billion dollars’ worth of arms and services.
• Within this massive expense of services has evolved what is called the revolving door. This revolving door has not differentiated between the two political parties. An example of this revolving door is the case of William J. Lynn III. In 2010 he was confirmed to serve as the number two man in the Pentagon after he worked as a lobbyist for Raytheon.
• This example shows the process of a person joining the government, then being hired as a lobbyist, and back to government. The revolving door is still in existence to this day.

Civilian contractors

• Private military contractors, including civilian contractors, are businesses that supply weapons and training to the military, and also handle logistics and base management. While private military contractors may seem similar to mercenaries, the difference is that mercenaries operate illegally. 
• More recently, companies involved with supplying the coalition forces in the Iraq War, such as Bechtel, KBR, Academi (formerly known as Blackwater) and Halliburton, have come under fire for allegedly overcharging for their services.
• The modern private military company is also offered as an example of sanctioned war profiteering.

Black marketeers[edit]

A distinction can be made between war profiteers who gain by sapping military strength and those who gain by contributing to the war. 

• For instance, during and after World War II, enormous profits were available by selling rationed goods like cigarettes, chocolate, coffee and butter on the black market. 
• Dishonest military personnel given oversight over valuable property sometimes diverted rationed goods to the black market.

Read next  

Radio Free Europe

The Drones Of The Ukraine War

"Nice isn't always better. Sometimes nice is a cop-out."

Being too nice or loyal at work can actually backfire as seen by the layoffs, but also because a lack of boundaries may infringe on your mental health and wellbeing. 

A 'culture of niceness' at your company could actually be a red flag that people can't be honest, NYU professor says

Sawdah Bhaimiya 

Jul 7, 2023, 4:50 AM PDT

"There's this false dichotomy of: If you're critical, that means you are toxic," NYU professor Tessa West told CNBC. 

AP

• Companies promoting a 'culture of niceness' could actually be doing employees a disservice, one NYU professor said.
• Workers can't progress if their colleagues are too nice to speak about their weaknesses. 
• Loyalty and niceness at work are becoming outdated as companies lay off thousands. 

"Most people are looking for a "nice" workplace culture as a bare minimum when they're job hunting, but one professor warned that too much niceness might actually be an indicator of toxicity. 
Tessa West, a psychology professor at New York University, told CNBC Make It that in recent years there's been a huge push towards a culture of "well-being and niceness at work," likely fueled by the pandemic as workers no longer want to put up with toxic environments and were emboldened to quit. 

• However, some companies are taking this too far by prioritizing politeness over constructive criticism, according to West. 

"What ends up happening is, we've somehow pitted niceness against clear communication and confrontation, even when it's necessary," she explained to CNBC. "There's this false dichotomy of: If you're critical, that means you are toxic. Positive feedback? That's what people want." 
She added: "Nice isn't always better. Sometimes nice is a cop-out." 
READ MORE >  Busiiness Insider