There’s plenty of controversy surrounding President Joe Biden’s decision to send cluster munitions to Ukraine — including the fact he disclosed a potential weakness in American military readiness in the process.
On Friday, The Washington Post reported the munitions — which are banned by more than 120 nations under an international agreement, although neither the United States nor Ukraine are signatories — were part of an $800 million military aid package.
The M864 artillery shells, fired from 155mm howitzers, are called “cluster” munitions because, once fired, they split into dozens of smaller explosive devices, called “bomblets,” scattering devastating destruction over a wide area — like a shotgun shell writ large.
Cluster bombs are canisters that carry dozens of smaller bombs.
While they are designed to explode on impact, as many as 30% do not, making them a risk to civilians for years.
Over 90% of recorded cluster bomb casualties are civilians, of which nearly half are children.
The… pic.twitter.com/ZLsVljnyMn
— Joshua Reed Eakle (@JoshEakle) July 7, 2023
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And, during an interview with CNN’s Fareed Zakaria that aired Sunday, Biden not only revealed that Ukraine is running out of the deadly ordnance, but that the United States is, as well.
“I know it’s a very difficult decision in my part,” Biden said in the interview, according to a CNN transcript.
“And by the way, I discussed this with our allies, discussed this with our friends up on the Hill, and we’re in a situation where Ukraine continues to be brutally attacked across the board by munitions, by these cluster munitions that are — have dud rates that are very, very low, I mean, very high that are a danger to civilians, number one.
“Number two, the Ukrainians are running out of ammunition. The ammunition that they used to call them 155-millimeter weapons. This is a war relating to munitions, and they are running out of that ammunition and we’re low on it.
Will hostile nations exploit American munitions shortages?
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“And so what I finally did, I took the recommendation of the Defense Department to, not permanently, but to allow for in this transition period where we have more 155 weapons, these shells for the Ukrainians, to provide them with something that has a very low dud rate,” he added.
“It’s about — I think it’s 1.50, which is the least likely to be blown.”
Joe Biden just told the world that the United States is running low on ammunition. pic.twitter.com/oRn2smkE56
— DR. ETIQUETTE 🤦♂️ (@DrEtiquette) July 9, 2023
Biden made similar comments to a reporter who asked him about the transfer.
Joe Biden wasn’t supposed to say the quiet part out loud: “We’ve run out of ammunition”. But now that the cat’s out of the bag, one must ask whether continued support of Ukraine’s military is even feasible as the conflict rages on. pic.twitter.com/jddIrHlSM8
— Ian Miles Cheong (@stillgray) July 9, 2023
Washington Examiner chief political correspondent Byron York called Biden’s admission of munitions weakness an argument against the transfer of the weapons to Ukraine.
In CNN interview, President Biden is not particularly clear but seems to be saying US is sending cluster munitions to Ukraine because we are running out of 155mm artillery ammunition to send them. Seems obvious this is affecting US readiness to defend itself. pic.twitter.com/ofKyZQUx2X
— Byron York (@ByronYork) July 9, 2023
“In CNN interview, President Biden is not particularly clear but seems to be saying US is sending cluster munitions to Ukraine because we are running out of 155mm artillery ammunition to send them,” York wrote. “Seems obvious this is affecting US readiness to defend itself.”
Conservative political operative Logan Dobson, meanwhile, put it more harshly: “love when the president of America goes on CNN to tell everyone we’re low on ammo.”
love when the president of America goes on CNN to tell everyone we’re low on ammo. https://t.co/vd0eQRh75Z
— Logan Dobson (@LoganDobson) July 8, 2023
And, as others pointed out, this went against the administration’s line that it was Russia, not Ukraine, that was having problems with ammunition shortages:
US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, 11.24.22: The Russians are “experiencing significant shortages of artillery munitions”. https://t.co/u5Q6f0EOZp
Joe Biden, 7.7.23: The Ukrainians are “running out of that ammunition, and we’re low on it.”https://t.co/lBGbeYwjYQ
— Phil (@PaleoPhil) July 8, 2023
Those two things can be true at the same time, of course. However, the comments reinforce what Americans are slowly discovering: Things in Ukraine are not as rosy as the administration and its NATO allies have been painting them.
The main takeaway from the CNN interview was that, over a year into the war, the U.S. support for Ukraine is causing a serious drawdown in American military equipment that’s affecting military readiness.
That’s likely to get worse before it gets better, particularly when Biden is saying the quiet part out loud — and where every rival and enemy on the globe can hear it.
