OPINION
As thinking left-winger Caitlyn Johnstone so perspicaciously noted, way back at the dawn of the Russia-Ukraine war, the entire narrative of the Western political establishment was complete and utter hypocritical bullshit.
When Russia unilaterally invaded Ukraine on a thin pretext, the West had only just extricated itself from two decades of doing exactly the same thing. The West had also left behind a festering, failed state that they’d solely engineered. The architects of these disasters were free as birds, posing as elder statesmen.
We didn’t just fail to punish Bush and Blair, wrote Johnstone. We rewarded them. We re-elected them. We knighted them.
Yet, here are our leaders now, railing and fulminating at Vladimir Putin for “flouting international law” and “the rules-based international order”. Western governments, especially the US, are flooding the corrupt, authoritarian regime in Kiev with hundreds of billions of weapons, courtesy of Western taxpayers.
International law is a meaningless concept when it only applies to people the US power alliance doesn’t like.
The odiously selective application of international law is only getting more blatantly hypocritical.
The administration of U.S. President Joe Biden is close to approving the shipment of longer-range missiles packed with cluster bombs to Ukraine, giving Kyiv the ability to cause significant damage deeper within Russian-occupied territory, according to four U.S. officials.
Cluster bombs are banned under international law. More specifically, the Convention on Cluster Munitions also requires ratifying countries to, “never under any circumstances… Assist, encourage or induce anyone to engage in any activity prohibited to a State Party under this Convention”.
Australia, New Zealand, and the UK, are all signatories to this Convention. Only Britain’s Rishi Sunak has even raised a peep of protest.
After seeing the success of cluster munitions delivered in 155 mm artillery rounds in recent months, the U.S. is considering shipping either or both Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS) that can fly up to 305 km (190 miles), or Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System (GMLRS) missiles with a 72-km range packed with cluster bombs, three U.S. officials said.
If approved, either option would be available for rapid shipment to Kyiv.
Ukraine is currently equipped with 155 mm artillery with a maximum range of 29 km carrying up to 48 bomblets. The ATACMS under consideration would propel around 300 or more bomblets. The GMLRS rocket system, a version of which Ukraine has had in its arsenal for months, would be able to disperse up to 404 cluster munitions.
The usual suspects, of course, postured and preened in outrage when Russia was accused of using cluster munitions. Now? Crickets.
But the Masters of War are no doubt smiling their biggest shit-eating grins as they peruse their balance sheets.
Made by Lockheed Martin, ATACMS come in several versions some of which can fly four times GMLRS’ range, and their use could reset the battlefield calculus.
The Presidential Drawdown Authority (PDA), which allows the administration to take from U.S. stocks and ship to Ukraine has proven to be the fastest way — days or weeks — to get armaments to Ukraine.
Japan Times
Gotta keep the weapons flowing, boys, no matter how many Ukrainians and Russians keep dying. Cut off the flow of weapons and who knows? They might even start talking about peace!
Then where will the money come from?