On Friday, US President Joe Biden confirmed his administration would send Ukraine cluster munitions as part of a new $800 million military aid package. Cluster munitions are banned by more than 120 countries, including most NATO members.
The US’ decision to deploy cluster munitions to Ukraine highlights Washington’s constant “double standard” on weapons use, activist and political commentator Phil Kelly has said.
“[The transfer of cluster munitions shows] the double standards that the United States and its Western puppets engage in. We often hear the phrase international rules-based order. That has no standing in reality,” Kelly told Radio Sputnik’s Political Misfits.
“It is a meaningless phrase concocted by the United States which basically means that when other countries commit a crime, [they can] be held accountable for crimes against humanity or war crimes but we cannot because we set the rules that we operate with.”
The decision by the Biden administration shows that the situation is getting desperate for Ukraine and its NATO backers.
US Will Provide Cluster Munitions to Ukraine
“The sheer lack of information we are getting about [the Ukrainian counteroffensive] shows that it has been an absolute catastrophic failure,” Kelly said. “So supplying these munitions also displays sheer desperation. […] Europe’s own arsenals are so depleted, the Salvation Army could probably march upon Paris and conquer mainland Europe without a shot being fired.”
To underline his point, Kelly pointed to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s increasing attempts to draw NATO forces into a war with Russia.
“[Ukraine] is also burning through its human resources. That’s why Zelensky is not just asking for German tanks, American tanks and F-16s. He is starting to talk about sending the sons and daughters of European nations to come fight in Ukraine. They are losing a generation in a war it cannot win,” Kelly said.
Kelly said that fighting a losing conflict is “great news if you are an arms manufacturer in the US, [but] it’s not such great news if you are a Ukrainian looking to attain a livable future.”
“They really are burning their future and if we are not careful we are going to be dragged into the abyss with them,” he added.
At the heart of the conflict, Kelly says, is the arrogance the West operated with after the end of the Cold War: “the West, rather than reflect and think how the world could move forward, there was a turbocharged arrogance on steroids.”
Antonov: US Approval of Cluster Bombs for Ukraine Bringing Humanity Closer to World War
“[They are] finding out that there are leaders across the world, whether that be [President] Lula [da Silva] in Brazil or President Xi [Jinping] in China, that are standing up to the arrogance and the aggressiveness of Western leaders and pushing back. So history didn’t end when the Soviet Union collapsed, the West is starting to learn this.”
Kelly pointed to increasing talk of de-dollarization and a growing desire to see the end of US hegemony around the world, adding that he hopes “that will be the lesson that will dawn upon leaders in Europe and Washington DC.”
By Ian DeMartino
Published by Sputnik Globe
Republished by The 21st Century
The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of 21cir.com