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Articles on Cluster bombs

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Fuel tanks burn after a shelling Russian officials said was conducted by Ukrainian forces at a fuel depot in Makiivka in Russian-controlled Donetsk region on July 5, 2023. (AP Photo/Alexei Alexandrov)

There are civilian casualties on both sides of the front lines in the war in Ukraine

Claiming the moral high ground in any war isn’t just about justifying a war effort — it’s also about how a war is fought. Both Ukraine and Russia, sadly, have plenty of civilian blood on their hands.
The remains of a rocket that carried cluster munitions found in a Ukrainian field. Alice Martins/For The Washington Post via Getty Images

There is no legal reason the US can’t supply cluster bombs to Ukraine – but that doesn’t justify Biden’s decision to do so

The US administration said that it had received ‘written assurances’ from Ukraine that it would use cluster bombs carefully. Nonetheless, the munition will provide an additional risk to civilians.
Royal Canadian Air Force personnel load non-lethal and lethal aid at CFB Trenton, Ont., on March 7, 2022. The cargo was bound for Ukraine via Poland. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick

Ukraine war shows grim conventions on ‘right’ and ‘wrong’ ways to kill — and what makes a war crime

The laws of war and what is considered acceptable and unacceptable weaponry suggest there’s a right and wrong way to kill. It’s unlikely any of the victims of war would appreciate the distinction.
US sailors load cluster bombs onto an aircraft before an attack on targets in Afghanistan. AAP

Australia’s cluster bomb conundrum

Cluster bombs are currently the subject of considerable humanitarian concern internationally because of their indiscriminate effect. Every year, thousands of civilians, many of them children, are killed…

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