The US has decided, as part of its continued efforts to weaponize the whole of Ukraine, to send cluster bombs to Ukraine to support its military push back against Russian forces entrenched along the front lines. Biden and his brethren are expected to announce today that they’ll send thousands of cluster munitions as part of a new military aid package worth $800 million.
For those unfamiliar, a cluster munition is a bomb that opens in the air and releases smaller “bomblets” across a wide area. The bomblets are designed to take out tanks and equipment, as well as troops, hitting multiple targets at the same time. In previous wars, cluster munitions have had a high dud rate, which meant that thousands of the smaller unexploded bombs remained behind and killed and maimed people years or even decades later. The last time the US used cluster munitions was in battle in Iraq in 2003, and American officials eventually decided to discontinue using them and focus on torturing the Iraqi populace in other ways.
This decision will undoubtedly lead to outrage from some American allies and humanitarian groups that consider cluster bombs a violation of international law…because they are. This weapon kills and maims so indiscriminately that its use is considered a war crime by most of the world. But proponents argue that Russia has already been using the controversial weapon in Ukraine and that the munitions the US will provide have a reduced dud rate, meaning there will be fewer unexploded rounds that can result in unintended civilian deaths. Fewer, but not none.
Side Items
New Sphere Just Dropped: Picture this: a giant ball-like structure rises from the barren desert floor. A $2.3 billion structure called the MSG Sphere in Las Vegas is nearly ready to be unveiled. 366 feet high, 516 feet wide with 18,000+ seats and 580,000 square feet of LED panels. It’s the world’s largest sphere (other than the planet itself of course) and it’ll officially open this September, as all great things should begin, by hosting a U2 concert. Truly, who asked for this monstrosity?
Pancake Kingpin: An incredible tale of an IHOP owner in New York who stumbled across a dead body and started a battle of revolutionary proportions. The article is worth reading off the strength of the first paragraph alone. Educate yourselves people, this is modern American history
Cops Being Pigs: Chicago’s police department, a collection of the worst people in the MidWest, is investigating four of its scumbag officers who have allegedly engaged in sexual relations with some of the desperate migrants living at a West Side patrol district. The four officers involved were assigned to the Ogden District, a police station that covers Chicago’s Hispanic-majority Little Village and Lawndale neighborhoods. Chicago Sun-Times reported that the pigs are being investigated to determine whether cops had sexual relations with the new immigrants, including a teenage girl who is pregnant. “Scum” is too nice of a term for these piglets