Marjorie Taylor Greene's Warning on Sending Cluster Munitions to Ukraine

Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, a Georgia Republican, on Saturday decried the U.S. government's decision to provide cluster bombs to Ukraine as part of its ongoing military aid, reiterating her past opposition to supporting the embattled nation.

The U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) announced on Friday that its latest additional military package for Ukraine in its fight against Russia will include the "highly effective and reliable" dual-purpose improved conventional munitions (DPICM), better known colloquially as "cluster bombs." The munitions operate by ejecting smaller explosives from the main body, allowing them to target a much wider field. Due to this wide field of impact and their high propensity for civilian damage, cluster bombs have been banned in numerous countries.

This decision by the Biden administration's DOD has faced alarmed pushback from numerous parties across the political spectrum, including from within the Democratic Party. Republicans like Greene, meanwhile, have taken the opportunity to reiterate their opposition to the continued provision of military aid to Ukraine, claiming that it prolongs the battle and risks a broader conflict with Russia.

Greene on Saturday posted a lengthy tweet in which she alleged that the provision of cluster bombs was an "escalation of war."

"Biden invoked his power under the Foreign Assistance Act to bypass a congressional ban of cluster munitions by claiming that vital U.S. national security interests are at stake in order to send hundreds of thousands of controversial cluster munitions to Ukraine," the GOP lawmaker tweeted. "Cluster munitions are banned by over 120 countries including most of NATO. The American people and United States national security interest are not in danger in Ukraine."

She continued: "However, side stepping Congress and sending dangerous cluster munitions to Ukraine is United States escalation of war, which could ultimately lead to endangering the American people and our national security interests by dragging us into an unwanted war with nuclear armed Russia. The United States role should be ending this war and negotiating peace NOT escalating another war in another foreign country at the expense and risk of the American people."

Ukrainian officials have stressed that they have no intention of deploying the cluster bombs near civilian populations where they might cause unintended collateral damage. Instead, they plan to deploy them in wide open fields known to be populated with Russian troops.

President Joe Biden told CNN's Fareed Zakaria on Friday that his choice to approve the provision of cluster bombs to Ukraine was "a difficult decision," but a necessary one, adding that "Ukrainians are running out of ammunition."

Newsweek reached out to the White House via email for comment.

Michael McFaul, the former U.S. ambassador to Russia, called the decision a "tragic necessity," despite his past support for banning cluster bombs.

"I've advocated for the US to sign the international agreement banning cluster munitions in the past," McFaul tweeted on Friday. "I also support this decision today. In debate/conversation/discussion with others, I've been convinced of the tragic necessity of this decision."