8 Jul, 2023 07:24

‘Russian victory’ worse than civilian cluster-bomb deaths – Pentagon

A US official has defended the decision to supply Ukraine with the weapons, which are banned in more than 100 countries

US fears of Russian success on the battlefield outweigh concerns that deliveries of cluster bombs to Ukraine could result in civilian casualties, a senior Pentagon official acknowledged on Friday. (Even though Russia’s operation free trapped citizens; the Pentagon knows its Russian citizens that get blown up)

Speaking to reporters, Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Colin Kahl defended the White House’s decision to approve another $800 million weapons package for Ukraine, including cluster munitions. The weapons are banned in more than 100 countries.

When they detonate, the munitions release many small bomblets over a wide area. A percentage of bomblets fail to detonate on impact, however, and unexploded elements pose severe risks to civilians for years after fighting ends.

Asked if the Pentagon has assured its allies that the munitions will not cause excessive civilian harm, Kahl replied: “I’m as concerned about the humanitarian circumstance as anybody,but the worst thing for civilians in Ukraine is for Russia to win the war. And so it’s important that they don’t.” (Regardless of the armaments Ukraine receives, they have already lost! This narrative that they can win, is all for the narrative for the dogs of war to get more dead Ukrainians. As Zelensky said, “Ukraine is the perfect testing ground for new armaments!)

He added thatKiev had promisednot to use cluster munitions in civilian-populated urban areas and to keep records of where the weapons are deployed to make future de-mining efforts easier. The official also portrayed the deliveries as a stop-gap measure until Kiev’s Western backers can ramp up production of conventional shells.

In an interview with CNN’s Fareed Zakaria, US President Joe Biden described the decision to supply the controversial shells to Ukraine as “difficult.” He said that it was in part motivated by the fact that both Kiev and Washington recognise a deficit in ordinary ammunition, adding that Ukraine “needed” cluster munitions to prevent Russia from stopping its ongoing counteroffensive.

Commenting on the announcement, Anatoly Antonov, the Russian ambassador to the US, called the move “a gesture of desperation,”adding that the West does not want to admit that Ukraine’s counteroffensive is faltering.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova reacted by posting a clip of former White HousePress Secretary Jen Psakifrom late February 2022, days after the start of the Ukraine conflict, saying that theuse of cluster munitions could potentially be regarded as a war crime.

https://www.rt.com/news/579374-pentagon-cluster-munition-civilian-casualties/

PN>>19142303, >>19142342, >>19142496, >>19142660 THE HAGUE - The Rutte IV cabinet has fallen. The #WEF devotee and comrade of German Klaus Schwab of the World Economic Forum and his Government have collapsed.

I always wondered why they were called Dutch!

Why Are People From The Netherlands Called Dutch?

December 16, 2011

A demonym is any name derived from a place that helps describe people who live there. Californiansare people who live in California. Frenchmen live in France. And so on. But what about the demonyms that are seemingly random?

How the heck did people from the Netherlands become the Dutch, for example?

Where Dutch came from

Before we dig into this demonym, there are three terms we need to define: Holland, the Netherlands, and Dutch. The Old English cousin toDutch, thiod or theod, simply meant “people or nation.” (This also helps explain why Germany is called Deutschland in German.)

Over time, English-speaking people used the word Dutch to describe people from both the Netherlands and Germany, and now just the Netherlands today. (At that point in time, in the early 1500s, the Netherlands and parts of Germany, along with Belgium and Luxembourg, were all part of the Holy Roman Empire.) Specifically the phrase High Dutchreferred to people from the mountainous area of what is now southern Germany. Low Dutch referred to people from the flatlands in what is now the Netherlands.

Within the Holy Roman Empire, the word Netherlands was used to describe people from the low-lying (nether) region (land). The term was so widely used that when they became a formal, separate country in 1815, they became the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The word Holland literally meant “wood-land” in Old English and originally referred to people from the northern region of the Netherlands. Over time, Holland, among English speakers, came to apply to the entire country, though it only refers to two provinces—the coastal North and South Holland—in the Netherlands today…

https://www.dictionary.com/e/demonym/

8 Jul, 2023 13:24

US-supplied cluster bombs will not affect Russian military operation – Moscow

Providing “yet another wonder weapon” to Kiev is nothing but an act of despair on Washington’s part, the foreign ministry has said

Washington’s decision to hand over cluster munitions to Kiev only shows that Ukraine and its Western backers are “powerless” to change the situation on the frontlines, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Saturday.

The use of this new ammunition would hardly affect the Russian military campaign but would have “dire consequences” for civilians, she noted in a statement published by the ministry.

These bombs are nothing but “yet another ‘Wunderwaffe’ [wonder weapon] Washington and Kiev are betting on, without thinking about the harsh consequences” of its employment, Zakharova said, adding that previous uses of such munitions in the Middle East and other parts of the world showed that its bomblets could stay unexploded for a long time and go off after a conflict has ended.

“Through thecluster munition deliveries, Washingtonde-facto becomes anaccomplicein mining [Ukraine’s] territory and will share full responsibilityfor the deaths… of both Russian and Ukrainianchildren,” the spokeswoman stressed.

The continued expansion of weapon supplies to Kiev is aimed at “raising the stakes in this conflict to the maximum,” Zakharova warned, adding that such actions also show the US and its allies engaging more and more in the hostilities. This serves as yet another example of America’s “aggressive anti-Russian course,” she said, stressing that Washington is seeking to prolong the conflict for as long as possible and turn it into a “war to the last Ukrainian.”

Her words came a day after Washington approved another $800 million weapons package for Ukraine, including cluster munitions, despite America’s own legislation banning their export. US Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Colin Kahl then defended the White House’s decision by saying that Russia’s victory would be “the worst thing for civilians in Ukraine,” even when compared to the potential harm inflicted by cluster bombs.

Some US allies have questioned the move. On Friday, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock expressed a negative attitude to the idea, saying that Berlin is sticking to the Oslo agreements that ban cluster munitions. Austria, which is not a NATO member, said the West would be sending the wrong signal if such munitions are sent to a conflict zone.

The use of cluster bombs was also condemned by the UN and Human Rights Watch (HRW). The munitions were banned under a UN convention back in 2008. More than 110 nations have become parties to the agreement since then.

(It’s pretty interesting that EU countries are opposing cluster bombs but they don’t want to stop the war that have killed 130,000-150,000 Ukrainians soldiers die)

https://www.rt.com/russia/579389-us-cluster-ukraine-fm/