A Democrat has criticized President Joe Biden for his decision to dispatch cluster munitions to Ukraine.

Rep. Barbara Lee, a Democrat from California, opposed the choice during an appearance on CNN’s “State of the Union” with presenter Jake Tapper on Sunday.

“So, here’s how the White House is trying to justify giving Ukraine cluster munitions, despite the risk that they pose to civilians. Take a listen,” the anchor said before airing a tape of National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan outlining the choice.

“There is also a massive risk of civilian harm if Russian troops and tanks roll over Ukrainian positions and take more Ukrainian territory and subjugate more Ukrainian civilians because Ukraine does not have enough artillery,” he said in the video.

“That is intolerable to us. This is their country they’re defending. These are their citizens they’re protecting. And they are motivated to use any weapon system they have,” he said.

“What do you think? Do you buy that argument? What’s your response?” the anchor said.

“No, cluster bombs should never be used. That’s crossing a line. Once you see what takes place — we know what takes place, in terms of cluster bombs being very dangerous to civilians. They don’t always immediately explode. Children can step on them. That’s a line we should not cross,” the representative said.

“I think the president’s been doing a good job managing this war, this Putin aggressive war against Ukraine, but I think that this should not happen. He had to ask for a waiver under the Foreign Assistance Act just to do it, because we have been preventing the use of cluster bombs since, I believe, 2010,” said the representative, who was the only member of Congress to vote against the 2001 conflict with Afghanistan. CONTINUE READING…