Game-changer or war crime? D.C. divided on cluster bombs

President Joe Biden’s decision to include cluster bombs in the latest $800 million weapons package for Ukraine has drawn disparate reactions from members of Congress, with some Democrats breaking with Biden.

“Cluster bombs should never be used. That is crossing a line,” Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.) said Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union.” “I think the President [has] been doing a good job managing this war, this Putin aggressive war against Ukraine. But I think that this should not happen.”

Lee isn’t alone. Several top Democrats have spoken out against the decision, arguing that providing the weapons, which are banned by more than 120 countries under the Geneva Convention, will likely result in the death of civilians.

“What I think is that we are — would risk losing our moral leadership,” Lee said. “And so I'm hoping that the administration would reconsider this because these are very dangerous bombs, they're dangerous weapons and this is a line that I don't believe we should cross.”

The Biden administration itself has expressed different views on whether the weapons constitute a violation of international law. Biden’s former press secretary Jen Psaki, previously said that Russia’s use of such weapons could potentially constitute a war crime.

In an interview with CNN's Fareed Zakaria, Biden said it was "a very difficult decision," to send cluster munitions to Ukraine.

"But the main thing is, they either have the weapons to stop the Russians now from their — keep them from stopping the Ukrainian offensive through these areas, or they don't. And I think they needed them," Biden said in the interview, which aired Sunday on "Fareed Zakaria GPS."

Speaking on ABC's "This Week," National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said the Ukrainians were still far less likely to kill civilians than the Russians. "I think we can all agree that more civilians have been and will continue to be killed by Russian forces with — whether it's cluster munitions, drones, missile attacks or just frontal assaults — than will likely be hurt by the use of these cluster munitions fired at Russian positions inside Ukrainian territory."

Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.) also came to Biden's defense. "This was a very hard decision. The President, really, he listened to all sides," Coons said during an interview on CBS's "Face the Nation," adding that the Ukrainians are "at risk of losing this counter-offensive if they run out of their shells."

Some Republicans applauded the administration’s decision.

"This should have happened long ago. Russia has been using those for a long time," said Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) on "Fox News Sunday" saying the Biden administration needs to continue "to step up" in support of Ukraine.

House Foreign Affairs Chair Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas) echoed those remarks on CNN’s “State of the Union.”

All that "the Ukrainians and Zelenskyy are asking for is to give them the same weapons the Russians have to use in their own country against Russians who are in their own country,” McCaul said.

“They would be a game-changer in the counter-offensive, and I'm pleased the administration has finally agreed to do this.”