Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy meets with Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump in New York on Sept. 27, 2024. (Embassy of Ukraine in the USA via Facebook)
The recent U.S. announcement that it will cease providing weapons and intelligence support to Ukraine is a deeply concerning shift. Abandoning Ukraine, a steadfast ally, will not only be devastating for the country and its people but will also severely tarnish America’s leadership on the global stage, fueling instability across Europe.
With Russia’s invasion of Ukraine ongoing, this reduction in U.S. support has left European nations grappling with heightened insecurity. In response, countries are now making decisions driven by fear, aiming to bolster their own defense capabilities. Among the most alarming developments is Lithuania’s recent decision to withdraw from the Convention on Cluster Munitions on March 6. Soon after, Poland announced it is considering withdrawal from the Ottawa Treaty and the Dublin Conventions, two pivotal international agreements that ban the use of anti-personnel landmines and cluster munitions (CMs). Finland, Estonia and Latvia, too, have signaled the possibility of leaving the Ottawa Treaty.
While the motivations behind these actions are understandable given the circumstances, we must acknowledge the grave humanitarian consequences of relying on such indiscriminate weapons. The potential harm to civilian populations far outweighs any perceived military advantages. Worse still, if these decisions set a precedent, other nations might follow suit, undermining global efforts to uphold humanitarian norms and international law.
Should Poland and Finland follow through, they risk playing into Russia’s strategic aim of dismantling global constraints on the use of violence. Now, more than ever, we need to double down on fostering a rule-based international order that upholds human rights and humanitarian values, not retreat from it.
As a U.S. Air Force veteran, I’ve witnessed firsthand the devastating human cost of these weapons, both now and in the decades to come. From December 1966 to December 1968, I was assigned to the 56th Air Commando Wing at air bases in Thailand, where our primary mission was to interdict the flow of personnel and supplies along the Ho Chi Minh Trail through Laos. As a 26-year-old newly-promoted captain, I was shocked to discover that nearly all of our missions involved flying over Laos, where we dropped over 2.5 million tons of ordnance over nine years — 580,000 bombing runs in total.
A significant portion of the bombs dropped were cluster munitions, devices designed to release multiple smaller submunitions. Many of these bombs failed to detonate on impact, leaving behind a deadly legacy of unexploded ordnance. Today, an estimated 80 million unexploded cluster munitions remain scattered across Laos, posing an ongoing risk to civilians.
I returned to Laos in 2023, and for the first time, I was part of the solution. In a remote village, I assisted in detonating two CMs near a home being built. While this family no longer faces the threat of these lingering bombs, countless others continue to live in danger, with less than 10% of the contamination cleared to date.
Despite knowing firsthand the deadly legacy of these weapons, the United States remains a non-signatory to both the Mine Ban Treaty and the Convention on Cluster Munitions. We continue to stockpile at least 3 million anti-personnel landmines and over 5 million cluster munitions, all of which are potential instruments of death and destruction.
The U.S. should lead the charge in protecting civilians and upholding international human rights law, setting an example for the world. Failing to do so will only perpetuate the cycle of violence and suffering caused by these cruel, indiscriminate weapons.
Mike Burton was commissioned in the U.S. Air Force in 1962 and spent the early years of his Air Force career in special operations, earning a Purple Heart and a Bronze Star. In 1966, he was assigned to the 56th Air Commando Wing in Nakhon Phanom, Thailand. He is the board chair of Legacies of War, which is the chair of the U.S. Campaign to Ban Landmines and Cluster Munitions Coalitions.
