Joe Biden made another crucial blunder this week, proclaiming on national television that the United States is low on a certain type of artillery ammunition.
Twitter was set ablaze with commentary from conservatives about the latest slip to come from the president’s mouth.
“Love when the president of America goes on CNN to tell everyone we’re low on ammo,” remarked political operative Logan Dobson.
“Joe Biden wasn’t supposed to say the quiet part out loud: ‘We’ve run out of ammunition.’ But now that the cat’s out of the bag, one must ask whether continued support of Ukraine’s military is even feasible as the conflict rages on,” political commentator Ian Miles Cheong remarked.
A White House Official had to clean up the mess in an email to Fox News Digital:
“The military has specific requirements for the numbers of weapons systems and ammunition we maintain in our reserves in case of contingencies or military conflict. Everything we send to Ukraine is in excess of that. So, the U.S. is not running out of ammunition ourselves.”
Despite the contest from the White House, conservative pundits are not convinced the U.S. is not in dire straits when it comes to being prepared for a military conflict.
What Does America Have?
“We don’t have the weapons to keep Americans safe,” said Jack Posobiec from the Human Events Daily podcast.
Posobiec interviewed retired Colonel Tony Shaffer about Biden’s plan to send cluster bombs to Ukraine and the US munitions shortage after supplying significant amounts of military weapons to Ukraine’s war effort and promises of more.
Shaffer stated:
“There’s been 41 acknowledged draws from our global for positioned stocks of ammunition that are there for us to go to war with a variety of potential enemies. Jack, those are supposed to be there for the purposes of our military forces showing up at a location, being able to draw rapidly, and have at least 30 days of weapons available to go fully into combat with a near peer. Forty-one draws is not a good thing. As a matter of fact, I think it’s closer to 50. They’ve only acknowledged 41 – I think they’ve drawn to the point of where we basically have no war time stock left. And that’s a dangerous position for us to be in if we’re actually thinking about trying to challenge the Chinese if something happens in Taiwan. There’s other things that could happen in the Middle East. I think we’re in a very dangerous time and our concern, my concern, should be always can we provide the men and women of the American military sufficient military force and ammunition to prevail and I’m skeptical at this point. Joe Biden himself acknowledged this.”
This is a dangerous slip considering China seems to be chomping at the bit to battle it out with America.
“Moron. Does Biden not care that our adversaries in China are listening?” questioned conservative communicator Steve Guest.
I’m pretty sure Biden didn’t even realize what he said.
Joe Biden and the Cluster Controversy
The president let the slip occur when defending his administration’s decision to send cluster munitions, which are known to cause grievous injuries to civilians, to Ukraine as a “transition period” until more munitions are produced.
Cluster ammunitions are widely considered illegal. The Convention on Cluster Munitions prohibits the use, transfer, production, and stockpiling of cluster bombs, but the US and Ukraine are not signatories to the ban. However, many U.S. allies are, including a majority of countries also in NATO.
The Convention was adopted in Dublin by 107 States on May 30, 2008 and signed in Oslo on December 3rd of the same year. The Convention became binding international law when it entered into force on August 1, 2010. To date, a total of 123 States have joined the Convention – 111 States Parties and 12 Signatories.
Human rights groups have described cluster munitions as “abhorrent” and even a war crime. This is due to the fact that while they are intended to explode on impact, a significant proportion are “duds,” meaning they don’t explode initially – this happens especially if they land on wet or soft ground.
They can then explode at a later date on being picked up or trodden on by an innocent victim, killing or maiming them.
The Biden administration itself condemned their use at the beginning of the Ukraine war.
In February of 2022, just five days after the start of the war, when asked about Russia’s use of unconventional weapons, former press secretary Jen Psaki declared, “We have seen the reports. If that were true, it would potentially be a war crime.”
Many agree sending such weapons is not a good look for the U.S. and the Biden Administration.
But the so-called slip in Biden’s interview may have been just that – another incomprehensible, blunder coming from an unaware president’s mouth that meant nothing.
Jennifer Galardi is the politics and culture editor and opinion writer for 19FortyFive.com, writing opinion pieces from a conservative perspective. She has a Master’s in Public Policy from Pepperdine University and produces and hosts the podcast Connection with conversations that address health, culture, politics, and policy. In a previous life, she wrote for publications in the health, fitness, and nutrition space. In addition, her pieces have been published in the Epoch Times and Pepperdine Policy Review. You can follow her on Instagram and Twitter.
