CNN Newsroom: Interview With Rep. John Garamendi (D-CA)
Interview
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I think the president did make the right move. I also recognize how difficult this decision is. However, when you consider all of the factors, as the president has done, it is the right thing to do.
The fields in Ukraine where this war is taking place are currently littered with duds of all kinds of armaments. Nearly four million rounds of military artillery have been fired across both lines and there is a considerable number of duds already in the field. These cluster munitions are very effective. The problem with them is that there are a certain percentage, perhaps 1 percent or 2 percent of these small bomblets do not explode, and they are duds and littering the field and seriously a danger for the future.
And that's -- the president took all of that into account. He also took into account the effectiveness of these cluster bombs, and particularly in the trench warfare that we're now seeing in the eastern Ukraine.
So I do support him. I think it's the right thing for him to have done. I think it's also very important that the United States does what it has done before, and that is to follow up when the war is over and put as much money as necessary into cleaning the debris of war including the duds.
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Well, certainly Mr. Leahy and Merkley are extremely well aware of the danger of these munitions. Let's keep in mind that the munitions themselves are extremely effective for what they intend to be used for, and that is to clear the way past the trenches that the Russians have installed in the eastern Ukrainian front.
Now the remaining duds, that is that percentage that do not explode, will add to the existing litter that is already on the battlefield. There has been four million rounds of artillery that have been lobbed by both -- by two million by both sides across the frontline. There is a significant percentage of those munitions that are already unexploded on the battlefield. These cluster bomblets that do not explode will add to that mounting number of duds and the danger into the future.
The immediate effect of the cluster bomb is, as said by the two senators, it is awesome. These are extremely explosive, extremely effective munitions for what they are intended to do. The residual is of enormous concern to all of us, and the major point here, if we want to talk about morality, we should keep in mind who started this war, why this war continues. It is prudent, it is the Russians that invaded Ukraine, that have launched this horrific war, and continue to pursue it, not only on the front line, but every day Russia immorally is attacking civilians in virtually every city of Ukraine. So if we want to talk about moral equivalency, we should keep that in mind.
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Well, first of all, membership for Sweden must be on the table. Right now, two of our allies, Turkey and Hungary are holding up Sweden's ascension into the NATO pack. We need Sweden in this fight. We need them in NATO. We need to understand that Russia has not given up on trying to reestablish the Warsaw Pact, which was the Russian influence, the Soviet Union influence during the Cold War.
Now with regard to Ukraine, this is not a new issue. Ukraine has put forth a solicitation to join NATO about three years ago and that has been on hold. That was being studied. Now that this war is underway, when it terminates, there is a high probability that Ukraine will once again put forth a solicitation to join NATO. And at that point, it seems to me that they should be allowed to join NATO.
They will ultimately be the victors in this war, this horrendous fight that they have endured, and they have at least thus far successfully pursued, although the current offense is going much slower than all of us would like, and that brings us back to the cluster bomb issue.
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It certainly is. For four years, Trump attempted and successfully in some cases, to use the power of the federal government, the IRS, the judiciary and others, to prosecute, to persecute, and to go after his political enemies. This is not a new issue, it's been there for four years during the Trump period. It was plain to see and it was discussed and it was news items during that period of time.
And now we have this hypocrisy from Jim Jordan going after what clearly Biden did not do with regard to the Hunter Biden situation, and if you want to investigate, the weaponization of the federal government, go back three years, 2 1/2 years, go back to January of 2020, when the waning days of the Trump administration, even at that time, Trump was attempting to use the military -- to use the military to stay in power. So yes, there's plenty to investigate.
When all of this was said and done it may be that we will want to put in place more safeguards, more rails, if you will, to make it clear that no administration should ever be using the federal -- the power of the federal government to go after their political opponents. Clearly Biden has not done that. Clearly Trump did. And if guardrails are necessary, then that should be our work, not just, as Mr. Jordan is doing, using the committee as a weapon.
Jordan is using the committee as a weapon, using the government as a weapon, to go after his perceived political foes, specifically the Biden family and the Biden administration.
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Thank you.
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