The use of cluster bombs, banned by 123 countries, has not helped the Russians achieve their objectives in their brutal war in Ukraine. Neither did the US profit from their use, along with other anti-civilian weapons, in protracted wars in south‑east Asia, nor did either the Soviet Union or the US in their Afghanistan campaigns, against less well‑equipped enemies. Joe Biden’s decision (Joe Biden defends ‘difficult decision’ to send cluster munitions to Ukraine, 8 July) seems more likely to provoke escalation, rather than hasten victory over Russia in what looks increasingly like an unwinnable war for either side.
In the context of attempts to sanitise these appalling weapons, your editorial on the spoken word (The Guardian view on spoken word poets: powerful voices that are needed today, 7 July) brought to mind the late, great performance poet Adrian Mitchell. His famous poem To Whom It May Concern (Tell Me Lies About Vietnam), inveighing against the 1960s American bombing campaign, contains the memorable lines: “I smell something burning, hope it’s just my brains. They’re only dropping peppermints and daisy-chains.” In these fractured times, and with Labour’s new emphasis on oracy, the need for a resurgence of political performance poetry has never been greater.
Dr Anthony Isaacs
London
