Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
Editorials & Other Articles
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
Admiral's Comments Undercut Pentagon's Cluster Munition Policy
John Ismay
@johnismay.bsky.social
CENTCOM is unhappy with this story, but unable to argue with the facts it presents. This morning I offered an on-record interview with Adm. Cooper in case he wanted to clarify his remarks, but that was rejected out of hand by a staffer
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/17/us/politics/cluster-munitions-iran.html
Admiral’s Comments Undercut Pentagon’s Cluster Munition Policy
www.nytimes.com
2:25 PM · Mar 17, 2026
@johnismay.bsky.social
CENTCOM is unhappy with this story, but unable to argue with the facts it presents. This morning I offered an on-record interview with Adm. Cooper in case he wanted to clarify his remarks, but that was rejected out of hand by a staffer
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/17/us/politics/cluster-munitions-iran.html
Admiral’s Comments Undercut Pentagon’s Cluster Munition Policy
www.nytimes.com
2:25 PM · Mar 17, 2026
CENTCOM is unhappy with this story, but unable to argue with the facts it presents. This morning I offered an on-record interview with Adm. Cooper in case he wanted to clarify his remarks, but that was rejected out of hand by a staffer www.nytimes.com/2026/03/17/u...
— John Ismay (@johnismay.bsky.social) 2026-03-17T18:25:08.998Z
Admiral’s Comments Undercut Pentagon’s Cluster Munition Policy
The first Trump administration defended cluster munitions as “legitimate,” but on Monday, Adm. Brad Cooper condemned them as “inherently indiscriminate.”
Adm. Brad Cooper, the leader of U.S. Central Command, in November. Avishag Shaar-Yashuv for The New York Times
By John Ismay
Reporting from Washington
March 17, 2026
In a video posted on social media on Monday, Adm. Brad Cooper, the leader of U.S. Central Command, condemned a recent Iranian cluster munition attack on Israel. ... Calling them “an inherently indiscriminate type of munition,” Admiral Cooper said the “Iranian regime” had launched “a reckless attack against civilian neighborhoods in Tel Aviv.” A video showed dots of light streaking through the night sky from an incoming missile.
“We join countries across the region in condemning this aggression,” he added. ... The first Trump administration, however, defended the use of cluster munitions in a policy that remains in effect today.
Cluster munitions are a class of military ordnance that breaks apart in midair and scatters smaller explosive or incendiary weapons, often called bomblets, over a large area. About 20 percent of those bomblets fail to explode on impact but can still explode if discovered even decades later.
In November 2017, Patrick M. Shanahan, who was serving as the deputy secretary of defense at the time, signed a memo calling cluster munitions “legitimate weapons with clear military utility.” ... His memo reversed an earlier Pentagon decision to ban the use of its existing arsenal of cluster weapons by 2019 because of the harm they pose to civilians.
{snip}
John Ismay is a reporter covering the Pentagon for The Times. He served as an explosive ordnance disposal officer in the U.S. Navy.
The first Trump administration defended cluster munitions as “legitimate,” but on Monday, Adm. Brad Cooper condemned them as “inherently indiscriminate.”
Adm. Brad Cooper, the leader of U.S. Central Command, in November. Avishag Shaar-Yashuv for The New York Times
By John Ismay
Reporting from Washington
March 17, 2026
In a video posted on social media on Monday, Adm. Brad Cooper, the leader of U.S. Central Command, condemned a recent Iranian cluster munition attack on Israel. ... Calling them “an inherently indiscriminate type of munition,” Admiral Cooper said the “Iranian regime” had launched “a reckless attack against civilian neighborhoods in Tel Aviv.” A video showed dots of light streaking through the night sky from an incoming missile.
“We join countries across the region in condemning this aggression,” he added. ... The first Trump administration, however, defended the use of cluster munitions in a policy that remains in effect today.
Cluster munitions are a class of military ordnance that breaks apart in midair and scatters smaller explosive or incendiary weapons, often called bomblets, over a large area. About 20 percent of those bomblets fail to explode on impact but can still explode if discovered even decades later.
In November 2017, Patrick M. Shanahan, who was serving as the deputy secretary of defense at the time, signed a memo calling cluster munitions “legitimate weapons with clear military utility.” ... His memo reversed an earlier Pentagon decision to ban the use of its existing arsenal of cluster weapons by 2019 because of the harm they pose to civilians.
{snip}
John Ismay is a reporter covering the Pentagon for The Times. He served as an explosive ordnance disposal officer in the U.S. Navy.