Cluster bombs

S

swatiraohnlu

Swati Rao
Cluster bombs were first used in World War II by German and Soviet forces.
During the 1970s, the USA used massive numbers of cluster bombs in Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam. More recently, cluster bombs were used extensively in the Gulf War, Chechnya, the former Yugoslavia, Afghanistan, Iraq and in Lebanon in 2006. Calls for banning them have emerged strongly in recent years, and an international treaty to ban them was passed in May of 2008. Over one-hundred countries have signed the treaty. The United States and other countries that produce and utilize cluster bombs have not signed the treaty.

Is an international ban on cluster bombs justified? Was the US wrong to reject it?
 
Cluster bomb like nuclear war heads has potential to kill mass. If US supports CTBT then they should support banning clusters....
 
* Cluster bombs simply kill too many civilians According to Handicap International, the NGO, 80 percent - 85 percent of the victims of cluster bombs are civilians and 23 percent are children.[1]

* Cluster bombs inherently inaccurate, kill indiscriminate Kathleen Peratis. "Back Bill To Ban Cluster Bombs". The Jewish Daily Forward. 23 Mar 2007 - "cluster bombs, like landmines, kill indiscriminately, and therefore they should be banned. This is how they work: A single cluster bomb spews dozens or hundreds of smaller sub-munitions, called bomblets, over a wide 'footprint.' The bomblets are designed to explode on impact and to destroy broad targets, such as massed armor and infantry formations." Because of the weapon's broad area of effect, they have often been documented as striking both civilian and military objects in the target area. This characteristic of the weapon is particularly problematic for civilians when cluster munitions are used in or near populated areas and has been documented by research reports from groups such as Human Rights Watch. Further compounding this problem is that, according to Handicap International, only 15 percent of the bombs reach their objectives.
 
* Cluster bomb "duds" become de facto mines, threatening civilizations "Britain supports call for ban on cluster bombs". Guardian. 24 Feb. 2007 - "Up to 60% of the victims in southeast Asia are children. The weapons have recently been used in Iraq, Kosovo, Afghanistan and Lebanon. The UN estimates that Israel dropped 4m in south Lebanon during last summer's war with Hizbullah, with as many 40% failing to explode on impact." These unexploded "duds" act as de facto mines that can terrorize communities for decades.

* Cluster bombs' bright colors attractive to children Jeffrey Benner. "The Case Against Cluster Bombs". Mother Jones. May 28, 1999 - "For every cluster bomb dropped, a small percentage of the 202 bomblets released are duds. Bright yellow with red stripes and a little plastic parachute hood, these soda-can-sized death sticks have proven particularly attractive to curious children. Many are blown to bits and killed in the encounter, while others survive despite the loss of limbs."
 
* Dud rates in cluster bombs are far too high. Cluster bombs are a threat in so far as the little bomblets become defacto landmines when they fail to explode on impact. Instead, they sit in waiting for a civilian or soldier to step on them or pick them up, whereupon they explode.

* Demeaning cluster bombs is dangerous, costs lives The Boston Globe reported, "One of the first casualties of the war on terrorism was the killing of four United Nations demining workers in early October and the total disruption of demining work. 'We have lost 30 workers in the last decade on minefields, but this is the first time we have lost people in the office,' said Syed Ahmad Farid Elmi, acting director of the demining team. More than 1,000 demining workers were put on "mandatory unpaid leave once it appeared that the United States might retaliate in Afghanistan."
 
* Banning class of weapons never undermines state security Archbishop Silvano Tomasi, the Holy See's permanent observer to the U.N. offices in Geneva, said in May 2008, "experience shows us how the prohibition of certain categories of arms in a good faith negotiation with international organizations has never placed states' national security in danger."

* Over-armament with cluster bombs is threat to peace Archbishop Silvano Tomasi, the Holy See's permanent observer to the U.N. offices in Geneva, "The true danger is owed more to 'over-armament' and the fact of trusting only in arms for assuring national and international security."

* Cluster bombs kill soldiers of militaries deploying them Dick Devlin. "Ban these bombs that kill indiscriminately". 12 July 2008] - "when U.S. soldiers stumbled upon tens of thousands of dud U.S. submunitions in the deserts of Saudi Arabia and Iraq during Operation Desert Storm (Iraq, 1991), they did not know what the litter was. As a result of their curiosity, this type of U.S. weaponry killed and injured more American troops than any Iraqi weapon system during that war."
 
* Improving cluster bomb detonation rates is the solution, not a ban "DoD Wants Less Deadly Cluster Bomby". Associated Press. 8 July, 2008 - "Faced with growing international pressure, the Pentagon is changing its policy on cluster bombs and plans to reduce the danger of unexploded munitions in the deadly explosives.

The policy shift, which is outlined in a three-page memo signed by Defense Secretary Robert Gates, would require that after 2018, more than 99 percent of the bomblets in a cluster bomb must detonate.

Limiting the amount of live munitions left on the battlefield would lessen the danger to innocent civilians who have been killed or severely injured when they accidentally detonate the bombs."
 
1>Cluster munitions, cluster bombs or sub-munitions are air-dropped or ground-launched explosive weapons that eject smaller munitions: a cluster of bomblets. The most common types are designed to kill enemy personnel and destroy vehicles
 
2>Other submunition-based weapons designed to destroy runways, electric power transmission lines, disperse chemical or biological weapons, or to scatter land mines have also been produced. Some submunition-based weapons can disperse non-munitions such as leaflets.
 
3>Because cluster bombs release many small bomblets over a wide area they pose risks to civilians both during attacks and afterwards. During attacks the weapons are prone to indiscriminate effects, especially in populated areas. Unexploded bomblets can kill or maim civilians long after a conflict has ended, and are costly to locate and remove.
 
4>Cluster munitions are prohibited for those nations that ratify the Convention on Cluster Munitions, adopted in Dublin, Ireland in May 2008. The Convention entered into force and became binding international law upon ratifying states on 1 August 2010, six months after being ratified by 30 states;[1] as of March 2011, a total of 108 states have signed the Convention and 55 of those have ratified it
 
Civilian deaths from unexploded cluster bomblets

In Vietnam, people are still being killed as a result of cluster bombs and other objects left by the US and Vietnamese military forces. Estimates range up to 300 people killed annually by unexploded ordnance.[41]

In Vietnam, people are still being killed as a result of cluster bombs and other objects left by the US and Vietnamese military forces. Estimates range up to 300 people killed annually by unexploded ordnance.[41]
 
-Some 270 million cluster submunitions were dropped on Laos in the 1960s and 1970s; approximately one third of these submunitions failed to explode and continue to pose a threat today.[42]
 
-During the 1999 NATO war against Yugoslavia U.S. and Britain dropped 1,400 cluster bombs in Kosovo. Within the first year after the end of the war more than 100 civilians died from unexploded British and American bombs. Unexploded cluster bomblets caused more civilian deaths than landmines.[43]
 
-Israel used cluster bombs in Lebanon in 1978 and in the 1980s. Those weapons used more than two decades ago by Israel continue to affect Lebanon. During the 2006 war in Lebanon Israel fired large numbers of cluster bombs in Lebanon, containing an estimated more than 4 million cluster submunitions. In the first month following the ceasefire, unexploded cluster munitions killed or injured an average of 3-4 people per day
 
The most enduring costs of an extensive treaty, however, will be to the solidarity of Nato. The United States insists on the option of using cluster munitions. The US is not merely one state among many. In the absence of world government, it is the provider and guarantor of collective security. Under the terms of the treaty, military personnel might face criminal prosecution if they operated alongside US forces."
 
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