Cluster Bombs’ Deadly Impact Gains Notice

The conflict in Lebanon last summer brought new attention to the deadly consequences of certain types of conventional weapons. Today the Lebanese countryside remains littered with both landmines and unexploded cluster munitions many of which were made in the U.S. and provided to Israel.

The international outrage following the 2006 conflict between Lebanon and Israel has led to growing awareness of the effects of indiscriminate antipersonnel weapons and has given new life to efforts to halt the use of such weapons.

Mine Ban Treaty 10th Anniversary

In 2007, FCNL will celebrate with others around the world the tenth anniversary of the signing of the Mine Ban Treaty by 122 nations in Ottawa, Canada. This year also marks 10 years since the United States stood aside and chose not to sign that 1997 life-saving treaty. The U.S. remains one of 40 countries that has not joined the Mine Ban Treaty and is one of just 13 countries that produce or reserve the right to produce antipersonnel mines.

While the United States has not used antipersonnel landmines for over 15 years and has not produced them in almost 10, it currently does produce, trade, and use another type of indiscriminate antipersonnel weapon: cluster munitions. A cluster munition consists of a canister designed to open in mid-air and disperse smaller bomblets over a wide area.

The wide dispersal pattern of bomblets—a single cluster bomb can rain death on an area as wide as 250 acres—makes it very difficult to avoid civilian casualties. Moreover, while they are designed to explode on impact, many of the sub-munitions initially fail to detonate, leaving behind large numbers of hazardous explosive “duds” that are akin to landmines, injuring and killing civilians long after conflicts end.

The U.S. has used cluster munitions in places such as Afghanistan, Cambodia, Iraq, and the former Yugoslavia. It also has transferred cluster munitions to 25 countries, including some with poor human rights records such as Indonesia, Israel, Pakistan, and Saudi Arabia.

A New International Campaign

The International Committee of the Red Cross has called on countries to stop using cluster munitions, and Norway has taken the lead to begin a process to develop a treaty to ban cluster munitions, because they cause unacceptable harm to civilians. Humanitarian and human rights organizations hope they can follow the example of the mine ban movement and build a global movement to ban cluster munitions.

The 2006 war in Lebanon focused new attention within the U.S. on these deadly weapons. The Pentagon still holds a stockpile of over 10 million antipersonnel mines and upwards of one billion cluster sub-munitions.

FCNL will be working with the new Congress to support legislation to end the production, transfer, and use of deadly antipersonnel weapons.