Elders for Peace--Bulletin 2

Bulletin 8:

Cluster Bombs -

Cruel and Indiscriminate Weapons

What Is a Cluster Bomb

A cluster bomb is a canister designed to open in mid-air and disperse many smaller munitions which can scatter over an area as large as 250 acres. It can be delivered from aircraft in rockets, missiles, or bombs or can be launched from the ground in artillery shells or missiles. Their wide dispersal means that civilians will be hurt. (FCNL 2007a)

But many cluster bombs fail to detonate, leaving behind “duds” that will detonate on contact later and thus endanger civilians for years to come. Dud rates in combat zones range from 5 to 30 % though testing data indicate that some new cluster munitions will have failure rates as low as 1% (FCNL 2007b)

The U.S. used cluster bombs in Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos between 1964 and 1975. Civilian casualties from them continue to occur to this day, 30 years later. Almost 11,000 people (about a third of them children) have been killed or injured there by these duds. In 2004, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) estimated that in Laos alone, between 9 and 27 million unexploded cluster bombs still remained. (FCNL 2007b)

What About the U.S.?

More recently, the US has used cluster bombs in Afghanistan, Yugoslavia (with NATO forces), and Iraq in both the Gulf War and the current conflict. It has dropped 59,787 pounds of cluster submunitions in the current Iraq war, which may account for most of the Iraqi civilian deaths. It has also transferred cluster munitions to 25 other countries, including Indonesia, Israel, Pakistan, and Saudi Arabia. (FCNL 2007b).The DoD claims U.S stockpiles of 728.5 million cluster munitions; Human Rights’ estimate (HRW 2006) is closer to 1 billion.

DoD says it has developed “strict rules of engagement and targeting methodologies intended to minimize risks to civilians in or near the zone of conflict.” And beginning FY 2005, it has required that all newly manufactured cluster munitions have a dud rate of less than 1%. But of the estimated 4 million submunitions Israel used in Lebanon in 2006, up to a quarter failed to detonate. DoD’s new “strict rules” do not affect the high dud rate of the huge existing U.S. stockpile, which the U.S. can still transfer or use.

International Efforts to Control the Manufacture and Use of Cluster Bombs

Efforts to control cluster bombs conducted under the aegis of the UN resulted in the 1980 Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons (see www.ccwtreaty.comm/keydocs). It has a section on limiting civilian casualties and promotes ongoing consultation. But progress has been very slow.

In February 2007 in Oslo, 46 states launched a process to conclude a comprehensive and effective treaty by 2008. In May, in Lima 28 new countries joined them. The US was not one of them.

The new process mirrors that of the successful campaign that banned antipersonnel landmines in 1997. The process is set to continue with international meetings in Vienna, Austria in December, in Wellington, New Zealand in February 2008, and in Dublin, Ireland May 2008.( FCNL 2007c)

What Is Congress Doing About Cluster Bombs?

Despite the US Defense Department's fondness for cluster bombs, US policymakers are beginning to see the need for restrictions in the use of cluster bombs. In the current and last Congressional sessions, Senators Feinstein and Leahy introduced bills to address the indiscriminate and lasting effects of Cluster munitions.

The 2005/6 session bill was defeated, but a new bill is under consideration.. The Cluster Munitions Civilian Protection Act of 2007 (S. 594) would ban the use of cluster bombs in or near civilian areas and would ban the use, sale, and transfer of almost the entire existing U.S. arsenal of cluster munitions. The House equivalent bill, HR 1755 was introduced by Rep. James McGovern. These bills need more co-sponsors – only six each as of May 2007.

We Must Urge DoD and Congress to:

	Cease further production or transfer of cluster munitions;
	Destroy stockpiles of cluster munitions with a failure rate above 1%;
	Acknowledge that the U.S. has a special responsibility for clearance, warnings, risk education, and provision of victim assistance with no time limit.
	Commit to no use of cluster munitions in or near populated or urban areas; and

Support a Strong International Treaty Banning Cluster Munitions.

References and other sources:

FCNL (2007a), Fact Sheet on Cluster bombs; fcnl.org/pdfs/weapons/clusterBombsFS-3.pdf

FCNL (2007b), Cluster Munitions: The Weapon, International Developments, and U.S.Policy;

Fcnl.org/issues/item_print.php?item_id+2240&issue_id+138

ICRC (2004), Explosive remnants of war: the lethal legacy of armed conflict Publication 2004 ref.0828

Icrc.org/web/eng/siteeng).nsf/html/p0828

Human Rights Watch (HRW,2006), The Current U.S. Cluster Munition Stockpile;

Hrww.org/backgrounder/arms/cluster0705/2.htm#_Toc109126222

FCNL (2007c), Cluster Bomb Treaty Takes Shape after Successful Ban Talks.FCNL

Issues/item.php?item_id=2652&issue-id=138

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