Fidel Posted February 24, 2007 Report Share Posted February 24, 2007 AFP Published: Friday February 23, 2007 The United States on Friday rejected an international call to abandon the use of cluster bombs, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said. "We ... take the position that these munitions do have a place and a use in military inventories, given the right technology as well as the proper rules of engagement," McCormack said. Forty-six countries meeting in Oslo on Friday pledged to seek a treaty banning cluster bombs by next year, with major user and stockpiler Britain and manufacturer France signing on, Norway said. "We, ourselves, have already taken a couple of other steps with regard to technical upgrades to cluster munitions, as well as looking very closely at the rules of engagement, how they are used," said McCormack. "So it is something that over the course of the years we have looked at very closely. We have taken very seriously the international discussion with respect to the threat posed by unexploded ordnance to innocent civilians," he said. Japan, Poland and Romania refused to sign the accord, while key nations such as Israel and the United States did not take part in the conference. The 46 countries agreed to "commit themselves to ... conclude by 2008 a legally binding international instrument that will prohibit the use, production, transfer and stockpiling of cluster munitions that cause unacceptable harm to civilians," according to the declaration. A number of leading countries, including Britain and France, had previously said they wanted a ban to be part of the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons, a process which Norway and a number of other nations consider to be a failure. A cluster bomb is a container holding hundreds of smaller bomblets. It opens in mid-air and disperses the bomblets over a large area. The smaller bombs do not always explode on impact, which means they can continue to kill innocent civilians years later. A recent report by Handicap International claimed that 98 percent of casualties from cluster munitions are non-combatants. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
foreigner Posted February 24, 2007 Report Share Posted February 24, 2007 the us has circumvented bans on napalm & other banned munitions. some kinda phosphorus munitions are used in Iraq against international law. th us was the only (ONLY, 149 -1 was the vote) country to not agree on banning weapons in space & then got all uppity when china shot down the satellite. so sad .. the entire us currently has seemingly slipped to the cognitive level of the shrub with the disposition of (war criminal) cheney. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bangkoktraveler Posted February 24, 2007 Report Share Posted February 24, 2007 Providing weapons to the world is big money. What is hippocritical is how the USA can say what other countries can do but refuse to provide the example. I guess if other countries become 'democratic' and begin preaching 'democracy and freedom' then they too can produce and sell some of the nastiest weapons in existence. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chuckwoww Posted February 24, 2007 Report Share Posted February 24, 2007 The big question is what happens when we are all free and democratic? There'll be nobody left to test the weapons on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julian2 Posted February 25, 2007 Report Share Posted February 25, 2007 The big question is what happens when we are all free and democratic? There'll be nobody left to test the weapons on. The evil race of dogs will start plotting world domination. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bangkoktraveler Posted February 25, 2007 Report Share Posted February 25, 2007 We will test the weapons on the less democratic countries and countries classified as less free. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neo Posted February 25, 2007 Report Share Posted February 25, 2007 Interesting article and another head shaking result. The last line says it all: 98% of casualties are civilians. It gets worse though. The US also refuses to join the ban on land mines. They claim land mines are essential in holding back north korea from invading the south. Who are they trying to fool? I am guessing these type of decisions come down to the respective groups not wanting to lose their budgets and power. The fact americans and the rest of the world just watch without doing anything is the real travesty. There should be international condemnation, UN sanctions, a push for regime change, and people who make these decisions tried for war crimes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flashermac Posted February 25, 2007 Report Share Posted February 25, 2007 I would seriously question how 98% of the casualties of cluster bombs are civilian. Just where are they using these things anyway? They shouldn't be used in civilian areas in the first place! p.s. It shouldn't be that difficult to make munitions with a much shorter "shelf life". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bust Posted February 25, 2007 Report Share Posted February 25, 2007 I really don't want to hear this shit anymore. I know a lot of guys on this board are from the states so please don't take this personally but your government is pure evil. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bangkoktraveler Posted February 25, 2007 Report Share Posted February 25, 2007 Nawww, it is not pure evil. It just has some strange fuckers running it right now. Being we are democratic and free, it is only a matter of time when we tell these fuckers to stop fucking. Or maybe we will awake from the dream. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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