US may ban sale of cluster bombs to Israel

[Purveyor]

Published: 20 September 2006

The discovery of hundreds of US-made cluster bombs among the tens of thousands of unexploded munitions carpeting the south of Lebanon, has led to calls on Washington to impose a moratorium on sales of the weapons to Israel.

Bomb disposal experts are working around the clock to clear the lethal leftovers after Israel fired 1.2 million bomblets in the last three days of the war. The pods containing the 650 bomblets, which burst apart at a pre-determined height, have a failure rate of up to 30 per cent, leaving clear evidence of their American origin.

The US State Department is investigating Israel's use of American-made cluster bombs during the war in Lebanon. In particular, whether or not Israel broke a secret agreement with the United States not to use cluster bombs against civilians.

The Israelis make no attempt to hide where they obtained this weapon. In the garden of a house in Nabatiyeh used as a headquarters by the British-based Mines Advisory Group (MAG) lies a cluster-bomb container that sprayed bomblets over an area the size of a football pitch. Such weapons are still causing casualties.

---end of excerpt---

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/article1621755.ece

[Botany]

1. Wanna get that barn door, now?

[geek tragedy]

2. Good. But, I'll believe it when I see it. eom

[stillcool]

3. cute....

moratorium. Like the Boland Ammendment?

[MannyGoldstein]

4. Ms. Clinton: Flag Burning Bad, Cluster Bombs Good

Ms. Clinton was able to take a bit of time away from her campaign to make flag-burning illegal in order to vote against an amendment that would have banned the use of cluster bombs in densely populated areas and prohibited the U.S. from selling cluster bombs to countries unwilling to abide by the restrictions.

Ahhhhh.... the Golden Triangle... so shiny...

[nealmhughes]

5. I guess they didn't get the memo: the Feinstein-Leahy Amendment failed

30 to 70 earlier in the month... Feinstein showed graphic photos of Lebanese child victims on the Senate floor. All the DLC crowd went with all the Republicans and could not find the valor to ban these things. The bombettes look like freaking toys!

I blogged it at Screeching Rats after the amendment failure. Rollcall included.

http://screechingrats.wordpress.com/2006/09/09/suffer-the-little-children-cluster-bombs-and-the-us-senate/

Got one hate mail for my trouble...

[razors edge]

6. but they are 40 years old

unreliable and linger for years after their "failed deployments"

who else would buy them?

[Solo_in_MD]

7. Old News - Not Going to Happen

Like it or not, submunitions are the right thing to use for certain kiinds of targets, inculding...artilery site (including rockets). Israel also makes some in country.

[Name removed]

8. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Hardrada]

9. And if it is so jolly okay to use such weapons

maybe some of Israel's neighbors might also invest in such oh-so-useful weaponry.I hope they will not but Israel is setting bad precedents so I think IDF use of such is short-sighted. But then that whole war was short-sighted and it served them right to have to scurry home.

[maddezmom]

10. locking

Not latest breaking news
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