Global bomb clean-up treaty pending (Geneva)

[ConcernedCanuk]

. . Move would help minimize civility maiming, casualties


BY NAOMI KOPPEL
ASSOCIATED PRESS

GENEVA — World governments are ready to approve a new treaty that would force governments to clean up unexploded cluster bombs and other ordnance at the end of a war, an Indian diplomat closely involved in the process said today.

"With effective implementation of this protocol, the risks should be progressively reduced and civilian lives should be saved," said Rakesh Sood, the Indian ambassador on disarmament issues in Geneva.

"It is no longer possible for parties to a conflict to just walk away from the post-conflict consequences of the munitions that they have used," Sood said.

/snip/

There are no firm figures on the level of the problem of war remnants worldwide, but the United States acknowledges that there are between 650,000 and one million tonnes of unexploded ammunition in Iraq alone — ammunition dumps as well as unexploded grenades, rockets and cluster bombs. U.S. occupation forces have begun to clean them up, but the job could take a decade.



"Orange-sized cluster bomblets, scattered by warplanes to disrupt enemy ground operations and airfields, can lie unexploded for years until someone touches them. They have been blamed for killing and maiming more than 200 civilians in the Serbian province of Kosovo since the 1999 NATO bombing."

/snip/

AND,

- we know that these cluster bombs are taking their toll in Iraq, especially with children who think they are some kind of "toy" - until the "toy" sends them to the hereafter

- I seem to remember that the UN or Amnesty International - or both consider these "cluster bombs" illegal

- oh right

- "illegal" don't cut it with Bu$Co and his gang of thugs

(sigh)

[LifeDuringWartime]

1. what are the odds the us will vote for this?

slim to none, i wager

[ConcernedCanuk]

2. Heck, as long as they are allowed to "drop" them, I don't see a problem

. . From the article:

"It would be the first disarmament treaty to be accepted by the Bush administration, which until now has been criticized for pulling out of a number of international disarmament agreements, Sood said."

/snip/ (- I dunno if that means that the USA MAY sign it or not -)

"The treaty is the work of the 92 governments that are parties to a UN accord on "inhumane" conventional weapons, such as landmines and blinding weapons. The accord was negotiated in less than a year and is the first new agreement produced under the conventional-weapons accord since 1996.

"There is a sense of satisfaction at having concluded a difficult and complex negotiation in a manner that has a positive bearing on the lives of civilians," said Sood.

Once approved, the treaty would be sent to UN Secretary General Kofi Annan and will then be open for signing and ratification by governments. It will come into force and become legally binding once 20 governments have ratified it."

/snip/

So there IS hope, but don't expect, even if ratified, that the USA will "rush" to clean up it's own mess.

Thousands of innocents will die before that happens . . .

Just My Humble Canuk Opinion

[Voice_of_Europe]

3. Crazy numbers

Now do the math and think of how much they must have brought to and dropped in Iraq ??

Say every tenth bomb doesn't explode?
Every twentieth if the US takes pride in it's weapons industry?

Insane...