Nations to sign cluster munitions ban pact

[cal04]

Source: UPI

The international treaty banning the use of cluster bombs to be signed in Oslo, Norway, will save thousands of lives, Human Rights Watch said Tuesday.

About 100 countries Wednesday are expected to sign the ban, the most significant arms control and humanitarian treaty in a decade, the rights organization said in a news release.

U.S. President George Bush opposed the treaty, despite support by an overwhelming majority of NATO members, said Human Rights Watch, which urged President-elect Barack Obama to sign it.

Although the United States shares "humanitarian concerns" of the nations signing the ban, "we will not be joining them," the State Department said in a statement.

Read more: http://www.upi.com/Top_News/2008/12/02/Nations_to_sign_... /

[OnyxCollie]

1. Cluster bombs for peace!

Go USA!

[awoke_in_2003]

3. Who would Jesus

Cluster Bomb?

[WHEN CRABS ROAR]

2. The USA is also replacing most of all nuclear warheads and is

in favor of space based weapon systems. What's the government done in your name lately. We should all be outraged.

[damntexdem]

4. But Dubya will be gone, and there will be more Dems in the Senate.

We presumably could be late signers in the not-too-distant future.

[RC]

5. Well maybe if we stopped starting wars we would not have to worry so much.

"The treaty "constitutes a ban on most types of cluster munitions," the department said. "(Such) a general ban on cluster munitions will put the lives of our military men and women, and those of our coalition partners, at risk.""

What is Obama's views on this? Anyone know?

[Scurrilous]

6. Supporters Begin Signing Cluster Bombs Treaty

<snip>

"Representatives of some 100 nations began signing an ambitious treaty on Wednesday renouncing the use of cluster bombs, even though some of the world’s biggest military powers, including the United States, China and Russia, reject the pact.

As the sponsor of a drive to outlaw the use of the bombs, typically anti-personnel weapons that eject dozens of explosive bomblets when detonated, Norway was the first to sign the treaty, followed by Laos, Lebanon and Ireland.

The full tally of signatories is expected to reach around 100 by Thursday. But in addition to China, the United States and Russia, the tally will also not include India, Pakistan and most Middle Eastern states, which have also refused to renounce the weapons.

Whether dropped from warplanes or fired by artillery pieces, cluster bombs can scatter dozens or even hundreds of smaller explosives across an area the size of a football field. Some bomblets fail to explode upon hitting the ground and, like landmines, can remain a lethal hazard to children, farmers and other civilians long after a conflict ends. The United States has defended its decision not to sign the treaty, saying that it is gradually moving toward a new generation of cluster bombs that pose less of a risk to civilians and says that it contributes nearly half of the annual global funding to the clearance of unexploded ordnance, including cluster bombs."

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