84 Nations On Board To Ban Cluster Bombs, But Not US

[babylonsister]

http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2008/03/15/7725/

Nations Working to Ban Cluster Bombs
by Hugh Macleod



snip//

82 nations on board

Last month, 122 nations met at a Cluster Munition Coalition meeting in Wellington, New Zealand, to work out final discussions for an eventual treaty banning cluster bombs. The draft, which has been endorsed by 82 nations, would bar signatory nations from producing, using or stockpiling cluster bombs.

Supporters say the final treaty, which is expected to be signed in Oslo, Norway, later this year, would be the most significant advance in disarmament since the 1997 ban on anti-personnel mines.

snip//

U.S., Russia, China resist ban

Meanwhile, major arms-producing countries such as the United States, Russia, Israel and China oppose any ban on cluster bombs, arguing that they are a viable option for self-defense. None was present at the Wellington conference, and none is expected to attend or sign the upcoming Oslo treaty.

The United States, the world’s largest producer of cluster bombs, has been lobbying allies that support the treaty to create loopholes, according to several participants at the Wellington conference.

In an off-the-record briefing with journalists last month in Geneva, a senior U.S. official said that as long as states involved in conflicts use cluster bombs responsibly, their use shouldn’t be banned, according to the Reuters news agency.

Despite opposition, Cluster Munition Coalition officials say the treaty has built unstoppable momentum and will be signed by more than 82 countries in Oslo.

“It is now a question of negotiating the strongest treaty possible in order to create the stigmatization of this weapon, as we did with anti-personnel mines,” said Simon Conway, director of Landmine Action, in London. “That way, even if the U.S. and others do not sign the ban, they will find it very hard to justify using these weapons in the future.”

[LordJFT]

1. We need a president that will sign this treaty, a president that has already voted to ban them

[Ichingcarpenter]

2. Nicely put

without going off on what Senator didn't sign the ban.

We don't need to mention names.

[Yael]

3. What has this nation sunk to?

Unbelievable. :cry:

[pansypoo53219]

4. america wants to

SELL THEM.

[MaryCeleste]

5. Unfortunately there is no good alternative for them militarily

CMBs are the best choice for soft targets in the open like artillery, rocket launches, mortars, SAMs, radars, and massed troops. Unitary munitions take more bombs and in urban setting have more collateral damage.