IN the fog of war, the use of cluster bombs just makes things foggier. Turns out Georgia — which always pleaded its innocence in the face of Russia’s invasion last summer — used cluster bombs against its own people. According to a new report from Human Rights Watch, the cluster munitions were Israeli-made, which should come as no surprise since Israel used similar bombs against Lebanese civilians in July 2006. Both countries are strong allies of the US, which has refused to adopt the Convention on Cluster Munitions.
On this issue, the US, Israel and Georgia (neither of which has signed the convention) form an axis of arrogance. Cluster munitions scatter unexploded bomblets like buckshot across a swath of land the size of a city block. They are often dropped by parachute, making them susceptible to unpredictable wind patterns. And many do not explode on impact — in parts of Georgia their failure rate was as high as 35 percent — thus posing a long-term threat to civilians, especially children who mistake them for soda cans or toys (a third of those maimed from cluster bombs are children). Duds also pose problems for farmers, who lose their harvest for fear of going into their fields.
The answer to this dilemma is not to manufacture smarter bombs or to phase out the use of outdated munitions — we’ve seen how that movie ends before — but to ban their use. The next US administration should immediately press Congress to sign the Convention on Cluster Munitions. The treaty, which has over a hundred countries’ signatories, prevents states from using, storing or selling cluster munitions.
It will send a signal to the world that the US is serious about reducing the harm of war and clearing the fog. All the good will in the world after Obama’s victory will do nothing to rescue our reputation if America is still killing Afghan and Pakistani civilians or sanctioning the use of cluster bombs.
