QUIT MAKING THEM, and QUIT USING THEM -- period!!!!!
"Nations agree to ban use of cluster bombs; US, China, Russia reject pact NATO members backed" by Andras Gergely, Reuters | May 31, 2008
DUBLIN - More than 100 nations formally agreed yesterday to ban the use of cluster bombs, but debate continued on loopholes that could benefit powers such as the United States, which has refused to take part in talks on a ban....
The United States, China, and Russia have rejected the pact.... The accord's impact has been softened by a clause, known as Article 21, that allows troops of a signatory state to cooperate with an ally using the weapons, such as the United States.
Then this thing means NOTHING!!!! But the mass-murderers of NATO will pat themselves on the back and talk about how peaceful they are!!!!
Earl Turcotte, spokesman for the Canadian delegation, told the conference:
"Others have referred to Article 21 as a loophole. We have referred to it as an essential element of legal protection to accommodate situations in combined operations which may be beyond our control."
Translation: This treaty isn't worth the toilet paper it is written on!!!!!
In Washington, Tom Casey, State Department spokesman, said the agreement would not change US policy. He said cluster bombs were "absolutely critical and essential" to American military operations.
We aren't about peace and freedom, readers. We are about maiming people!!!
Most US artillery shells use some form of cluster bomb technology, and some defense analysts say a full withdrawal of such munitions by major military powers is impractical.
Casey said officials in the State and Defense departments were studying whether the treaty would eventually oblige American bases in Europe to withdraw cluster munitions stored there. Under the agreement, allies have the option of ordering US bases in their countries to remove the bombs.
Cluster munitions contain "bomblets" that are scattered from planes or by artillery shells and that detonate like mines. Opponents say the bombs cause indiscriminate injury after often lying unexploded for months or years until accidentally trodden upon.
The UN Development Program says cluster munitions have caused more than 13,000 confirmed injuries and deaths around the world, the vast majority of them in Laos, Vietnam, and Afghanistan.Children are frequently the victims."
You mean, like this child?
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