Categories: uncategorized
Date: 19 May 2008 12:37:16
This week sees an international conference in Dublin to outlaw the use of cluster bombs. There are over 100 countries in favour of signing a treaty to outlaw the use of these weapons. The UK is one of the countries pressing for this.
A cluster bomb is a canister that opens in mid air and spreads lots of individual bomblets over a wide area. They are used mainly as anti-personnel and anti-armour weapons but can also be used to destroy airfields. The problem with them is that you are not guaranteed to have all the bomblets explode on impact - in fact, some are set to explode later when the clear up process starts.
The problem has been highlighted in the recent dispute between Hezbollah and Israel. The Gaza Strip is a densely populated area and their use has led to a high number of civilian casualties. They are not smart bombs that just zero in on troops or armour and should not be used in built-up areas.
If the bomblts don't explode on impact then they pose a danger to civilians, especially children, who find them among the rubble later. They are the airborne equivalent of landmines - except that people usually know where they planted landmines.
However the UK government has now declared that it does not want a complete ban on its own stocks. They claim that they only have a 2% failure rate and pose less risk than those used by other countries - unfortunately this is not what the Iraq War (conflict) has taught us.
Therefore this could actually lead to one of those political fudges that usually weaken international treaties. The UK wants to exempt the latest generation of cluster bombs from the treaty. Therefore there will be no outright ban. The UK, US etc will still be able to sell these weapons to other "friendly" governments and they would still cause a danger to civilians.
I hope that this won't happen. I'm a great believer in providing our troops with the best weaponary available but even I believe that some things are just too dangerous to be used.
History Today :
1536 : Mrs Henry VIII the Second, Anne Boelyn, loses her head. According to tradition it took at least 2 attempts to get the job done right. Divorce was much easier in those days....
1897 : Oscar Wilde is released from prison after serving 2 years for Gross Indecency. He'd been told several times to stop B*******g about.
1943 : Churchill & Roosevelt decide that the invasion of Western Europe will take place on 1st May 1944. Like Canute, they couldn't stop the tide or weather and the invasion finaly took place on 6th June. The moral of the story is not to make definitive decisions unless you understand that they'll change later.