US News
US defends use of cluster bombs
By DPA
May 22, 2008, 0:06 GMT

Washington - The United States will not agree to a ban on the use of cluster bombs because the weapons remain tactically useful for fending off advancing armies and for self-defence, a US official said Wednesday.

'We think this kind of blanket ban is a mistake,' said Stephen Mull, the US State Department's top official for political and military affairs.

His comments come during a two-week gathering of more than 100 countries that began Monday in Dublin with the goal of forging an agreement on an international prohibition against cluster bombs.

Cluster bombs are munitions that drop hundreds of tennis-ball sized smaller explosives known as 'bomblets,' which scatter and detonate across the battlefield.

But many bomblets fail to explode and for years after a conflict has ended can continue to pose a threat to civilians, especially children who often mistake the munitions for toys.

Mull said that the US military has designed a more advanced cluster bomb that uses electronic timers to ensure that bomblets either explode as intended or self-destruct to prevent harm to civilians.

Most of the world's major military powers - the United States and other countries that produce or stockpile cluster bombs, including China, Russia, Israel, India and Pakistan - did not send representatives to the Dublin conference.

Australia, Belgium, Britain, Denmark, Germany, Japan, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain and Sweden are among the 109 countries attending the gathering, hosted by the Irish government. Many of those countries are seeking exceptions that would allow them to keep current stockpiles or allow for a transition period to develop tactical alternates.

The most recent reported use of cluster bombs was during the July- August 2006 Israeli incursion into Lebanon. Israel was heavily criticized for dropping such munitions in civilian areas.

The United States last used the weapons during the 2003 invasion of Iraq but not since, Mull said, because cluster bombs have few applications against insurgencies. Cluster bombs can be militarily effective against massed troop formations.

Washington wants to maintain the option of cluster munitions for 'traditional' warfare, such as protecting South Korea against any possible invasion from North Korea, Mull said.

Other attendees at the conference are civilian victims of cluster bombs and advocacy groups seeking a ban including the Cluster Munition Coalition, which has sought to pressure governments to end use of the munitions.

'We are confident that governments will make the right decision and adopt a ban with no exceptions, no loopholes and no delays,' CMC said. 'This is what is needed to do justice to the victims of this weapon and to stop the maiming and killing of generations to come.'

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon began the conference by calling for a ban on cluster bombs.