United States is Pro-Cluster Mine

Above: Cluster Mine

There are already more than 100 nations who signed a treaty banning the use of cluster mines. Britain, after supporting the United States for many years on its stand on the use of these weapons, has also jumped ship.

The Bush administration, however, remains adamant on the use of these deadly bombs.

The campaign against the use of cluster mines was advocated by human rights activists – and with just cause: These bombs do not explode every time and most of them remain in the battlefield even after fighting has ended. They pose a threat not only to the soldiers fighting the war, but more importantly to the civilians who are trapped in the war stricken areas. The threat is long term – which shouldn’t be the case in any type of war weapon.

Another disadvantage of the use of this weapon is the huge area is affects. An initial shell, fired from an aircraft or through artillery, explodes in flight and then scatters into a wide area like small cans (which makes it even more dangerous). The area is said to be that of three football fields. Imagine the destruction. Then imagine what it could do to a little boy who happens to loiter into the area.

The cluster mine is a baby of the United States. According to the Human Rights Watch group, the United States is the leading producer and user of the weapon – using it in the former Yugoslavia, Afghanistan and Iraq.

The United States prefers the weapon because it’s convenient. All they have to do is spray lands wherein their enemies hold their bases. This is exactly the same reason the former Clinton administration said when it refused to sign the land-mine treaty ten years ago. These weapons make fighting easy for the Americans. It’s an advantage they can’t let go.

This ultimately makes the treaty nothing but trash. Together with the United States, countries like Russia and China also rejected the treaty. Of course, with the United States rejecting the treaty, who says they can’t, too? These three huge countries combined have stocked cluster mines totaling more than 1 billion – way more than all of those stocked in the more than 100 nations who signed the treaty.

Add to that the fact that the treaty does not stop any of these nations from cooperating with the United States military, with or without the use of cluster mines; then there’s nothing actually accomplished.

All that we can do is hope. There is hope, still.

After the land mines were banned more than ten years ago, virtually all trade has stopped – even with the opposition of the United States and Russia. But let us hope against hope that this new treaty doesn’t require 10 more years to come to fruition.

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