What are cluster bombs and what's wrong with them?
Cluster bombs open in mid-air and spew hundreds of small bomblets about the size of a soda can over a wide area. Each of these sub-munitions is supposed to detonate when it hits the ground, sending out deadly shrapnel. A typical cluster bomb, which contains between dozens and hundreds of bomblets, can kill or injure anyone in an area the size of one or two football fields. Cluster bombs are delivered by artillery or aircraft. These weapons are designed to be used on a battlefield, against concentrations of soldiers or armored vehicles, but are often used in civilian areas instead. In addition, many of the bomblets - between 5 to 25 percent or more - do not explode as intended, becoming de facto landmines for many years to come. The vast majority of cluster bomb casualties are civilians, many of them children.
How does the Cluster Munitions Civilian Protection Act (S. 416) help?
This common-sense bill would:
1. Prevent the U.S. military from using cluster bombs in civilian-populated areas;
2. Limit U.S. use of cluster bombs to those that have a very low (1 percent or lower) dud rate. The dud rate describes what percentage of bomblets fail to explode at use and, therefore, pose a hazard on the ground to civilians after combat ends. Only a tiny portion of the U.S. cluster submunitions arsenal meets this 99 percent reliability requirement.
What is the world doing about cluster bombs?
Over the past two years the global community negotiated a treaty banning use, export, transfer and stockpiling of cluster bombs. In December 2008, 95 countries - including our major NATO allies - signed the Convention on Cluster Munitions in Oslo, Norway. The U.S. did not participate in this treaty negotiation, and it has not signed the treaty.
In July 2008 the Secretary of Defense released a new cluster bomb policy, a direct result of international and congressional pressure on the issue. While the policy acknowledges the need to eventually eliminate unreliable and indiscriminate cluster bombs from the U.S. arsenal due to humanitarian concerns, it would not do so until 2018. The time to renounce them is now, not in ten years. Britain, the United States' combat partner in Iraq and Afghanistan-and the third largest user of cluster munitions in the past decade-signed the treaty and renounced further use of cluster bombs in December. We can too. Congress and President Obama can change U.S. policy.
What is President Obama's stance on cluster bombs?
The new administration has not yet taken a position on whether it will bring the United States into the cluster bomb treaty. While he was in the Senate, Obama voted for an amendment to restrict cluster bomb use, and in December 2008 his transition team promised to carefully review the new treaty. But, with so many other issues pressing for his attention, President Obama needs to know that he has support from the public and from the Senate to place further restrictions on these weapons and put the U.S. on track to join the global ban treaty. Calling your senator today will help to change U.S. policy.
Why focus on the Senate?
When the president decides to join the treaty, he will have to submit it to the Senate for ratification. Nearly a quarter of the Senate already supports this bill, and passage of this bill would bring the United States pretty close to the requirements of the treaty. By increasing the list of co-sponsors, we can show the president that there is broad public-and Senate-support for bringing the United States into the cluster bomb treaty.
Learn more about cluster bombs
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