While we call ourselves a "Landmine Victim Assistance" organization, it is really accurate, but much more wordy to say "Victim of Unexploded Ordnance Assistace" organization.Bombies, or cluster bombs, kill and injure more people in Vietnam than landmines. The cluster bomb is the landmine's more deadly, and less famous cousin.
I missed this story last week about cluster bombs so here it is from the
Human Rights Watch:
U.S.: Destroy Stockpile of Unsafe Cluster Submunitions
(Washington, D.C., July 21, 2005) - Despite some positive developments in its cluster munition policy, the United States retains-and still is willing to use-at least 728 million old, unreliable and inaccurate cluster submunitions, Human Rights Watch said today in a briefing paper. "The Pentagon should destroy its stockpile of dangerous and outdated cluster submunitions," said Bonnie Docherty, researcher in Human Rights Watch's Arms Division. "These submunitions pose great risks to civilian populations and should never be used."
Please read the rest of this article here.
Cluster bombs are the deadly cousin of landmines, and often cause more death and suffering to children, farmers, and other innocents in many developing countries. This inherently inhumane, indiscriminate weapon should be banned from the U.S. arsenal.
ReplyDeleteWell put, as usual, Ray.
ReplyDeleteIt would be great to see the same groundswell of support for banning these items as there is for banning the landmine.
These people have been trying for a long time:
http://www.mcc.org/clusterbomb/moratorium/