CBUs are not illegal. Until there is some sort of treaty, and that ain't likely
IMHO, they are legal means of inflicting damage on the enemy-they are very
good at making SAM sites, artillery batteries, tank parks, parked aircraft
and helos, AAA and radar sites, and exposed enemy personnel go away. The
problem in Iraq was not the weapon, it was the bad guys putting artillery
and AAA weapons in civilian areas, and those targets had to be suppressed.
Now, could the dud rate of bomblets be reduced? Yes, but it will never be
lower than 5%. SFW had no such problems-see the moving heat source of a vehicle-submunitions
fire, and tank/BMP/SP Arty goes away. Permanently. Same thing with SADARM.







Darwin wrote:
On Sat, 01 May 2004 12:16:02 -0700, Bill Bonde
( ''Stop this farce!''
''Which one?'' ) wrote:

- DefaultUser wrote:

[..]
Then they dropped illegal cluster bombs that
left bomblets
the same color as the air dropped food packets.

There is nothing illegal about cluster bombs.

You are a proven liar. :P

Allied use of cluster bombs illegal, minister
admits
By: Paul Waugh
Independent, The

The Government admitted during the war on Iraq
that the use of cluster
bombs against civilian targets would "not be
legal", a letter obtained by
The Independent has revealed.

Anti-landmine charities claimed last night that
the letter by Adam Ingram,
the Armed Forces minister, proved that the Ministry
of Defence had broken
international law by using the munitions in
towns and cities.

Mr Ingram admitted for the first time yesterday
that cluster bombs were
dropped on "built-up areas" in Iraq in an attempt
to protect British
servicemen. After initially denying the charge
in an interview with the
BBC, the minister said the unguided weapons,
which release hundreds of
bomblets, were used "in specific circumstances
where there is a threat to
our troops".

But on 25 March, five days after the conflict
began, Mr Ingram responded
on behalf of Tony Blair to the Diana, Princess
of Wales Memorial Fund to
set out the Government's position on the weapons.

Mr Ingram stressed that the British armed forces
strove to act in
accordance with the Geneva Conventions. "It
is clear that when we apply
these principles there will be occasions when
the use of cluster bombs
against certain targets would not be legal,"
he wrote. "There will be
occasions when the use of other munitions would
be legal but the use of
cluster bombs would not."

Richard Lloyd, director of the charity Landmine
Action, said the letter,
with yesterday's admission, proved the Geneva
Conventions were knowingly
breached. "Mr Ingram has admitted the Government
acted outside the law,"
he said.


Original Link:
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/...p?story=410740



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