U.S. Refuses to Ban Cluster Bombs

I was reading a story that tells of how 111 countries have decided to ban one of the most indiscriminate and long lasting explosive devices man has ever devised, besides the landmine. Cluster bombs incorporate many smaller bombs inside one tube used as a delivery devise that is designed to break apart in flight to scatter hundreds of smaller bomblets over an 18 square mile area. They do not all explode upon impact. Therefore, there is a very great danger that long after the conflict is over, these unexploded bombs are left to be found by children who then pick them up with horrible results.

As I was reading this story, in the back of my mind I was thinking, I’ll bet the United States did not sign this ban. And sure enough I learned they did not. Neither did Russia, China or Israel. Why am I not surprised that the four biggest users of this inhumane device not sign the ban? For one thing I am American and therefore know firsthand that this nation will never easily give up anything that earns them a financial profit. Even if it means indiscriminate killing of innocent children.

I am appalled that with the vast array of killing devices these four nations have available to them that they still choose to continue what the International Committee of the Red Cross has called a "persistent humanitarian problem."

The U.S. even had the temerity to imply that the ban on clusters would prevent it from undertaking or participating in humanitarian operations!

If these devices were being dropped on American soil you can bet they would sign that ban in a heartbeat. This is just another instance of military powers thumbing their noses at smaller countries who don’t have the power to stand up to them. And it further exemplifies why other countries hate us so much.