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by Polly Mann, W A M M
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Cluster bomb carnage gets Senate approval
It is almost unbelievable that only thirty senators voted for Diane Feinstein’s amendment that would place a restriction on buyers of cluster bombs so that they would not be used in or near civilian centers. It actually was an amendment that begged the basic issue: the manufacture and use of cluster bombs in any setting. They are truly weapons of mass destruction. I believe that the manufacturers of cluster bombs can be compared to the manufacturers of the ovens once used to incinerate living human beings.
The proposed legislation, of course, addressed only the use of these bombs in or near civilian centers. Even if a country’s military agreed to this provision, there is no guarantee that bombs would not fall on civilian centers, for bombers cannot predict the accuracy of their targets. There is no way to assign responsibility for bombs which might fall in an area declared off-limits. There are too many unpredictables in bombings.
So, of what importance was this vote in which out of a total of 100 votes cast, only 30 senators agreed it would be well to limit the cluster-bombing of civilians? Maybe its only importance was in telling the people on which side of compassion their senator stands. Is the bombing of civilians acceptable in war? Seventy U.S. senators obviously believe it’s OK to cluster bomb civilians! Mind you, cluster bombs are not ordinary bombs. Each bomb separates into many parts and each part separates into other parts. And even the smaller parts which fall to ground unexploded are extremely dangerous. They lie in wait to be set off by a blow or even a footstep, in which case they explode. If it’s your footstep which has set off the bomb, you will never know what happened. You will die.
These unexploded bombs are found all over Southeast Asia having been dropped by U.S. bomber crews during the Vietnam War. Unfortunately, unlike many pharmaceuticals, there’s no expiration date after which their effectiveness is limited. Even after thirty-five years their explosive power is undiminished.
What I believe is needed is a missionary style effort to convince members of the U.S. Congress that it is inhuman to sanction the killing of civilians in war. Some of us believe it is inhuman to sanction the killing of any humans at any time but to begin with, understanding the duplicitous nature of politicians, in general, a good beginning would be legislation by the Congress making illegal the manufacture and use of cluster bombs. We can address the other armaments of war one at a time perhaps.
This might not set too well among those people invested in Alliant Tech, where cluster bombs are manufactured. The firm is located right here in Minnesota. But after all, it’s win some; lose some. Those families who are feeling the loss of loved ones due to cluster bombs do lose something. Is losing money the same as losing life? Is it possible to measure the loss of profits against the loss of human life? If our senators won’t do it, we must. Now is the time to speak out against WMD made in our own backyard. |
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Human Rights Resources
The European Court of Human Rights has jurisdiction over all of Europe except the Vatican and Belarus and serves as a model for how courts can operate. It allows individuals to bring human-rights cases before the court if they believe their own national courts have not ruled properly.
The Court is credited with abolishing the death penalty, based on 1983 and 2002 revisions of the European Convention on Human Rights; establishing the precedent that European nations will not extradite criminal suspects to the United States if they will face the death penalty in American courts; and outlawing excessive police force, based on a French case.
Most recently the court heard the case of a girl from the Congo who, at age five, was detained alone by Belgian authorities for two months because they said she didn’t have the appropriate legal documents. Her uncle, a Dutch citizen, was accompanying her on her way to rejoin her mother in Montreal.
The family, who is awaiting the court’s decision, says Belgian officials violated several articles of the European Human Rights Treaty, including prohibition of inhuman and degrading treatment and the right to liberty and security.
http://www.alternet.org/story/40502, 8/26/2006
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© 2006 Women Against Military Madness. All rights reserved.
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Complete October 2006 Index - click here
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