Seeking a Ban on Bomblets

BBC news has a story today on a conference being held in Ireland with the intention of creating a ban on cluster munitions. Hosted by the Cluster Munitions Coalition , the CMC seeks to ban the use of such weapons as the bomblets (shown above) create hazardous situations for civilian populations that come back after the conflicts to unexploded ordnance. South Lebanon for example is covered in the sub munitions from the border conflicts of Hizbollah and the IDF. A weapon of such an indiscriminate nature can and has become a humanitarian nightmare. Similar to the anti-personnel landmine, hundreds of non-combatants worldwide are being injured or killed by the weapons annually. While the use of such weapons in war provide certain tactical advantage (for example disable vehicles, runways, etc.) the tipping point of this weapons is its terror factor. Its ability to inflict damage to combatants as equally effectivly as non-combatants makes this a weapon that should be looked at by governments of the world as a weapon of terror similar to landmines.