Long-Awaited Cluster Bomb Ban Enters Into Force

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Inter Press Service

Long-Awaited Cluster Bomb Ban Enters Into Force
Saturday 31 July 2010

by: Esther Banales | Inter Press Service | Report

United Nations - Thirty-eight countries will start observing the Convention on Cluster Munitions this Sunday, Aug. 1, after a rapid entry into force since the treaty was announced two years ago in Oslo.

"This new instrument is a major advance for the global disarmament and humanitarian agendas, and will help us to counter the widespread insecurity and suffering caused by these terrible weapons, particularly among civilians and children," noted U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

Cluster munitions explode in mid-air to release dozens - sometimes hundreds - of smaller "bomblets" across large areas. Because the final location of these scattered smaller bombs is difficult to control, they can cause large numbers of civilian casualties.

Bomblets that fail to explode immediately may also lay dormant, potentially acting as landmines and killing or maiming civilians long after a conflict is ended. Children are known to be particularly at risk from dud cluster munitions since they are often attracted to the shiny objects and less aware of their dangers.


Read more: http://www.truth-out.org/long-awaited-cluster-bomb-ban-enters-into-force61905

[formercia]

1. The US isn't one of them

"In the West, the United States has also been a focus of the coalition's efforts. "At the moment the Obama Administration is engaged in a very in-depth review of their landmine policy to see if they want to join the convention," Goose explained. "The U.S. has already acknowledged that cluster munitions should be banned at some point in the future."

Meanwhile, the Pentagon declared that the U.S. will restrain from using cluster munitions with a failure rate of more than one percent, which would include all but a small fraction, by the end of 2018.

" should not wait another eight years to stop using cluster munitions; it should ban them now," Goose declared."

[dipsydoodle]

11. Question is

will they continue supplying them to Israel ?

[defendandprotect]

2. K&R --

[Soylent Brice]

3. K&R

[Earth_First]

4. Yep. Unfortunately the USA is not one of them! nt

[jody]

5. For those who want to cut our defense budget, cluster munitions are a very cheap weapon.

Given the threat agreed to by presidents and congress in the NIE, cluster munitions are effective, efficient weapons.

[dipsydoodle]

12. IEDs are cheap too

They both kill. The difference of course is that those who make IEDs don't profit in monetary terms.

[jody]

13. The issue I raise and one that Obama finally understands is the threat to our national security that

his staff of intelligence experts has identified.

That threat has been presented to select Senate & House committees and accepted as the basis for determining the forces needed to defend our nation. That is the National Intelligence Estimate.

Obama clearly didn't understand that before he became a candidate and only after he entered office did he began to learn all the threats to our security.

Every president quickly learns that the number one priority is to defend our nation.

Regarding cluster munitions, they have a well defined purpose in conventional warfare just as IEDs have a well defined purpose in unconventional warfare.

I'm satisfied that by now Obama has heard enough national security briefings to know that our current and projected force structure is reasonable given the threat that Obama and the Senate-House committees have approved.

[dipsydoodle]

14. I have difficulty in grasping

exactly what it is that Obama likes about killing children.

[jody]

16. The issue I raise is cluster munitions as an essential part of our forces to defend

against a threat identified in the NIE. A document neither I nor probably you have read in its current version.

We have no choice but to trust Obama and the members of the select Senate & House committees. It would be a great security risk to make the NIE public and the source documents that support it.

IMO if you were president and fully aware of the threat stated in the NIE, you would probably do the same thing that Obama is doing.

[annm4peace]

6. Headquarters for Co. that makes Cluster bombs is in MN, and we try to shut them down

http://www.alliantaction.org/home.html






http://alliantaction.org/target/t1go/cluster/cluster.html

ALLIANT TECH and CLUSTER BOMBS
In the late 1960s, the Honeywell Corporation, prior to its spin-off of ATK, was identified as the producer of the cluster munitions being used in Southeast Asia to support the American war in Vietnam. In 1968 the Honeywell Project was formed, which grew into a worldwide movement against the company and their involvement with cluster bombs.

In 1994, Alliant Techsystems was accused and convicted by the Department of Justice for price fixing on a 1992 CBU-87 contract. Aero-General, the only other producer of cluster munitions, and ATK teamed up to submit the only bid. Aero would manufacture the bomb 'body' and ATK manufactured the bomblets and pack them into the munition.
(see and read - click here)

ATK's expertise with cluster munitions is the FZU-39 proximity sensor. Once the bomb is dropped, the ATK-designed fuze technology computes the projectile's revolutions to determine the exact moment of detonation.

See actions you can take

http://www.stopclustermunitions.org/


check out these hard core protesters who protest outside Alliant Tech every Wed morning.. rain, shine or snow.
and several times a year participate in Civil Disobedience. Also, we continually try to have State bills passed that would outlaw the sale, or manufacturing of cluster bombs and DU munitions.

[annm4peace]

7. Read and see pictures of protests, arrests, court cases and other actions to shut down Cluster bombs

http://www.alliantaction.org/scoop/s1go/scoopi.html

Remarks by Judge Peter Cahill at Conclusion
of ATK Gandhi Action Hearing

Hennepin County District Court
April 23, 2010
Well, I’ve had a week to think about this case. You’ve had not only a week, you’ve had much longer. I was curious to see what we would discover today and I found it compelling.

I’m going to start by explaining why I am not, as part of this disposition, imposing $100 in court costs.

What I found was a group of people who were very sincere, very compassionate, and I have to give you credit for one thing I don’t always see among protesters: and that is humility. There is not an arrogance about your message, there is more a plea for, almost a desperation, to hear of the injuries of others as you try to stop the violence you see around the world. That’s refreshing. I think your actions are consistent with the highest standards of the traditions of civil disobedience, Dr. King and Gandhi, who you celebrated by doing the protest on his birthday, which I think is very appropriate. I commend you also that you were nonviolent, damaged no property, intimidated no individuals, but rather chose to subject yourselves to arrest in order to get your message across in a nonviolent manner.
**********************************************************************************************************************

this was from a trial of another trespass:

"What the defendants readily admit is on March 4th, they marched forth – right into the lobby of ATK carrying with them a notebook with the title: Employee Liability of Weapons Manufacturers Under International Law. They intended to hand this loose-leaf notebook to CEO Daniel Murphy or one of several other corporate officers and it contained a letter to him, sections of relevant International Treaties, and some case studies of weapons manufacturers who were prosecuted as war criminals under the Nuremberg Tribunals at the end of World War II. They requested to schedule a meeting with one of the corporate officials but were denied that as well. It was at that point they refused to leave.

Rita Foster, one of three nuns from the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondolet, gave the opening statement for all the defendants. She described the actions and intent of the defendants on that morning in March.

Marie Braun was the first defendant to take the stand in her own defense. An indefatigable leader and organizer of the local anti-war movement and member of Women Against Military Madness, she told about meeting a German woman about her own age in the 1970s at a conference. When they were talking about their experiences growing up, the German woman told Marie that she had asked her parents why they hadn't done anything to stop the Holocaust. Her parents told their daughter they "didn't know" what was going on. Marie’s new friend told her, "I think they did know something." They were afraid to act and now their daughter experienced the shame and guilt many Germans still feel today. Marie told the jurors she is now a grandmother and doesn't want them to feel ashamed because of her failure to act – she knows what ATK makes.

Char Madigan, a nun who has worked with thousands of mothers and children who have suffered domestic violence, took the stand next. She talked about commonwealth versus corporate wealth and greed. She talked about taking responsibility rather than "hiding behind private property or trespass laws". She said, "Just as property rights don’t protect from domestic abusers, nor should property rights protect weapons makers who violate international law. as a nun, property rights should not protect church officials from covering up pedophilia." Char was clear that there should be some property rights but they have to be balanced and weighed with other important values, in her case with the value of international law to protect people during war.

John Hynes used to work at Honeywell until quitting in 1971. He was on the inside when Sister Char was vigilling outside! He told the jurors, "I wish someone had given me a copy of 'Employee Liabilities' when I worked at Honeywell."

Kathleen Ruona only testified briefly and reminded the jurors that these weapons endanger all species, not just humans. John Braun, described the design and effects of cluster bombs. When he declared that civilians, especially children, were often victims of "dud" cluster bombs, the prosecutor objected, saying his statement was inflammatory.

Betty McKenzie, the third nun to address the Court testified about the effects of depleted uranium. She told the jury she was not a doctor or scientist but she had read plenty and heard experts talk about the horrendous effects the heavy metal poisoning and toxic radiation released from this newer super-weapon favored by the military. The judge instructed the jury, as he did for most of the witnesses, that her testimony was allowed not as "fact" but rather as to her "state of mind" when the defendant was arrested. It was up to the jury to determine if her beliefs and intent were "reasonable".

The school librarian told a story about a children's picture book where the main character observes various children in her school being picked on or bullied. When none of her friends come to her aid after being poked fun of, her older brother reminded her that she also didn't "say something." Pepperwolf told the jurors, "I couldn't go back to school and face my students if I had this knowledge, this common knowledge of what these weapons do, and not ‘say something’. That is the title of the book: "Say Something."

Tom Bottolene gave the closing statement for all the defendants. He stated that the US Constitution was written for all the people not "we the corporations” or "we the government". Since the case hung on whether the defendants had a reasonable belief they had a claim of right, Bottolene asked, "Is it reasonable to believe that this document has any meaning?” He went on to discuss the basis of international law and the rules of war. These were ratified by our government. And again he asked, "Do these documents have any meaning?"

He reminded the jurors that the Nuremberg Tribunals ruled that corporations were liable for their acts; that being told to or asked by the government doesn't excuse those actions. He explained how the Nuremberg rulings became part of the United Nations Charter, another Treaty signed by the United States government. "Is it reasonable to believe that document has any meaning?" he asked again. Then he told the jurors about his friend, the late Sister Rita Steinhagen. When she was on her way to prison for a nonviolent protest, she said, "I have the burden of knowing."

For Tom, for the other eight defendants, and now the Judge and the Jury –all have the burden of knowing. We can’t tell our children like some German parents did after the Holocaust, "We didn’t know."

"

*****************************

and the list goes on. ** where it says "click here" you have to go to the link above to click on the stories or articles **

2010
AlliantAction gets its day in court.
Source: Twin Cities Daily Planet; April 24. 2010 - click here

Remarks by Judge Peter Cahill at Conclusion of ATK Gandhi Action Hearing.
Source: District Court Records; April 23, 2010 - click here

Reorganization and management shakeup at ATK
Source: Business Journal; Publication date: March 12, 2010 - click here

2009
Alliant Techsystems sees upside in Afghan strategy
Source: REUTERS; Publication date: December 3, 2009 - click here

ATK and TEXTRON Awarded $41M+ Spider Landmine Contract
Source: Army Contracts; Publication date: November 2009 - click here

Contract for Trident II Extended through 2013
Source: Star Tribune; Publication date: November 11, 2009 - click here

Annual Celebration of Nonviolence on the birth of Gandhi. 40+ celebrate on a wet and cold morning... while four attempt to engage ATK in nonviolent dialogue.
Source: AlliantACTION; November 2, 2009 - click here

Bullets, AK-47 Rifles, Black Markets and ATK
Source: Various mainstream media; Publication date: November, 2009 - click here

When Nuns, Social Workers, and Librarians Confront The Military Industrial Complex.
Source: Steve Clemens, AlliantACTION; September 11. 2009 - click here

CEO-ON-A-STICK DAY. September 2 at the weekly vigil and the state fair - he's everywhere... he's everywhere!
Source: AlliantACTION; September 2, 2009 - click here

Alliant Boosts Forecast Amid ‘Obama Bullet Bubble"
Source: Bloomberg Business News; Publication date: August 8, 2009 - click here

Annual Shareholders Meeting:
Four allowed to attend the meeting; Ten denied entry. Six exam the shareholder ledger; Four cited for disorderly conduct
Source: AlliantACTION; August 4. 2009 - click here

Taking aim at opportunity: Alliant pursues a low-cost path to stretch military dollars
Source: Star Tribune; Publication date: July 19, 2009 - click here

Executive Compensation 2008:
Dan's compensation is down 49% (but still makes $6.8 million!)
Source: Star Tribune; Publication date: May 17, 2009 - click here

Alliant Techsystems targets perfect as enemy of the good .
Source: The Hill; Publication date: March 17, 2009 - click here

MARCH FORTH. Nine AlliantACTION Members Arrested Inside Lobby of ATK HQ
Source: AlliantACTION; March 4. 2009 - click here

Contract Extension: ATK Continues Trident II Production
Source: Business Journal; Publication date: February 25, 2009 - click here

'Unprosecutable' Charges Dismissed Against Five Shareholders
Source: AlliantACTION; February 10. 2009 - click here

2008
Alliant’s ammo win may be edge in $1 billion contest
Source: Finance and Commerce; Publication date: December 5, 2008 - click here

Lighting Up the Night, and a Legal Battle
Source: The New York Times; Publication date: November 1, 2008 - click here

Gandhi's birthday celebrated in Eden Prairie
Source: Sun Newspapers; Publication date: October 9, 2008 - click here

United Space Alliance Files Lawsuit Against ATK.
Source: United Space Alliance; Released: August 15, 2008 - click here

Denied Entry, Five Legal Shareholders Arrested at Annual Meeting.
Source: AlliantACTION; Release date: August 5, 2008 - click here

Nine Arrested at ATK Anoka Plant
Source: City Pages; Publication date: July 2, 2008. LINK - click here

LIVE from MAINSTREET: Amy Goodman. 1.5 minute clip where she mentions AlliantACTION
Source: UpTAKE; June 8, 2008 - click here

CEO PAY WATCH: ATK Daniel Murphy. 6.8 MIL
Source: Star Tribune; Publication date: June 6, 2008 - click here

While Nations Sign Cluster Ban Agreement, We Visit CEO's Home for 60th Birthday and a Reminder
Source: AlliantACTION; Release date: May 30, 2008 - click here

Activist group follows ATK to Eden Prairie
Source: Eden Prairie News; Publication date: May 8, 2008 - click here

AlliantAction vigil moves to Eden Prairie
Source: Sun Newspapers; Publication date: May 8, 2008 - click here

Hunger Strike
Source: City Pages; Publication date: April 30, 2008 - click here

Alliant blacklisted by USAF
Source: Star Tribune; Publication date: February 7, 2008 - click here

Info about ATK's planned acquisition of Canadian space firm MDA
Source: various; Publication dates: January 17 to May 19 - click here
FINAL UPDATE May 19, 2008

2007
Alliant Techsystems Wins Four-Year No Bid Army Ammo Order
Source: Bloomberg News; Publication date: December 18 2007 - click here

Where Alliant goes, protestors follow
Source: Eden Prairie News; Publication date: November 29 2007 - click here

ATK will soon be launching from a new pad
Source: Eden Prairie News; Publication date: November 29 2007 - click here

Polly Mann: An Open Letter to the Board of Directors of Alliant Techsystems
Source: worldwideWAMM; Publication date: September 2007 - click here

PRESS RELEASE: Eight Arrested for Delivering Roses to Alliant Tech Headquarters on Hiroshima Day
Source: Christian Peacemakers Team; Release date: August 7, 2007 - click here

Nine Shareholders Denied Entry to Annual Shareholders Meeting. Refusing to Leave if Not Admitted, All Were Arrested and Issued a Citation
Source: AlliantACTION; Release date: July 31, 2007 - click here

Feds join suit against Alliant over Navy flares
Source: Star Tribune; Publication date: June 26, 2008 - click here

U.S. Intervenes in Case Alleging Delivery of Defective Flares on Government Contracts
Source: Department of Justice; Release date: June 25, 2007 - click here

PRESS RELEASE: Former Honeywell Employee Arrested at Alliant Techsystems (ATK) After Sharing His Story of Transformation
Source: AlliantACTION; Release date: June 20, 2007 - click here

ATK considering move from Edina to Eden Prairie
Source: Sun Newspapers; Publication date: April 19, 2007 - click here

AlliantACTION: Best Hellraiser in the Twin Cities
Source: City Pages; Publication date: April 2007 - click here

[dipsydoodle]

8. Global cluster bomb ban comes into force

Source: BBC News

A new global treaty banning cluster munitions has come into force.

The Convention on Cluster Munitions bans the stockpiling, use and transfer of virtually all existing cluster bombs, and also provides for the clearing up of unexploded munitions.

It has been adopted by 108 states, of which 38 have ratified it.

First developed during World War II, cluster bombs contain a number of smaller bomblets designed to cover a large area and deter an advancing army.

>

"This is a triumph of humanitarian values over a cruel and unjust weapon," Thomas Nash, co-ordinator of the Cluster Munition Coalition (CMC), told the BBC.

Read more: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-10829976

[dipsydoodle]

9. Global cluster bomb ban comes into force

This thread has been combined with another thread.

Click here to read this message in its new location.

[dipsydoodle]

10. oops

Didn't see you're earlier post.

:hi:

[dipsydoodle]

15. K & R

.

[jmowreader]

17. I can see one BIG objection to this from the Army's POV

This is an M270 Multiple Launch Rocket System. It is the Army's most powerful artillery system, having completely replaced the 8-inch howitzer. If you really need to reach out and touch someone, this is what you use. It was designed to have a longer range than any enemy system, which is kinda dirty pool--you can kill their redlegs without worrying about them killing yours with counterbattery fire--but war is not fought under Marquis of Queensbury rules.

The Army's problem is, there are three rocket families available for this--a "general purpose" unguided rocket that can kill personnel, some buildings and thin-skinned vehicles like trucks; an "antitank" unguided rocket that can penetrate a tank's top armor and can also kill fortified bunkers, strong buildings and other hardened targets; and a guided missile with a 100-kilometer range--and all three are cluster munitions. Replacing the cluster munitions in the rockets with standard high-explosive rounds defeats the purpose of the M270 because it fires only 12 rounds before you have to go into a nine-minute reload cycle.

If you ban cluster munitions you've basically banned this entire weapon system. I agree cluster munitions need to be banned (I'll put my little cluster bomb war story at the bottom of this) but this is going to hurt.

Now...there IS a way around this. The Russians, as I recall, need lots and lots of money right fucking now. They also have a REAL nice 8-inch gun called the 2S7. This would really piss the Republicans off, but I am quite certain the factory that makes these would have no problem with whipping up a batch that had American-made automotive components in them. Just stick a nice fat Caterpillar engine in this bad boy, put gauges and controls written in English in it, and you can get rid of the MLRS.

(On edit: Oh yeah, the cluster bomb war story: When the Army went to the Middle East in the GHWB Administration to make Kuwait safe for democracy, we used a LOT of cluster munitions, and quite a few of them didn't explode when they impacted--this is what all the fuss is about, that they don't always explode. The Air Force has one that's a gold-colored ball about an inch in diameter. They are pretty, and one of our guys found a bunch of them. He gathered them up, not realizing what they were, and gave them to his friends. One female friend made a pair of earrings out of them. She wore these earrings when she went dancing at the club. Fortunately, one of the people drinking there was an Explosive Ordnance Disposal troop who knew what they were...can you imagine being told you've got a bomb hanging from a hole in your ear? Or worse, two of them? My thought is they'd be too heavy to wear as pierced earrings...)

[jody]

18. Agree. Given the threat approved in the NIE approved by the president and select senate-house

committees, cluster munitions are a very effective/efficient weapon.

Apparently Obama has discovered that simple fact.

[jmowreader]

19. They are VERY effective, with one major problem

Dud rate on the M77 submunition (which is what the MLRS drops) is, ACCORDING TO THE ARMY, five percent. Whether you want to believe it or call them liars because, after all, it is the Army, the fact remains the Field Artillery School at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, tells every soldier who will operate this system that five percent of every MLRS rocket that goes downrange won't explode. (Which, of course, makes life interesting if you have to drive through an area you shelled--the armor on the bottom of these things ain't the thickest piece of steel man ever created.)

Seriously, guys: without a good replacement for this system, we simply can't sign onto this ban. There are still very bad people in the world, and the MLRS is one of the best ways of making the other poor dumb bastard die for his country.

[jody]

20. "without a good replacement for this system, we simply can't sign onto this ban" Wish it wasn't so

but that's just the way it is. :shrug:

[Recursion]

21. Ah, Ft. Sill

I spent a month there one weekend