Poland, Romania and Japan refuse to ban cluster bombs

Oslo - A declaration calling for a 2008 treaty banning cluster bombs was adopted Friday by 46 out of 49 nations attending a conference in Oslo, despite the absence of the U.S.

Norway's deputy foreign minister Raymond Johansen said Poland, Romania and Japan did not approve the final declaration. Officials for Human Rights Watch and the Cluster Munition Coalition also said those three countries dissented.

The gathering was snubbed by some key arms makers — including the U.S., Russia, Israel and China — but organizers said other nations needed to forge ahead regardless to avoid a potential humanitarian disaster posed by unexploded cluster munitions.

Following the July-August war in 2006 that devastated Lebanon, the U.S. Senate put forth an amendment to simply "protect civilian lives from unexploded cluster munitions."

The amendment was rejected by every Republican senator, but more surprisingly Hillary Rodham Clinton among other notable Democrats also rejected to help protect civilians from mine warfare. Despite the efforts of Democrats such as Barak Obama, the amendment was rejected 70 to 30 in the Senate.

A declaration presented on the last day of the meeting urged nations to "conclude by 2008 a legally binding international instrument" to ban cluster bombs.

The treaty would "prohibit the use, production, transfer and stockpiling of those cluster munitions that cause unacceptable harm to civilians," the declaration said.

Cluster bomblets are packed by the hundreds into artillery shells, bombs or missiles, which scatter them over vast areas, with some failing to explode immediately. The unexploded bomblets can then lie dormant for years after conflicts end until they are disturbed, often by civilians.

As many as 60 per cent of the victims in Southeast Asia are children, the Cluster Munition Coalition said. The weapons have recently been used in Iraq, Kosovo, Afghanistan and Lebanon, it said.

The UN estimated that Israel dropped as many as four million bomblets in southern Lebanon during last year's war with Hezbollah, with as many 40 per cent failing to explode on impact.

Children can be attracted to the unexploded weapons by their small size, shape and bright colours, activists say.

Friday's declaration urged countries to take steps at a national level before the treaty takes effect. Norway has already done so, while Austria announced a moratorium on cluster bombs at the start of the conference.

"It is non-binding. It is not a legal document. But it is a statement of political will," Steve Goose of Human Rights Watch said of the declaration.

Norway hopes the treaty would be similar to one outlawing anti-personnel mines, negotiated in Oslo in 1997.

The U.S., China and Russia have refused to sign the landmine treaty and oppose the Norwegian initiative on cluster bombs. They did not send representatives to the meeting. Australia, Israel, India and Pakistan also did not attend. Those nations say the weapons should be dealt with in other arenas, such as the UN Convention on Conventional Weapons, known as CCW.

Goose said the major powers don't need to be involved for the treaties to have an impact. Activists say the point is to stigmatize the weapons.

"If you need proof that you can conclude a treaty without the United States, Russia and China, look at the landmine treaty," he said. Goose said even though major powers have rejected the treaty, they have stopped deploying land mines, and that the number of civilian casualties have been cut in half since 1997.

Before the meeting, activist groups feared some countries would seek to water down, or even squash, a declaration by insisting on a longer or nonexistent deadline. But Nash said the first day of talks made it clear that there would be a declaration, with the 2008 deadline, even if some countries rejected it.

The declaration said work on the cluster bomb treaty would be carried out in Lima, Peru, in May or June; in Vienna, Austria, in November or December, and in Dublin, Ireland, in early 2008.

But, but, but ... Polish army don't even have cluster bombs.

And as far as I know - they haven't even ordered them for the brand new F-16s fleet.

So how the hell is this Poland's problem?

Stupid --- stupid --- stupid.

War is a last resort.
A last resort does not recognize limitations or the means of ending conflicts as quickly as possible, with as few friendly casualties as possible.

It should not need to be mentioned that the Muslims Mass Murderers and their surrogate army recognizes no rules or agreements.
Never has; never will.

"The treaty would "prohibit the use, production, transfer and stockpiling of those cluster munitions that cause unacceptable harm to civilians," the declaration said."

I wonder why they didn't also prohibit the use of IED's by the ragheads?

Just thought I'd ask.

"It is non-binding. It is not a legal document. But it is a statement of political will," Steve Goose of Human Rights Watch said of the declaration.

To the pacifist, to the coward, war is a non-possibility.
These sad pets of society for whom:

War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things. The decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling which thinks that nothing is worth war is much worse. The person who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing which is more important than his own personal safety, is a miserable creature and has no chance of being free unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself.
~~ John Stuart Mill ~~

I think that It's not only about bombs, but the whole cluster ammunition, which is used even in mortars. I find this kind of treaties idiotic. There's already anti-infantry mines treaty... mines are a great weapon in defense, but you obviously can't attack with them, so what's the problem ? Anyway well developed countries don't rather use to fight each other but when that happens (like WW2) It must be a really bad situation, so no one would care about some treaties. And 3rd world countries don't even pretend that they care.

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