Cluster Bombs

Updated below x 2


Raw Story has this item: Lebanese children victims of unexploded cluster bombs

Bomb search teams are scouring southern Lebanon but finding the "tens of thousands" of unexploded bombs will take time.

View the Video and feel sick to your stomach.

How did it come to be that there are "tens of thousands" of unexploded bombs in south Lebanon? Where did they come from?
They came from the United States. They were dropped by Israel on the civilians of south Lebanon in violation of the rules of war. In case you were unfamiliar with these they include the following:

International Humanitarian Law comprised of the Geneva Conventions and the Hague Conventions

Persons who are not, or are no longer, taking part in hostilities shall be respected, protected and treated humanely. They shall be given appropriate care, without any discrimination.
.....

The right of parties to an armed conflict to choose methods or means of warfare is not unlimited. No superfluous injury or unnecessary suffering shall be inflicted.

In order to spare the civilian population, armed forces shall at all times distinguish between the civilian population and civilian objects on the one hand, and military objectives on the other. Neither the civilian population as such nor individual civilians or civilian objects shall be the target of military attacks (emphasis added)

Arguments that "we dropped leaflets" and "Hezbollah hid behind the skirts of villagers" do not hold water and are specious. The only conclusion a rational person can come to is that:

The United States of America and Israel have committed War Crimes.

Not to bring the parties to justice will make a mockery of the treaties and laws that we pretend to respect.


Cluster bomb victim.

Update 1:
From Juan Cole:

The US State Department will investigate whether Israeli deployment of these weapons in civilian areas violated secret agreements under which Washington supplied them to Israel.

Nothing will come of the investigation, given the clout of the Israel lobby in Washington, but someday the relative of an innocent maimed Lebanese may decide to take revenge on the country that supplied the cluster bombs. And the American public will ask in astonishment why anyone should hate us.

Update 2:

8/27: Billmon has a post that points out, once again, the tremendous hypocrisy of the U.S. on this issue.

Having the U.S. government investigate Israel's use of cluster bombs is like having the Unibomber investigate the London subway bombings.