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COMMENTS:
(continued from ballot sub-text)
The US State Department is investigating Israel's use of American-made cluster bombs during the war in Lebanon. In particular, whether or not Israel broke a secret agreement with the United States not to use cluster bombs against civilians.
The Israelis make no attempt to hide where they obtained this weapon. In the garden of a house in Nabatiyeh used as a headquarters by the British-based Mines Advisory Group (MAG) lies a cluster-bomb container that sprayed bomblets over an area the size of a football pitch. Such weapons are still causing casualties.
When we visitedthe town a man had just been taken to hospital with severe injuries after a bomblet exploded in his hand.
The bomb was the size of a small torpedo. There are letters scrawled in Hebrew on the metal but most of the writing is in English; it says CBU - 58B and "US Air Force". The manufacturer is identified as Lanson Industries. There are a number of cryptic code numbers reading "Part No 7127151/22290" and "FSN 1325-758-0417" and contract no F42600-72-2676. The bomb was made before the Vietnam War had ended, because there is a marking showing that its warranty ended on 7 February 1974. There is no indication of when the cluster bomb was transferred from the US to Israel.
Nick Guest, a former British Army bomb disposal officer working for MAG, says the most common bomblets - the M42 and the M77 - are of American manufacture. Some of the bombs are round like a metallic orange and others are like a can of fruit juice. They are small enough to be difficult to detect and may go on killing children and farmers for years.
The unexploded bomblets become anti-personel mines. Mr Guest says MAG has teams working in the banana groves on the coastal plain around Tyre and says that even for experts the mines are difficult to find because they may have "fallen into heart of the banana tree where their presence is concealed". In hill villages people are about to start harvesting their olive trees though they know branches and leaves may contain bomblets invisible to anybody from the ground. Another problem is that the Israelis may have fired cluster bombs into a village and then used conventional artillery to blow up houses. Families searching the ruins may accidentally detonate a bomblet.
The early date of the US bomb container in Nabatiyeh reveals another problem. The expiry of the warranty more than 30 years ago suggests that the manufacturer expected some deterioration in the product. Mr Guest points out that more recent cluster bombs have a self-destruct mechanism that operates after a period of time. But those dating from 1974 do not and therefore become sensitive anti-personnel mines.
Voted : Yes, they should ban the sale of cluster bombs to Israel
Unbelievable. I can hardly wait for the pro-Israel blowhards to start up with the "Israel has the right to defend itself" mantra.
Voted : Yes, they should ban the sale of cluster bombs to Israel
They *should* ban the sale of the damn things to *everybdy*. Look at that poor little thing. What did *she* have to do with anything but a playground?
TS, you are so right, and I regret not including they should be banned altogether as a choice.
They are evil and whoever invented them is on a one way ticket to Hell.
I see someone has already voted for their sale not to be banned, but prefers not to post a comment to try and justify their choice.
Too ashamed perhaps?
...and another, shame on them, why don't they post a comment to justify their choice?
Voted : Yes, they should ban the sale of cluster bombs to Israel
I fail to see why the US has such a raging hard-on for Israel in the first place... American support for Israel costs the American taxpayer a fortune and has contributed significantly towards making the US one of the world's most despised nations - a notable achievement, since it's only existed as a nation for a couple of hundred years.
Cranky, who do you reckon was among those who voted 'no', I have a feeling one of them was FiddlefaddleonLSD, I already suspected it he had, and that was before he mysteriously appeared after a several week absense spamming my other ballots and comments tonight, just after I posted this ballot, I must have annoyed him big time with this ballot. :o)
And what is especially interesting to me is that I noticed that Fiddle was logged on when I came on and then when I looked a few minutes later, Fiddle was gone but Herzog was logged in. That's happened several times before. Odd coincidental timing: one is logged on, then that one disappears just as the other one comes on.
And the hypocrisy of Fiddle is how he criticizes others for spamming, all while he's spamming himself.
Voted : Yes, they should ban the sale of cluster bombs to Israel
No one should be using cluster bombs; they're dangerous to civilian populatiopns, in the aftermath.
Voted : Yes, they should ban the sale of cluster bombs to Israel
What the ƒu¢k is wrong some of these people? Whoever invented this monstrosity should be forced to go over there and clean these damn things up.
You need the help of a professional to deal with your paranoia cranky.
Great, so now you have got that off your chest, what is your stance on cluster bombs?
^^^ addressed to Fiddle by the way ^^^
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