Israel's use of cluster bombs from U.S. examined

[andrewcorbin20]

NEW YORK (Reuters) -- The Bush administration will notify Congress Monday that Israel may have violated agreements with Washington when it fired U.S.-supplied cluster munitions into Lebanon in its war with Hezbollah last summer, The New York Times reported in Sunday editions.

Citing State Department officials who spoke Saturday, the Times said the preliminary findings had spawned a sharp debate -- which one official characterized as "head-butting" -- within the administration over whether Washington should penalize its ally for using cluster munitions in towns and villages where Hezbollah guerrillas placed rocket launchers.

The Times reported some midlevel Pentagon and State Department officials contended Israel violated U.S. prohibitions on using cluster munitions against populated areas.

Other officials in the two departments argue Israel used the arms in self-defense to stop Hezbollah's rocket attacks, which would amount to a technical violation at most.

Cluster bombs are small explosive devices that are released from a projectile and are dispersed and supposed to explode on hitting the ground. But many remain unexploded. More than 20 people have been killed and 70 wounded by cluster bombs since the end of the war in August. Israel has said it only deploys them in accordance with international law.

Several U.S. officials said they expected little further action on the matter, the Times said. One option being considered was barring additional sales of cluster munitions for a set period, one official told the paper.

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Source: http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/01/27/usa.israel.reut/index.html
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[malaise]

1. Why did the US give them this evil munitions

if not to kill people. Fuck all war criminals.

[Mr_Jefferson_24]

3. Exactly. Cluster bombs should be...

...banned from use altogether. I don't recall even one prominent member of the Dem party standing up to publicly denounce Israel for the use of cluster bombs on Lebanese civilians -- not one. What Dem leadership did do (it was especially disappointing to see Feingold jump right in and do it too) was stand up in unison to sing Israel's praises and commend the IDF for their courage and bravery.

What does this tell us about who's actually running things inside the beltway?

[Kagemusha]

2. Enough's enough. This has been a) posted many many times now

b) nothing's gonna actually be DONE about it, so the point has been lost.

[HughMoran]

4. I say we rub it in their faces at every opportunity

We discuss Bush's war crimes every day - Israel has committed war crimes too - so why should they be spared?

[azurnoir]

5. This is a sick joke

If memory serves me correctly I remember a couple of threads here about the fact that Israel was using cluster bombs that were being supplied by this government on civilians and that use was in violation of US law. There was at the time ample proof that these weapons were used on civilians, our leaders reaction-speed up the delivery of these bombs to Israel lest they run out, to call this move hypocritical is an understatement.