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Recent
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May
1, 2003
Jeffrey
St. Clair
Santorum: That's Latin for Asshole
Iain
Boal
A May Day Message to the FCC: "We
Are Many; They are Few"
Diana
Johnstone
About Cuba
Sam
Hamod
Killings at Al Fallujah, City of Mosques
Veteran
Intelligence Professionals for Sanity
Intelligence Fiasco
Lee Sustar
Greed Air: Airline Workers Agree to Pay Cuts, While Bosses Stuff
Their Pockets
Peter
Linebaugh
May Day at Kut and Kenthal
Stew Albert
Straight Shooters
Steve
Perry
Bush's War Web Log 5/01
Website
of the Day
South Bay Mobilization
April
30, 2003
Ashley
Smith
Under Uncle Sam's Thumb: a History
of Washington's Occupations
Steve
Perry
Bush's War Web Log 4/30
Gary
Leupp
Shooting Schoolboys: Preliminary Thoughts on the Fallujah Massacre
Robert
Jensen
Fighting Alienation in the USA
Wayne
Madsen
The Four Horsemen of Propaganda
Ahmad
Faruqui
Bush's Strategic Myopia About the Middle East
Gabriel
Kolko
Iraq, the US and the End of the European Coalition
Adolfo
Perez Esquivel
A Nobel Laureat's Letter to Bush:
"You Talk of Freedom; You Detest Freedom"
April
29, 2003
Gary
Leupp
Disorder and Opportunity: the Results
of the Iraq War
Uri
Avnery
Don't Envy Abu-Mazen
Anthony
Gancarski
Brush with the Law
Mickey
Z.
POWs: Then and Now
CounterPunch
Wire
How to Spin Israel on the Hill: Internal Lobbying Documents
Robert
Fisk
Did the US Murder Journalists?
Chris
Floyd
Bush Telegraphs His Punches on Syria
Wayne Madsen
About Those Iraqi Intelligence Documents
Wallace
Gagne
Pilgrimage or Demolition Derby?
Eliot Katz
Playing Catch with Cracked Globes
Steve
Perry
Bush's War Web Log 4/29
April
28, 2003
Ann
Harrison
Fighting Back: Medical Marijuana
Patients Sue Ashcroft
Robert
Jensen
Lack of WMD Kills the Case for War
Peter Phillips
Total Information Control
Ron
Jacobs
Get the US Out of Iraq and Its Military Out of Our Minds
Mark Hand
Peace Park: The Pentagon Solution
to a Baseball Stadium Dilemma
Linda
S. Heard
Repeat After Me: Iraq is Weapons Free
Kurt Nimmo
US Military Bases: the Spoils and
Deceptions of War
Steve
Perry
Bush's War Web Log 4/28
April
26 / 27, 2003
Elaine
Cassel
The Other War: Bush, Ashcroft and
the End of Civil Liberties
Saul
Landau
Iraq War: a Policy of Christian and Jewish Fundamentalism
William
A. Cook
Sharon Recruits US as Mercenaries Against Syria
William
S. Lind
Now the Real War Starts
John Chuckman
In Jesus's Name:
Franklin Graham's Christian Empire
David
MacMichael and Ray McGovern
Ex-CIA Analysts on WMD: Where? Find?
Plant?
Gary Leupp
Why the War on Iraq was (and Remains) Wrong
Robert
Sandels
Cuba Crackdown: a Revolt Against Bush's National Security Strategy?
CounterPunch
Wire
An Open Letter to Jerry Brown on Oakland Police Violence Against
Peace Activists and Dock Workers
Mickey
Z.
Our Ba'athists
Anthony
Gancarski
Nader Plays Pullman
Scott
Handleman
The Mumia Abu-Jamal Case in Its True Colors
Claud Cockburn
Evelyn Waugh's Ear Trumpet
Poets'
Basement
Matt Simon, Sam Hamod, Hammond Guthrie and Stew Albert
Steve
Perry
Bush's War Web Log 4/26
April
25, 2003
David
Vest
It's Not the Oil; It's the Art!
Steven
Higgs
All About Tucker Carlson
Walt
Brasch
The Shock and Awe of American Ignorance
Alexander
Cockburn
The Decline of American Journalism:
the Case of Judy Miller
Zeynep
Toufe
A Letter to the People of Iraq from an Anti-War Activist
CounterPunch
Wire
Season of the Witch: Jeane Kirkpatrick Unbound
Hammond
Guthrie
Springtime in Iraq
Steve
Perry
Bush's War Web Log 4/25
Website
of the Day
Having
a Great Time, Wish You Were Here: Postcards from a War
April
24, 2003
Lois
Whitman
An Open Letter to Rumsfeld on the
Child Detainees at Guantanamo
Uri
Avnery
Abu vs. Abu: It's Not About Egos
David
Lindorff
Day Care in the Name of National Security? About Those Kids in
Camp X-Ray
John Grebe
Rev. Pat Robertson's Message in the Temple
Dokhi
Fassihian
Monster.Com: Ethnic Cleansing on the Web?
CounterPunch
Wire
Israeli Army Chief Threatens Peace Activists
Sam
Hamod
Our Man in Baghdad
Annie
C. Higgins
Do You Regret Being an American?
Harold
A. Gould
Will They Hate Us Forever?
Stew Albert
Big Brother in Bed
Steve
Perry
Bush's War Web Log 4/24
Website
of the Day
Muscles
Abroad
April
23, 2003
Anthony
Gancarski
When Young Mothers Die in Combat
Chris
Floyd
Desolation Row: Bush's Barbarians Teach
by Example
Marjorie
Cohn
Tax the War Profiteers
William
Lind
The Fourth Generation of Modern War
Dave Marsh
Nina Simone: Freedom Singer
Binoy
Kampmark
Malayasia's America: the War on Iraq
David Vest
Who's Looting Whom?
Standard
Shaefer
Super Imperialism: an Interview with Michael Hudson
Andrew
Rodman
Lawn Poem
Steve
Perry
Bush's War Web Log 4/23
Website
of the Day
Weapons of Mass Destruction in the Middle East
April
22, 2003
Edward
Said
The Appalling Consequences of the Iraq
War are Now Clear
Sam
Hamod
What's the Deal with This War?
Kurt
Nimmo
Shi'a Will to Power
Gary
Leupp
At last! The Necessary Evidence
Carl
Estabrook
Oblivious Americans: They Distort,
We Subside
John
Stanton
Iran's Reza Pahlavi: a Puppet of the US and Israel?
Ramzy
Baroud
What Else Hasn't Israel Told America?
Steven
Sherman
About That Cuba Letter
Wayne Madsen
Bush's "Christian" Blood Cult
Stew
Albert
Creep
Steve
Perry
Bush's War Web Log 4/22
Website
of the Day
Critical Media Literacy in Times of War
April
21, 2003
Elaine
Cassel
An Administration in Contempt
Gary
Leupp
Easter Thoughts on Liberation, Jesus
and Kanaka WaiWai
Roger
Witherspoon
Why Michigan Needs Affirmative Action
Uri Avnery
At Midnight, a Knock on the Door
Col. Dan
Smith
Early Lessons from Iraq
Jo
Freeman
After the Protest Comes Politics
Michael
Berry
The Friedman Absurdities
Gray
Brechin
Hang Black Banners: Mourning the Cultural Loss
Bob Riedel
The Taliban from Texas
Steve
Perry
Bush's War Web Log 4/21
April
19, 2003
Gary
Leupp
The Rape of History
Saul
Landau
Shop, Go to Church, Support Bush's
War, Wait for Armageddon
Michael
J. Fellows
Off With Their Heads: the Constitution According to Scalia
Pablo
Mukherjee
Roadmap to Resistance
Omar
Barghouti
Sharon's Bloody Beat
Anthony
Gancarski
Tony Blair: the Most Powerful Man in the World
Mickey
Z.
Animals: the Other Collateral Damage
Will
Potter
When Police Attack Journalists
William
MacDougall
America's In-Bedded Journalism
Neve
Gordon
Haunted by History
Adam
Engel
Wal-Mart and Peace
Dr.
Susan Block
Art Bombs: American Libertines for Peace
Poets'
Basement
Albert, Buono, Guthrie
Steve
Perry
War Web Log 4/19
Song of
the Weekend
Baghdad to Basra
April
18, 2003
Uri
Avnery
Operation "Syrian Freedom":
This One's Not About Oil
Jorge
Mariscal
"They Died Trying to Become
Students": the Future of Latinos in an Era of War and Occupation
Mickey
Z:
Coalition of the Unindicted: Only Losers Get Tried for War Crimes
Hussein
Ibish
Syria and the Road to World War IV
Reza Ladjevardian
Tarqeting Iran? Do It With TV, Not Cruise Missiles
Matania
Ben-Artzi
You Are Not Protecting My Son's Rights: a Letter to the President
of Israel's Supreme Court
Bruce Jackson
Jews Like Us
Joe
Allen
My Lai Revisited
Carl Estabrook
Support Our Euphemism
Steve
Perry
War Web Log 4/18
Website
of the Day
Meet the Victims of War
April
17, 2003
Jeffrey
St. Clair
Patriot Gore: the Fatal Flaws in
the Patriot Missile System
Joanne
Mariner
Looting Antiquity: the Legal Implications
for the Pentagon
Issam
Nashashibi
Zalmay Khalilzad: the Neocon's Bagman
to Baghdad
Wayne Madsen
Another Sign of the "End Times" for American Journalism
Robert
Fisk
The Army of Occupation
Boris
Kagarlitsky
Virtual Saddam Takes Aim
Biljana
Vankovska
A Personal View of Iraq: Where
is the Truth?
Dan Brook
Oil War: Fueling the Empire
Stanley
Heller
Bomb and Steal: This is What Privatization Looks Like
Tim Robbins
A Chill Wind is Blowing Through This Nation
Harold
A. Gould
Iraq After the War
Steve
Perry
War Web Log 4/17
Hot Stories
Elaine
Cassel
Civil Liberties
Watch
Michel
Guerrin
Embedded Photographer Says: "I
Saw Marines Kill Civilians"
Uzma
Aslam Khan
The Unbearably Grim Aftermath of War:
What America Says Does Not Go
Paul de Rooij
Arrogant
Propaganda
Gore Vidal
The
Erosion of the American Dream
Francis Boyle
Impeach
Bush: A Draft Resolution
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for More Stories.
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May 3,
2003
Ticking Time Bombs in Iraq
The
Continuing Danger of Cluster Bombs
By JOANNE MARINER
Human rights groups criticize cluster munitions
for the threat they pose to civilians; the Pentagon defends them
for their effectiveness. With the Iraq War, the debate over cluster
bomb use has a new test case.
The U.S. military used cluster munitions
in 1991, during the Persian Gulf War; in 1999, during the Kosovo
conflict; and in 2001 and 2002 in Afghanistan. The resulting
civilian casualties led human rights groups to urge the Pentagon
not to deploy the weapon in or near populated areas during the
war in Iraq.
Recent statements by the chairman of
the Joint Chiefs of Staff suggest that the Pentagon has taken
heed of this advice. At a press conference in Washington last
Friday, General Richard B. Myers said that U.S. and British forces
had dropped "nearly 1,500 cluster bombs of varying types"
during the Iraq War, but that only twenty-six of these bombs
had hit targets within 1,500 feet of civilian neighborhoods.
The result, he noted with satisfaction,
was "only one recorded case of collateral damage" caused
by cluster munitions. (This means, in non-military-speak, that
only one civilian was killed or injured.)
It would be heartening to think that
the Pentagon is finally getting the message. Although twenty-six
cluster bombs aimed at or near civilian areas are twenty-six
too many, they obviously represent a tiny proportion of the total
ordnance used in Iraq.
Unfortunately, Myers' figures are highly
disingenuous. They only cover air-dropped cluster munitions,
not the surface-launched type that are believed to have caused
many more civilian casualties in Iraq. Not only that, but unexploded
cluster bomblets, lying in wait for future victims, are likely
to increase the toll of civilian deaths and injuries.
What Cluster Bombs
Are
Cluster bombs are large weapons that
contain dozens and often hundreds of smaller submunitions. They
come in over 200 models and can be delivered from the air or
the ground, releasing "bomblets" or "grenades"
respectively.
Because of the wide dispersal pattern
of their bomblets, cluster munitions can destroy broad, relatively
"soft" targets, such as airfields and surface-to-air
missile sites. They are also effective against targets that move
or do not have a precise location, such as enemy troops or vehicles.
The Dangers of Cluster
Bomb Use
It is precisely the qualities that make
cluster bombs militarily desirable that make them so dangerous
to civilians. From the humanitarian perspective, the weapons
have two main problems: they are difficult to target accurately,
and they leave large numbers of unexploded bomblets, or duds.
Cluster bombs cannot be precisely targeted.
Once a cluster casing opens, it releases hundreds of unguided
bomblets that disperse over a wide area. The wide dispersal pattern
of these submunitions makes it very difficult to avoid civilians
if they are in the area in which the cluster bombs are dropped.
Cluster bombs also produce problematic
aftereffects because many of the bomblets do not explode on impact
as intended. While all weapons have a failure rate, cluster bombs
are more dangerous because they release such large numbers of
bomblets. As a result, every cluster bomb leaves some unexploded
ordnance.
This high dud rate puts civilians at
great risk. Unexploded bomblets become like landmines: they lie
in wait, killing civilians who visit the battlefield days or
weeks after an attack is over. Some people consider cluster bomblet
duds even worse than landmines because of their extreme volatility.
Sadly, children are particularly vulnerable
to unexploded bomblets because of their curiosity and failure
to understand danger. On Sunday, the Los Angeles Times reported
the case of Nabil Khalil, age 14, hospitalized in Kirkuk after
playing with a cluster bomblet that he found in an abandoned
Iraqi army camp. He lost one hand, suffered severe face injuries
and can barely open his eyes.
Deploying Cluster
Bombs in Iraqi Cities
It is because of these dangers that human
rights groups contend that cluster bombs should never be deployed
in civilian areas. While the Pentagon has offered figures indicating
low use of air-dropped cluster bombs in Iraqi cities, it has
not provided similar information regarding ground-based cluster
munitions.
According to Human Rights Watch, the
U.S. Army did, in fact, use ground-based cluster munitions in
populated areas of Baghdad, as well as other Iraqi cities. Its
researchers believe that these weapons caused many more civilian
casualties than did air-based cluster bombs.
Media reports have confirmed these claims.
Several journalists have provided eyewitness accounts of cluster
munitions use against populated areas in the southern part of
Baghdad. Newsday reported on April 15 that two children were
killed, and one seriously injured, when a cluster munition they
were playing with exploded.
"Tough Choices"
At Friday's press conference, discussing
cluster bomb use, General Myers talked about the "tough
choices" that the military faces in making targeting decisions.
But some choices should not just be tough; they should be excluded.
The record shows that the military should
not use cluster bombs of any type in populated areas. Moreover,
given the weapon's terrible impact on civilians, the Pentagon
should reconsider whether the cluster bomb is necessary to its
arsenal.
Joanne Mariner
is a human rights attorney. An earlier version of this piece
appeared in FindLaw's Writ. She can be reached at: mariner@counterpunch.org.
Yesterday's
Features
Jeffrey
St. Clair
Santorum: That's Latin for Asshole
Iain
Boal
A May Day Message to the FCC: "We
Are Many; They are Few"
Diana
Johnstone
About Cuba
Sam
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Killings at Al Fallujah, City of Mosques
Veteran
Intelligence Professionals for Sanity
Intelligence Fiasco
Lee Sustar
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Stew Albert
Straight Shooters
Steve
Perry
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Website
of the Day
South Bay Mobilization
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