(07-10-2023, 12:22 PM)Luvnit2 Wrote: I thought cluster bombs were not permitted to be used anymore????????????

(07-10-2023, 12:22 PM)Luvnit2 Wrote: https://www.cnn.com/2023/07/07/politics/joe-biden-cluster-munitions-ukraine/index.html#:~:text=Biden%20told%20Zakaria%20that%20the,on%20it%2C%E2%80%9D%20Biden%20said.
iden told Zakaria that the cluster munitions were being sent as a “transition period” until the US is able to produce more 155mm artillery.

“This is a war relating to munitions. And they’re running out of that ammunition, and we’re low on it,” Biden said. “And so, what I finally did, I took the recommendation of the Defense Department to – not permanently – but to allow for this transition period, while we get more 155 weapons, these shells, for the Ukrainians.”

There are more than 100 countries, including the UK, France, and Germany, who have outlawed the munitions under the Convention on Cluster Munitions. But the US and Ukraine are not signatories to the ban.

“They’re trying to get through those trenches and stop those tanks from rolling. But it was not an easy decision,” Biden said. “We’re not signatories to that agreement, but it took me a while to be convinced to do it.”

He added, “But the main thing is they either have the weapons to stop the Russians now – keep them from stopping the Ukrainian offensive through these areas – or they don’t. And I think they needed them.”

The decision to provide cluster munitions comes at a critical point in the war, as the Ukrainians have struggled to make major gains in their counteroffensive against Russia.

I thought cluster bombs were not permitted to be used anymore????????????

(07-10-2023, 02:27 PM)michaelsean Wrote: Why do countries ban cluster bombs?

(07-10-2023, 02:50 PM)Sociopathicsteelerfan Wrote: Because the bomblets have a failure rate, meaning X% don't detonate.  They unexploded munitions then sit around waiting for someone to cause them to detonate.  They aren't especially large so policing all of them up after a conflict isn't as easy as finding an unexploded conventional 500 pound bomb.  As you might expect the Russian munitions have a much higher failure rate than ours.  It's the same reason many countries have banned landmines, they can cause a lot of death and injury long after the conflict has ended.

(07-10-2023, 02:50 PM)Sociopathicsteelerfan Wrote: Because the bomblets have a failure rate, meaning X% don't detonate.  They unexploded munitions then sit around waiting for someone to cause them to detonate.  They aren't especially large so policing all of them up after a conflict isn't as easy as finding an unexploded conventional 500 pound bomb.  As you might expect the Russian munitions have a much higher failure rate than ours.  It's the same reason many countries have banned landmines, they can cause a lot of death and injury long after the conflict has ended.

(07-10-2023, 05:15 PM)Luvnit2 Wrote: I would add the real issue is the cluster bombs can and do detonate later causing major harm to civilians.

(07-10-2023, 05:42 PM)Arturo Bandini Wrote: I'm pretty sure it's the first time in your life you are worried about this. It's been used in Iraq and Afghanistan for decades.

(07-10-2023, 08:12 PM)Nately120 Wrote: I'd take it even further and say that I recall hearing old folk musicians and other politically-inclined entertainers talking decades ago about children stepping on landmines from long gone wars.  We're quite good at looking the other way on this stuff.