Cluster Bombs: It’s still not OK
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER EDITORIAL BOARD
Surprise, surprise: After a year investigating itself, the Israeli military (OK, its prosecutors) concluded that it was justified in using cluster bomblets — millions of them — in its war with Lebanon last year. The reports tell us that, “the matter is now closed.” Well, that depends on whom you ask. Entities such as human rights groups and the United Nations beg to differ with the Israeli military.
The United Nations called the use of the devastating bombs in the final three days of the fight, when the end of the conflict was clearly in sight, “shocking and immoral.” The bombs, which were dropped in populated areas, farms, etc., have a 30 percent failure rate, meaning that they explode later, and many have been doing so over the past year. [more]