Comment & Debate
Kathleen Peratis. “Back Bill To Ban Cluster Bombs”. The Jewish Daily Forward. 23 Mar 2007 – “cluster bombs, like landmines, kill indiscriminately, and therefore they should be banned. This is how they work: A single cluster bomb spews dozens or hundreds of smaller sub-munitions, called bomblets, over a wide ‘footprint.’ The bomblets are designed to explode on impact and to destroy broad targets, such as massed armor and infantry formations.” Because of the weapon’s broad area of effect, they have often been documented as striking both civilian and military objects in the target area. This characteristic of the weapon is particularly problematic for civilians when cluster munitions are used in or near populated areas and has been documented by research reports from groups such as Human Rights Watch.[1] Further compounding this problem is that, according to Handicap International, only 15 percent of the bombs reach their objectives.[2]