Wednesday, April 02, 2003

Cluster bombs: How shall the hearts and minds be won by using them?

According to Human Rights Watch US forces use cluster bombs in their assault on Iraq. These weapons have a high failure rate, meaning many of them don't explode on impact. Basically, they turn into antipersonnel landmines. Civilians, as well as friendly soldiers will suffer from that.

German Journalists reported out of Iraqi hospitals today: They visited over three hundred civilian victims of coalition attacks from the last few days. A high percentage of them were children. They reported about picking up small yellow packages that had fallen from the sky. They exploded on touch.

German journalists insisted that while some information on this topic may be Iraqi propaganda parts of it must be true. In any case, Iraq is using antipersonnel landmines as well.
Horrible.

But don't you wonder how the "liberation of Iraq" shall be welcomed by one-legged children and their parents due to American cluster bombs?

Evidence on this whole matter is still very scattered, I haven't seen it on BBC or CNN, yet. Maybe Saddam is fooling the rest of the world right now. It could be, though, that the US and the UK are fooling us at the moment.

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