48 Countries to Meet in Oslo in Bid for Global Drive against Cluster Bombs (Guess who was missing?)

[marmar]

48 Countries to Meet in Oslo in Bid for Global Drive against Cluster Bombs

A 48-nation meeting called by Norway in a drive to ban cluster bombs opens in Oslo on Thursday, despite being snubbed by the United States, Russia and China.


Silhouettes representing the 2,982 children confirmed killed by by cluster bombs that exploded long after wars in their countries ended, crowd a snowy square outside the Nobel Peace Center in Oslo, Norway, Wednesday, Feb. 21, 2007. A 48-nation meeting called by Norway in a drive to ban cluster bombs opens in Oslo on Thursday, despite being snubbed by the United States, Russia and China.

Norway hopes to initiate a worldwide drive against cluster bombs similar to the one banning anti-personnel mines, negotiated in Oslo in 1997.

Norwegian Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere called the Oslo meeting of governments and activist groups because arms talks in Geneva in November failed to move towards banning the weapons.

Activists say key powers, including United States, Russia, China, India, Pakistan and Japan, oppose separate negotiations and claim the weapons are covered under the 1980 U.N. Convention on Conventional Weapons, known as CCW.

At a meeting of non-governmental organizations ahead of the main conference, Steve Goose, executive Director of the Human Rights Watch Group, said the Oslo meetings must lead to a new path outside the stalled CCW. ......(more)

The complete article is at: http://www.commondreams.org/headlines07/0222-02.htm

[redqueen]

1. God, how disgusting...

:grr:

[rodeodance]

2. and israel?

[TreasonousBastard]

3. China and the US aren't big on landmine treaties, either...

not only do we use them, we sell them.

Dunno if China sells cluster bombs, but it's even bigger than the US dealing in landmines-- nice cheap plastic unreliable ones.

Who. besides Israel, do we sell cluster bombs to anyway?

<...>
"The United States has exported cluster munitions to at least two dozen countries, including: Argentina, Australia, Bahrain, Belgium, Canada, Egypt, Denmark, France, Greece, Indonesia, Israel, Italy, Japan, Jordan, South Korea, Netherlands, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, and the United Kingdom."
<...>

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/HRW/e02e4a875ff3fdba88008c3eb800191c.htm

The article also hints that we may have sold off many of the older, less reliable, cluster weapons that we're not supposed to be using ourselves.

[Solo_in_MD]

4. Submumitions are a common load for the MLRS

and MLRS systems are widely sold.

The US also makes air launched submuniton weapons. Not sure without going to Janes who all has them.

[ShortnFiery]

5. And our strack USA Press Corps is all over this, right?