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Britain Backs Ban On Cluster Bombs

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Los Angeles Times

Published: May 29, 2008

DUBLIN, Ireland - In a major diplomatic defeat for the United States, Britain broke ranks Wednesday and joined more than 100 nations in agreeing in principle to an international ban on cluster bombs, the small, insidious weapons that have killed thousands of civilians in the aftermath of battle.

Although the Bush administration has lobbied hard against the treaty and many U.S. and British officials consider cluster bombs valuable weapons, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown overruled elements of his own military and threw his support behind the prohibition. Brown's decision cleared the way for an agreement that supporters said will lead to the removal of cluster munitions from arsenals around the world.

The pact, to be formally endorsed Friday by the nations gathered in Dublin for negotiations and signed in December, creates an international convention prohibiting the use, production, stockpiling and transfer of cluster munitions. It requires nations that conduct joint military operations with countries not party to the agreement to discourage use of the weapons.

The immediate influence of the draft agreement is limited because none of the major producers and users of cluster munitions, including the United States, Russia and China, are participating. Russia has said it would not support an international ban.

Advocates have said they think the pact will result in sufficient international pressure to prevent any nation from deploying the weapons.

"Only a year and a half ago, countries would have said you were mad to think the world could turn around and ban cluster munitions with an international treaty," said Thomas Nash, of the Cluster Munition Coalition, a network of 250 groups promoting the ban.
Cluster munitions release a spray of more than 200 small, harmless-looking "bomblets" that often don't explode until long after a conflict is over.

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