Inquiry Opened Into Israeli Use of U.S. Bombs

[cal04]

The State Department is investigating whether Israel’s use of American-made cluster bombs in southern Lebanon violated secret agreements with the United States that restrict when it can employ such weapons, two officials said.

The investigation by the department’s Office of Defense Trade Controls began this week, after reports that three types of American cluster munitions, anti-personnel weapons that spray bomblets over a wide area, have been found in many areas of southern Lebanon and were responsible for civilian casualties.

Gonzalo Gallegos, a State Department spokesman, said, “We have heard the allegations that these munitions were used, and we are seeking more information.” He declined to comment further.

Several current and former officials said that they doubted the investigation would lead to sanctions against Israel but that the decision to proceed with it might be intended to help the Bush administration ease criticism from Arab governments and commentators over its support of Israel’s military operations. The investigation has not been publicly announced; the State Department confirmed it in response to questions.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/25/world/middleeast/25cluster.html?hp&ex=1156478400&en=c0afa26258462286&ei=5094&partner=homepage

[niallmac]

1. Cluster bombs! We supplied and supported the use of

cluster bombs in the haphazard bombing of Lebanon.
I am so thrilled that my taxes support the ruination of so
many civilians across the planet...NOT.

[saigon68]

16. Victims of the Chimpanzee

[Purveyor]

2. This article will last 'how long' in BN, I ponder? n/t

[DoYouEverWonder]

3. Gives new meaning

to Made in the USA.

[TomInTib]

4. The Israelis will pay dearly in sanctions for this.

Just as they did for the 10,000 or so UN Resolutions they have violated.

[Kailassa]

9. The israelis paid dearly?

Not dearly enough ...

[TomInTib]

12. I was speaking facetiously

Guess I should've hit the :sarcasm: button.

[Kailassa]

14. Yep, I can be a bit slow sometimes.

;-)

[Behind the Aegis]

18. And what would be "dearly enough?" n/t

[w4rma]

20. As "dearly enough" as it takes to make sure they never do it again.

As "dearly enough" as it takes that the neo-cons leading Israel never even contemplate this strategy in the future.

[Recursion]

27. I'm curious; out of all the screwed up stuff Israel did...

... why do you think they should be sanctioned for using a munition that isn't illegal?

[TomInTib]

31. The munition isn't illegal but the way they used it violated the

agreement we had with them and international law.

But, hey, we did the same thing in Iraq and Afghanistan.

[rodeodance]

5. Have, no fear as the WH has their butt covered:

..........
The agreements that govern Israel’s use of American cluster munitions go back to the 1970’s, when the first sales of the weapons occurred, but the details of them have never been publicly confirmed. The first one was signed in 1976 and later reaffirmed in 1978 after an Israeli incursion into Lebanon. News accounts over the years have said that they require that the munitions be used only against organized Arab armies and clearly defined military targets under conditions similar to the so-called War of Attrition with Egypt in 1969-1970 and the Arab-Israeli war of 1973.
...........

Israeli officials acknowledged soon after their offensive began last month that they were using cluster munitions against rocket sites and other military targets. While Hezbollah positions were frequently hidden in civilian areas, Israeli officials said their intention was to use cluster bombs in open terrain.

Bush administration officials warned Israel to avoid civilian casualties, but they have lodged no public protests against its use of cluster weapons. American officials say it has not been not clear whether the weapons, which are also employed by the United States military, were being used against civilian areas and had been supplied by the United States. Israel also makes its own types of cluster weapons.

But a report released Wednesday by the United Nations Mine Action Coordination Center, which has personnel in Lebanon searching for unexploded ordnance, said it had found unexploded bomblets, including hundreds of American types, in 249 locations south of the Litani River.

[IndianaGreen]

6. I expect the same fair and diligent inquiry as we did

on the USS Liberty attack.

:sarcasm:

[Purveyor]

7. Indeed! n/t

[Sherman A1]

15. Yes, that should about do it.

Another free pass.....

[Behind the Aegis]

19. I am sure you'd find any investigation "fair and diligent."

:sarcasm: and to your OP...:eyes:

[dionysus]

29. cheerlead war crimes all you want

and ridicule those who disagree with you, you're good at it by now

[Behind the Aegis]

30. as good as you are at twisting words...

...and jumping in conversations.

[azurnoir]

8. So now after all is "said and done"

for the time being anyways The US is going to launch an investigation? In to what why when we knew Israel was using cluster bombs in Lebanon we speeded up delivery of more? This will just add pounds and inches to our credibility world wide. Not

[eccles12]

10. Secret agreements? What does that mean and why secret?

It's time to rid our government and war criminals and their supporters and I hope that the Israeli people do the same.

[eccles12]

11. The fact that the US and Israel even make and use "cluster bombs"

should be a war crime. Just think what the outcry would be if any Arab nation made, sold, and used such bombs.

[Recursion]

26. Umm... Jordan and Egypt both have them

so does Syria; Iraq did for the 5 minutes or so it had an airforce.

I'm worried that "cluster bomb" is becoming the next "assault rifle": a vacuous description of a large class of weapons that "sounds scary" but isn't particularly worse than any other class.

[Vidar]

13. Well as long as it's all secret, I feel much safer.

[0007]

17. I feel much safer to know that an investigation is on it's way

and this will never happen ever again.

[DemonFighterLives]

21. What cluster bombs?

Nomination #5
dubby don't know where they came from or who threw them down.
:dem:

[Scurrilous]

22. UN: Civilian areas in S. Lebanon still littered with cluster bombs

<snip>

"The UN said Friday that south Lebanon is strewn with unexploded cluster bombs dropped by Israel, as the U.S. State Department has been reportedly investigating Israel's use of the weapon.

"There are about 285 cluster bomb locations across south Lebanon, and our teams are still doing surveys and adding new locations every day," said Dalya Farran, spokeswoman for the UN Mine Action Coordination Center, which has an office in the southern port city of Tyre.

"We find about 30 new locations per day," she said."

<snip>

""A lot of them are in civilian areas, on farmland and in people's homes. We're finding a lot at the entrances to houses, on balconies and roofs," Farran said. "Sometimes windows are broken and they get inside the houses."

"It's not illegal to use against soldiers or your enemy, but according to Geneva Conventions it's illegal to use them (cluster bombs) in civilian areas," Farran said. "But it's not up to us to decide if it's illegal - I'm just giving facts and letting others do analysis."

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/754878.html

[tocqueville]

23. well some seems to have remnants of a conscience...

The newspaper (NYT) quoted several current and former U.S. officials as saying they doubted the probe would lead to sanctions against Israel, but that it might be an effort by the Bush administration to ease Arab criticism of its military support for Israel.

The U.S. has also postponed a shipment of M-26 artillery rockets, another cluster weapon, to Israel, the newspaper said.

U.N. demining experts refused to comment on the U.S. investigation, but suggested Israel violated some aspects of international law.

"It's not illegal to use (cluster bombs) against soldiers or your enemy, but according to Geneva Conventions it's illegal to use them in civilian areas," Farran said. "But it's not up to us to decide if it's illegal — I'm just giving facts and letting others do analysis."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060825/ap_on_re_mi_ea/mideast_unexploded_weapons

[enough]

24. k&r

[YankeyMCC]

25. Here's an idea

if you really don't want them to abuse these weapons...how about...I don't know...Don't Sell them!

[donkeyotay]

28. That says it all

"they doubted the investigation would lead to sanctions ... it might be intended to help the Bush administration ease criticism"

Appearances are everything. Neocons believe they can change reality by changing the press releases. If they spent as much time addressing the reality on the ground as they do spinning perception, they might not be such dunderheads.