Georgia Fired More Cluster Bombs Than Thought, Killing Civilians, Report Finds

[Dover]

Source: NYT

MOSCOW — Georgian military forces fired more cluster munitions during their war with Russia in August than originally thought, and some of the weapons may have malfunctioned, causing civilian casualties when they fell short of military targets and hit Georgian villages, according to new research by Human Rights Watch.

The group said Tuesday that Georgia and Russia used cluster munitions extensively in the war, which began when Georgia launched a major artillery strike against South Ossetia, a breakaway Georgian enclave, prompting Russia to invade large swaths of Georgian territory.

Though Russia endured the brunt of international outrage for its conduct during and after the war, Georgia’s actions in the conflict have come under increasing scrutiny. While Georgia has strongly denied the findings, the new Human Rights Watch report, which was presented at the Convention on Conventional Weapons in Geneva on Tuesday, adds to a growing body of evidence of Georgian atrocities in the fighting.

Cluster bombs, typically anti-personnel weapons that eject dozens of explosive bomblets when detonated, killed as many as 17 civilians during the brief, bloody war and wounded dozens more, Human Rights Watch said in a statement.

cont'd


Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/06/world/europe/06cluster.html

[seemslikeadream]

1. Russia endured the brunt of international outrage.....

in the United States

[Igel]

2. And this article does little to say that was wrong.

It claims that Russia used more cluster munitions than Georgia, used them more in civilian areas than Georgia, and is responsible for far more deaths of civilians by cluster bomblets than Georgia.

Moreover, it's still wrapping itself in the mantle of falsehood and saying it didn't use any cluster munitions. Georgia, at worst, is saying that it has no information about their use being as extensive as claimed, while admitting the more serious charge that it used them at all.