Children Are Forty Percent of Cluster Bomb Casualties

[babylonsister]

Children Are Forty Percent of Cluster Bomb Casualties


Four out of every ten people killed or injured by cluster bombs are children, delegates at a major conference on cluster munitions being held in Wellington were told today.

About 560 delegates from 122 countries have converged on Wellington for the conference which aims to draft a treaty text, to be negotiated in Dublin, Ireland, in May.

The attempt to achieve a treaty, known as the Oslo Process, was started last year by New Zealand and six other countries.

Opening the conference, Disarmament Minister Phil Goff said a strong declaration on cluster bombs at the conference would mark a pivotal step in getting the weapons banned.

More than half of the 76 states in the world that stockpile cluster munitions are taking part in the negotiations, along with a majority of the weapon producers.

However, major producers such as the US, Russia, China and Pakistan have not joined the process and have no observers at the conference.

more...

http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2008/02/19/7144/

[Hydra]

1. Of course we and the others aren't there

Killing kids is good for business

:puke:

[tekisui]

2. Hillary voted AGAINST the Cluster Bomb Ban.

Obama voted for the ban.

[Smith_3]

8. Yup.

I might like Hillary's healthcare plan more, but her stance on this type of issues totally blows it for me.

[Virginia Dare]

3. Is this part of the culture of life we hear about so much?

why is it considered okay to bomb children? This is where billions of our tax money is going, to kill children in the name of "defense". It's beyond disgusting.

[The Straight Story]

4. Kicking because people need to hear it

thanks for the post!

[OneBlueSky]

5. cluster bombs . . . land mines . . . depleted uranium weapons . . . white phosphorus . . .

"smart bombs" . . . bunker busting "tactical" nukes . . . and on, and on, and on . . .

seems the United States of the 21st century has never met a weapon too atrocious to use . . . civilian casualties are not murdered human beings; they are merely "collateral damage" . . . and no one (i.e. Congress) seems concerned enough to put a stop to it . . .

just as humanity came together to outlaw slavery, so it must come together to outlaw war . . .

yes, slavery still exists -- but there is a common understanding among nations that it is wrong and needs to be eliminated wherever it is found . . .

outlawing war, of course, won't stop it from happening -- but at least it will bring humankind together in a common understanding that war is wrong and must be eliminated wherever it is found . . .

is there really any other option? . . .

[Kitty Herder]

6. K&R

[malaise]

7. Sad isn't it that decrepid old men and women

don't give a flying fugg about the world's children