Mittwoch, 3. Dezember 2008

International Ban of Cluster Bombs



I thought it would be interesting to post topics which have an international context or value in English. So here we go:

As many of you have already read or heard, more than 100 nations signed a multilateral anti-cluster bombs treaty in Oslo, Norway today.
This is a huge victory which is nevertheless overshadowed by the fact that the A-Bomb holders such as the United States, Russia, China, India, Pakistan and Israel(de facto) have not signed the treaty. The new historic treaty does not only ban cluster-ammunitions but does also set a legal case to obligate former users of cluster bombs to sweep duds and unexploded devices in the regions they were used:
This does not apply for the non-signatory countries:
- Russia and Georgia(also a non-signatory country) are not obliged to clean up the mess they left behind in South Ossetia.
- Israel, the biggest producer of conventional arms in the Middle-East, can still relax while Lebanese civilians are confronted on the daily basis with exploding devices from the 2nd Lebanon War in 2006.
- But also the United States, in the last month of the Bush ordeal have not signed the treaty:
However, it remains a sad fact that Laotian, Cambodian and Vietnamese civilians still suffer from unexploded devices that lie in streets, fields or even in backyards either from the Vietnam War, or the French Indochinese War.
Furthermore, Afghanistan,Kosovo and especially the Iraq are contaminated for years with unexploded devices. One can only hope (and thats a good catchword in this case) that the new US-administration under President Obama will be more active on this topic. Nevertheless, Obama is aware that his military industry is a crucial element in the U.S economy with many jobs attached, and that's yet another challenge for the new man in the Oval Office.

Sources:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/7762031.stm
http://www.stopclustermunitions.org

2 Kommentare:

  1. Deen an den "States" soll mol drock maan!

    AntwortenLöschen
  2. Gudden Owend,

    och wann Ären Andrag bestëmmt interessant as géiff ech mëch freen, weiderhin kënnen op Lëtzebuergesch oder op Däitsch vun Iech ze héieren (bzw ze liesen!).

    Ech soen Iech Merci
    G. B.

    AntwortenLöschen

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