US TO SET UP CLUSTER BOMB CLEARANCE TEAM
 
Date: Wed, 16 Jan 2008 20:51:19 -0600 (CST)


It would be a matter of justice for the manufacturers of cluster bombs to 
face all the risks involved in getting them defused and cleared away.

Michael

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http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5g6IoOAOlbrJ1E-UzBksNi2VXQP_wD8U79FLG0

GENEVA  (AP)  --  The  United  States will create a team of experts to 
defuse  cluster  bombs  and  other  explosives  that  pose a threat to 
civilians after the end of a conflict, U.S. officials said Wednesday.

The proposed "quick reaction force" would be deployed around the world at 
short notice, a State Department lawyer said.

"The  force  is not stood up yet, but we are in the process of getting it 
going," Stephen Mathias, who heads the U.S. delegation to the 1980 U.N. 
Convention on Conventional Weapons, told reporters.

The  size,  budget  and  other  details  will be released later, State 
Department officials said.

The announcement came as governments are meeting at the United Nations 
office  in  Geneva  this  week  to find ways of reducing the impact of 
cluster bombs on civilians.

European  countries  are  seeking  a  partial  ban on the use of these 
weapons  because  they  scatter hundreds of small bomblets over a wide 
area  and  pose a threat long after armies leave. The bomblets can lie 
unexploded  on  the  ground  until  disturbed,  when  they detonate -- 
killing or maiming civilians.

The United States, Russia, China and Israel -- all important producers and 
stockpilers  of  cluster  bombs  -- oppose a ban and have blocked efforts 
to negotiate one at the United Nations.

Separate talks that started in Oslo, Norway, last year could result in 
some  American  allies  banning  the  weapon,  causing potential legal 
problems  if those countries' armed forces conduct operations with the 
U.S. military.

Campaigners  against  the  use of cluster bombs dismissed that, saying 
similar concerns raised by Washington about differing legal frameworks 
among allies had been resolved in the past.

Proponents  of  the so-called Oslo Process are scheduled to meet again in 
Wellington,  New  Zealand,  in February and in Dublin, Ireland, in May, 
with the goal of negotiating a legally binding treaty by the end of next 
year.