Pretty specific thread.
An Italian journalist from a communist newspaper (they call themselves communist) was kidnappend in Iraq. She is antiamerican. We are seeing videos of her being held as prisoners, and she's blaming the US-led coalition for using cluster bombs on Iraq. I know as late as April 2003 cluster bombs were used on al Hilla, south of Baghdad.
Can anyone tell me when and where did the US-UK use these bombs?
What targets were they used against?

Since I can see it's a very specific issue, I'd be satisfied with some links too.
Thank ya all.

am i right in think that the cluster bomb is now a banned weapon?

Originally Posted by chewie_nz

am i right in think that the cluster bomb is now a banned weapon?

mmmh.. will do some research on this.

pretty sure it's banned (possibly by the UN) esp near urban areas becuase of delay action munitions from them

Originally Posted by chewie_nz

pretty sure it's banned (possibly by the UN) esp near urban areas becuase of delay action munitions from them

Check this out (from http://www.mcc.org/clusterbomb/fask.html):

Aren't cluster bombs banned?

There is no international treaty which specifically and clearly bans the use of cluster munitions. Some observers believe that international humanitarian law, which has established the principle of discrimination (discrimination between military targets and the civilian population) does in fact prohibit the use of cluster munitions. However most governments insist that cluster munitions are not inherently indiscriminate in their design, but only fail to distinguish between military targets and civilians if they do not function properly. Government discussions on cluster munitions in the context of the Convention on Conventional Weapons focus on technical adjustments to reduce the failure rate, international assistance for clearance of cluster munitions and other remnants of war, and assistance to victims.

• How many cluster bombs does the US have?

The U.S has many diffferent types of cluester munitions. For a good overwiev, see: www.fas.org/man/dod-101/sys/dumb/index.html

good info, cheers!

my personal feelings is that they are up there with landmines and should be got rid of. or maybe left for and "all out" war like WWII

When did they stop cluster bombing Iraq? Have they yet?

Cluster Bomb Unit's (CBU's) are antipersonell munitions generally used against troop concentrations and unimproved troop positions.

CBU's are air delivered and disburse bomblets across a wide area. Most are generally useless against hardened or improved positions.

Improved Conventional Munitions. (ICM) are the artillery delivered version of a CBU's. They are deployed thru airbust of a round above the target.

Originally Posted by chewie_nz

am i right in think that the cluster bomb is now a banned weapon?

I thought that they were banned, but they were used against Serbia in 1999. they were dropped in town of Nish, on market garden on Sunday morning. I think almost 100 civilians died. NATO said it is colateral damage. they had been used in some other places during that campaign. I would not be suprised if US uses this weapon in Iraq. actualy I am sure they use it. but as always, if it was not on CNN it did not happen`.
about 40% of bombs do not explode after they were dropped. they explode later. most of the victims of these are children, because they are qurious and want to check what it is. this bombs are made in orange colour, so if you are 9 years old you would probably want to play with it. most dangerous situation is if this weapon is used in urban earea.

Sorry I've seen sub munitions from US CBU's and ICM's they aren't orange.