The United
States, Russia and
China are sending a terrible message to the rest
of the world by refusing to take part in the historic signing of a
treaty that bans the production and use of cluster bombs. In a
world that is plagued by war, military occupation and terrorism,
the involvement of the great military powers in signing and
ratifying the agreement would have signaled – if even symbolically
- the willingness of these countries to spare civilians’
unjustifiable deaths and the lasting scars of
war.
Nonetheless, the incessant activism of
many conscientious individuals and organizations came to fruition
on December 3-4 when ninety-three countries signed a treaty
in Oslo, Norway
that bans the weapon, which has killed and maimed many
thousands of
civilians.
The accord was negotiated in May, and
should go into effect in six months, once it is ratified by 30
countries. There is little doubt that the treaty will be ratified;
in fact, many are eager to be a member of the elite group of 30.
Unfortunately, albeit unsurprisingly, the
US, Russia,
China, Israel,
India and Pakistan – a
group that includes the biggest makers and users of the weapon -
neither attended the Ireland
negotiations, nor did they show any interest in signing the
agreement.
The US argues
that cluster bombs are a legitimate weapon, essential to repel the
advancing columns of enemy troops. If such a claim carried an iota
of legitimacy, then the weapon’s use should have ended with the end
of conventional wars in the mid twentieth century. However, cluster
bombs are still heavily utilized in wars fought in or around
civilian areas.
Most countries that have signed the accords are
not involved in any active military conflict and are not in any way
benefiting from the lucrative cluster munition industry. The hope,
however is that once a majority of countries, including the Holy
See, sign the agreement, the use of the lethal weapon will be
greatly stigmatized.
The
treaty was the outcome of intensive campaigning by the Cluster
Munition Coalition (CMC), a group of non-governmental
organizations. CMC is determined to carry on with its campaigning
to bring more signatories to the fold.
But without the involvement of the major
producers and active users of the weapon, the
Oslo ceremony will remain largely symbolic.
However, there is nothing symbolic about the pain and bitter losses
experienced by the cluster bombs’ many victims. According to the
group Handicap International, one-third of cluster-bomb victims are
children. Equally alarming, 98 percent of the weapon’s overall
victims are civilians. The group estimates that about 100,000
people have been maimed or killed by cluster bombs around the world
since 1965.
It
certainly is unconscionable that countries who have the chutzpa to
impose themselves as the guardians of human rights are the same who
rebuff such initiatives and insist on their right to utilize such a
killing tool. Unlike conventional weapons, cluster bomblets survive
for many years, luring little children with their attractive looks.
Children have often mistaken them for candy or
toys.
Steve
Goose, the arms director of Human Rights Watch described the
countries that refused to sign as standing "on the wrong side of
history. Some of them are clinging to what is now a widely
discredited weapon."
But there is more to that refusal than
clinging onto an outdated military philosophy. The cluster munition
industry is thriving. The weapon was used in massive quantities by
the US army in
Afghanistan,
Iraq, Israel in
Lebanon and both parties in the S. Ossetia
conflict. The British also used it in
Iraq, making handsome deals with the weapons’
Israeli manufacturer.
13 year-old Ayat Suliman now lives
in Sweden. In an AFP report, she
complained, referring to her peers: "Nobody understands me. They
all think I'm ugly." It was on May 5, 2003
that Ayat’s brother came running with what he thought was a
dazzling toy. "I remember that it was very colorful and very nice,"
said Ayat. The explosion that rocked the little girl’s house
in Iraq claimed the lives of her four
brothers and cousin, aged 3 to 15. Most of Ayat’s body was burned
as a result, and she is still unable to walk
independently.
Ahmad Mokaled of the Lebanese town
of Nabatieh at the border with
Israel was about to celebrate his fifth birthday
when he too found a shiny object. Ahmad’s last words, according to
his father, who was busily setting up his son’s birthday picnic in
a park, were: ‘Dad, Help me.’ He died, but after “four long hours
of suffering.”
The tragic stories of Ahmad and Ayat are
repeated throughout the world, almost everyday, with some countries
paying a much more disproportionate price than others, notably,
again, Iraq,
Afghanistan and
Lebanon.
But neither terrible statistics nor the
heart- wrenching personal stories of the many victims seem enough
to compel manufactures and active users of the weapon to quit.
Countries with sizable military power tend to avoid any
entanglement in international law or treaties that limit their
flexing or application of their military muscle. The US and Israeli
attitudes towards international law carry similar traits, both act
as entities above the law, tirelessly infusing ‘national security’
as an excuse for their rebuffing of such international initiatives.
It’s also no surprise that the US,
Israel, but also Russia
refuse to ratify the 1997 Ottawa Treaty, signed by 158
countries – as of 2007 – which prohibits the production, transfer
or use of landmines.
Of course, neither the
Ottawa nor the Oslo
treaties are the exception to the rule as far as
Washington’s attitude towards positive
international initiatives are concerned. The US
under the Bush administration developed a mind-set of
animosity towards the rest of the international community, reaching
the point of dubbing the UN irrelevant.
Needless
to say, CMC, world governments and citizens throughout the world
are hoping that the new American administration of Barack Obama
will truly bring an end and reverse Bush’s ruinous legacy. Realists
say it will take years for an effective change of policy to take
place. In the meantime, the millions of unexploded cluster bomblets
and landmines scattered the world over, wait for no one. They will
continue to claim lives and maim thousands, just like Ahmad of
Lebanon, and Ayat of Iraq.