Vietnamese children killed by mortar shell | World news | guardian.co.uk: "Bomb left over from Vietnam war explodes killing four young children and injuring five other people"
How many children die and will die in the middle east as a result of unexploded cluster bombs left behind by the US and Co.?
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Showing posts with label Cluster munitions. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Cluster munitions. Show all posts
Spotlight on Germany as EADS, BAE inch towards deal | Reuters
Spotlight on Germany as EADS, BAE inch towards deal | Reuters: (Reuters) - "EADS and BAE Systems have edged closer towards winning political backing for a $45 billion merger to create the world's biggest arms group amid positive signals from Britain and France, but German misgivings over control is a big obstacle, sources close to the talks
said."
info on EADS from wikipedia: "The European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company N.V. (EADS) is a global pan-European aerospace and defence corporation and a leading defence and military contractor worldwide. The group includes Airbus as the leading manufacturer of commercial aircraft, with Airbus Military covering tanker, transport and mission aircraft; Eurocopter as the world's largest helicopter supplier; Astrium, the European leader in space programmes from Ariane to Galileo; and Cassidian as a provider of comprehensive and integral systems solutions for aerial, land, naval and civilian security applications. Through Cassidian, EADS is a major partner in the Eurofighter consortium as well as a key stakeholder in the missile systems provider MBDA. In 2009, the EADS generated revenues of €42.82 billion and employed 119,500 personnel. EADS was formed on 10 July 2000 by the merger of Aérospatiale-Matra, DaimlerChrysler Aerospace AG (DASA), and Construcciones Aeronáuticas SA (CASA). Overall, the company develops and markets civil and military aircraft, as well as communications systems, missiles, space rockets, satellites, and related systems." (My selection)
"In 2005 the Norwegian Government Pension Fund recommended the exclusion of several companies producing cluster bombs or components. EADS and its sister company EADS Finance BV were among them, arguing that EADS manufactures "key components for cluster bombs"." (My selection)
Info on BAE from wikipedia: "BAE Systems plc (LSE: BA.) is a British multinational defence, security and aerospace company headquartered in London,United Kingdom and with operations worldwide. It is among the world's largest defence contractors; it ranked as the third-largest based on applicable 2011 revenues.[3] Its largest operations are in the United Kingdom and United States, where its BAE Systems Inc. subsidiary is one of the six largest suppliers to the US Department of Defense. " (My selection)
"BAE Systems has been under investigation by the Serious Fraud Office, into the use of political corruption to help sell arms to Chile, Czech Republic, Romania, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Tanzania and Qatar" (My selection)
"In September 2005 The Guardian reported that banking records showed that BAE paid £1 million to Augusto Pinochet, the former Chilean dictator." (My selection)
"BAE has in recent times been criticised for its role in the production of cluster bombs, due to the long term death/injury risks they cause to civilians; cluster bombs behave similar to land mines.[citation needed] However, after pressure campaigns from various human rights groups, BAE recently stated it no longer produces land mines or cluster bombs.[178]" (My selection)
said."
info on EADS from wikipedia: "The European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company N.V. (EADS) is a global pan-European aerospace and defence corporation and a leading defence and military contractor worldwide. The group includes Airbus as the leading manufacturer of commercial aircraft, with Airbus Military covering tanker, transport and mission aircraft; Eurocopter as the world's largest helicopter supplier; Astrium, the European leader in space programmes from Ariane to Galileo; and Cassidian as a provider of comprehensive and integral systems solutions for aerial, land, naval and civilian security applications. Through Cassidian, EADS is a major partner in the Eurofighter consortium as well as a key stakeholder in the missile systems provider MBDA. In 2009, the EADS generated revenues of €42.82 billion and employed 119,500 personnel. EADS was formed on 10 July 2000 by the merger of Aérospatiale-Matra, DaimlerChrysler Aerospace AG (DASA), and Construcciones Aeronáuticas SA (CASA). Overall, the company develops and markets civil and military aircraft, as well as communications systems, missiles, space rockets, satellites, and related systems." (My selection)
"On 29 February 2008, the United States Air Force awarded a $35 billion contract for aerial refueling tankers (the KC-45) to Northrop Grumman, with EADS as a major subcontractor. The contract, one of the largest created by the Department of Defense, is initially valued at $35 billion but has the potential to grow to $100 billion." (My selection)
Info on BAE from wikipedia: "BAE Systems plc (LSE: BA.) is a British multinational defence, security and aerospace company headquartered in London,United Kingdom and with operations worldwide. It is among the world's largest defence contractors; it ranked as the third-largest based on applicable 2011 revenues.[3] Its largest operations are in the United Kingdom and United States, where its BAE Systems Inc. subsidiary is one of the six largest suppliers to the US Department of Defense. " (My selection)
"BAE Systems has been under investigation by the Serious Fraud Office, into the use of political corruption to help sell arms to Chile, Czech Republic, Romania, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Tanzania and Qatar" (My selection)
"In September 2005 The Guardian reported that banking records showed that BAE paid £1 million to Augusto Pinochet, the former Chilean dictator." (My selection)
"BAE has in recent times been criticised for its role in the production of cluster bombs, due to the long term death/injury risks they cause to civilians; cluster bombs behave similar to land mines.[citation needed] However, after pressure campaigns from various human rights groups, BAE recently stated it no longer produces land mines or cluster bombs.[178]" (My selection)
Cluster bomb - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Cluster bomb - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: "Afghanistan, 2001
[edit]
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"Afghanistan, 2001
- Used by the United States[citation needed]
[edit]Iraq, 2003
- Used by the United States and the United Kingdom
The NGO Human Rights Watch claims Iraqi civilians were attacked with at least two million Cluster Munition bombs during Operation Iraqi Freedom by the US and the UK in 2003.[11]
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Lebanon, 1978, 1982 and 2006
- Extensively used by Israel during the 1978 Israeli invasion of Lebanon, the 1982-2000 occupation of Lebanon and in the 2006 Lebanon War.
During the Israeli-Lebanese conflict in 1982, Israel used cluster munitions, many of them American-made, on targets in southern Lebanon. Israel also used cluster bombs in the 2006 Lebanon War.[12][13][14]
Two types of cluster munitions were transferred to Israel from the U.S. The first was the CBU-58 which uses the BLU-63 bomblet. This cluster bomb is no longer in production. The second was the MK-20 Rockeye, produced by Honeywell Incorporated in Minneapolis.[source?] The CBU-58 was used by Israel in Lebanon in both 1978 and 1982.[12] The Israeli Defense company Israel Military Industries also manufactures the more up-to-date M-85 cluster bomb.
Hezbollah fired Chinese-manufactured cluster munitions into Israel using 122-mm rocket launchers during the 2006 war, hitting Kiryat Motzkin,Nahariya, Karmiel, Maghar, and Safsufa. A total of 113 rockets and 4,407 submunitions were fired into Israel during the war. The rockets killed one person and injured twelve.[15]
The United Nations and human rights groups have accused Israel of dropping as many as 4 million cluster bomblets onto targets in Lebanon during the 2006 Lebanon war.[16][17]
"Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Dan Halutz plans to appoint a major general to investigate the use of cluster bombs — some of which were fired against his order — during the Lebanon war. Halutz ordered the IDF to use cluster bombs with extreme caution and not to fire them into populated areas. Nonetheless, it did so anyway, primarily using artillery batteries and the Multiple Launch System (MRLS). IDF artillery, MLRS and aircraft are thought to have delivered thousands of cluster bombs, containing a total of some 4 million bomblets during the war."[17][18]
Human Rights Watch said there was evidence that Israel had used cluster bombs very close to civilian areas and described them as "unacceptably inaccurate and unreliable weapons when used around civilians" and that "they should never be used in populated areas."[19]Human Rights Watch has accused Israel of using cluster munitions in an attack on Bilda, a Lebanese village, on 19 July[20] which killed 1 civilian and injured 12, including seven children. The Israeli "army defended ... the use of cluster munitions in its offensive with Lebanon, saying that using such munitions was 'legal under international law' and the army employed them 'in accordance with international standards.'"[21]Foreign Ministry Spokesman Mark Regev added, "[I]f NATO countries stock these weapons and have used them in recent conflicts — inYugoslavia, Afghanistan and Iraq — the world has no reason to point a finger at Israel."[22]"
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File:Cluster Munitions Convention.svg - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
File:Cluster Munitions Convention.svg - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Signatories to the Convention are in blue and States Parties in purple.
Note: the US nor Israel have signed or are planning to destroy their huge stockpiles.
Signatories to the Convention are in blue and States Parties in purple.
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