War has always been an obscene and horrifying enterprise, sugar coated by the ruling elites and their lackeys in the media as a matter of 'honor' and 'glory', fought by 'heroes.'
Modern weapons give lie to any 'glory' or 'honor' -- or they would if the corporate media ever truly gave the public an honest look at what they do.
Depleted uranium, napalm, cluster bombs -- the list seems endless.
In a story that won't get any significant play in the corporate American media, 46 nations have called for a 2008 treaty ban on cluster bombs because they kill and maim long after wars end and inflict "unacceptable harm" on civilians, particularly children.
I'm not sure what "acceptable harm" is.
The U.S., Israel, China and Russia, of course, didn't even attend the conference. Of the 49 nations attending, Poland, Romania and Japan did not approve the final text.
Cluster bomblets are packed by the hundreds into artillery shells, bombs or missiles which scatter them over vast areas, with some failing to explode immediately. The unexploded bomblets can then lie dormant for years until they are disturbed, usually by civilians, often children.
As many as 60 percent of the victims in Southeast Asia are children, the Cluster Munition Coalition campaign group said. The weapons have recently been used in Iraq, Kosovo, Afghanistan and Lebanon. The U.N. estimated that Israel dropped as many as 4 million cluster bomblets in Lebanon during last year's war, with as many as 40 percent failing to explode on impact.
War is glorious -- for those safe in the White House anyway.
Posted by at February 23, 2007 06:55 AM