US warned over cluster weapons
BBC News, April 1, 2003

US ground forces in Iraq are using cluster munitions with a very high failure rate that create immediate and long-term dangers for civilians and soldiers, according to a human rights group.

New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) said that, when such munitions failed to explode on impact as designed, they became like volatile, indiscriminate anti-personnel landmines.

HRW argued that while the use of cluster munitions by US forces had not been confirmed by the military, it was evident from television images and stories from reporters embedded with US units that artillery projectiles and rockets containing large numbers of cluster munitions were being used.

"The United States should not be using these weapons," said Steve Goose, executive director of HRW's arms division.

"Iraqi civilians will be paying the price with their lives and limbs for many years." [...]
- posted by ARYABHATT @ 7:51 pm