Cluster bomb ban treaty is signed
More than 100 nations, including the UK, have signed a treaty to ban current designs of cluster bombs.
Diplomats have agreed to back an international ban on the manufacture, use or stockpiling of the munitions, following 12 days of talks in Dublin.
Some 111 countries including the US, Russia and China have been urged to reconsider boycotting the treaty.
UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown has called the treaty a "big step forward to make the world a safer place".
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon welcomed the landmark charter and encouraged all nations to sign up.
In his closing address to the conference, Irish Foreign Affairs Minister Micheal Martin said: "Rarely have we seen such single-minded determination to conclude a convention with such high humanitarian goals in such a concentrated period of time."
BBC NEWS | Europe | Cluster bomb ban treaty is signed
It's a good weapon for taking out an airforce bases' runways, BUT it shouldn't be used on civilian areas. Kind of sitting on the fence on this one.
Have a good one!:s4:
Cluster bomb ban treaty is signed
It's not a precision weapon. Think; carpet bombing.
Cluster bomb ban treaty is signed
Well wait are they talking about cluster bombs with nukes or is it just for any bomb whatsoever?
Cluster bomb ban treaty is signed
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dream of the iris
Well wait are they talking about cluster bombs with nukes or is it just for any bomb whatsoever?
A cluster bomb is not a nuke. It is a conventional bomb that is really a container holding hundreds or thousands of little "bomblets." The cluster bomb opens over a target and the bomblets scatter over the target area. I don't know the details, but imagine hundreds of grenade-sized bombs raining down and exploding all over an area the size of a football field all at once. They are very effective anti-personnel and anti-armor weapons for taking out large numbers of spread out forces. Sometimes the cluster bomb has a mixture of different types of munitions, like anti-personnel, armor-piercing, and incendiary all in one package, so it takes out the vehicles, takes out the people, and lights everyting on fire in one shot.
I haven't really followed this issue much, but I guess one problem is the large number of unexploded bomblets that litter a target area. It creates a sort of mine field and a lot of civilians get injured by accidentally detonating unexploded bomblets. Is that what this treaty is about?
Cluster bomb ban treaty is signed
Quote:
Originally Posted by dragonrider
I haven't really followed this issue much, but I guess one problem is the large number of unexploded bomblets that litter a target area. It creates a sort of mine field and a lot of civilians get injured by accidentally detonating unexploded bomblets. Is that what this treaty is about?
Yeah, I actually just saw something on the news about this, and it is my understanding that the unexploded portions are the issue concerning so many.
I also am being pulled both ways on this because it is an effective weapon if used properly, extremely dangerous if not, but so are most.
Cluster bomb ban treaty is signed
Quote:
Originally Posted by BlazinHaze
Yeah, I actually just saw something on the news about this, and it is my understanding that the unexploded portions are the issue concerning so many.
I also am being pulled both ways on this because it is an effective weapon if used properly, extremely dangerous if not, but so are most.
The problem is the same as with minefields , the weapons can lie hidden for years until they are disturbed by some innocent farmer or even a child.
Land-mines: A deadly inheritance
Define "proper use" ?
They are dropped and forgotten about and there are always going to be one or two that fail to go off .they are dropped on "supposed" military areas but once the military is wiped out civilians will always try to reclaim the land and just like with the fields of Vietnam they will pay the price for the use of such weapons.
America is behaving just how I expect it to , they always seem to want to tell others not to build weapons but refuse to stop production of ever more destructive ways of threatening countries that won't toe the US line.
Did I hear the word hypocrites ? :D
Cluster bomb ban treaty is signed
Quote:
Originally Posted by psychocat
America is behaving just how I expect it to , they always seem to want to tell others not to build weapons but refuse to stop production of ever more destructive ways of threatening countries that won't toe the US line.
Did I hear the word hypocrites ? :D
So what countries is the big bad U.S.A. telling not to have cluster bombs? All this hate for the U.S. ......makes a person wonder if it's really hate or jealousy from an empire long gone?:D
Have a good one!:s4:
Cluster bomb ban treaty is signed
Quote:
Originally Posted by Psycho4Bud
So what countries is the big bad U.S.A. telling not to have cluster bombs? All this hate for the U.S. ......makes a person wonder if it's really hate or jealousy from an empire long gone?:D
Have a good one!:s4:
Hate yada yada yada
Empires yada yada yada
Jealousy
Whatever.
I will say it one more time just for those who seem to have a problem with understanding the concept that you can disagree with any countries policies and not actualy hate the people or the country.
The comment I made is more to do with America insisting that certain "unfriendly" countries aren't allowed to develop any long range weapons without America jumping on it's high horse even though the worst weapons ever developed were made in America.
1 America as a country is beautifu.
2 The American people are foreign to me and I do not claim that all Americans are anything, to do that I would have to know all Americans which of course I don't.
3 I DO NOT HATE AMERICA !
4 The fact that the US goverment (you really should realise by now that in posts like this I refer to your goverment as "America") goes around telling others how they may arm themselves is ridiculous.
5 The fact that America (sic) choses not to sign up to any of the treaties to make the world better (Kyoto, ban on cluster bombs) shows they are not serious about equality for all and improving relations they're only interested in dictating.
Get over yourselves , I am not jealous of anyone , I don't give a damn about what happened 200 years ago either.
I am more than happy being me and I thank my lucky stars I'm not American because I don't have to put up with what I consider to be draconian laws , just the penalties for pot possesion make me glad I'm not.
Give up on trying to convince everyone that I hate America as it is simply a very silly statement which you use to try to make it seem as if anyone who speaks out against your goverment is a hate filled fanatic.
It's kind of wearing very thin and it sounds ever so pathetic.
I'm betting there are some here who agree with the accusation that Dunkin' Donuts supports terrorism.
Dunkin' Donuts accused of promoting terrorism - Americas, World - The Independent
That cracked me up I couldn't stop laughing at the insanity of some folk.
Cluster bomb ban treaty is signed
America,China and Russia didnt sign this treaty but many other countries did.But too me whats the difference if you use one cluster bomb or a hundred of other bombs to kill a group of soldiars or tanks.Soo you ban cluster bombs that doesnt make the world safer....
Cluster bomb ban treaty is signed
Quote:
Originally Posted by psychocat
Give up on trying to convince everyone that I hate America as it is simply a very silly statement which you use to try to make it seem as if anyone who speaks out against your goverment is a hate filled fanatic.
It's kind of wearing very thin and it sounds ever so pathetic.
I don't need to convince anyone in here on your posts...they speak for themselves. I've NEVER seen a post by ya regarding the aid that is given by this country or the rapid response from the evil U.S.A. when there is a natural disaster anywhere in the world.
Fishman made a good point that you didn't seem to focus on at all....both Russia and China didn't sign this treaty either. So where is the bashing on their behalf?
I also see enough posts in here regarding the Israel/Palestine problem but nobody wants to speak of the past where it was the Brits that created this conflict dating back to 1927.....instead it's the evil U.S.A. that supports Israel; like we're the only ones right? Let shit hit the roof in the middle east and you'll find Brit troops right along side of ours.
Have a good one!:s4:
Cluster bomb ban treaty is signed
Quote:
Originally Posted by Psycho4Bud
I don't need to convince anyone in here on your posts...they speak for themselves. I've NEVER seen a post by ya regarding the aid that is given by this country or the rapid response from the evil U.S.A. when there is a natural disaster anywhere in the world.
Fishman made a good point that you didn't seem to focus on at all....both Russia and China didn't sign this treaty either. So where is the bashing on their behalf?
I also see enough posts in here regarding the Israel/Palestine problem but nobody wants to speak of the past where it was the Brits that created this conflict dating back to 1927.....instead it's the evil U.S.A. that supports Israel; like we're the only ones right? Let shit hit the roof in the middle east and you'll find Brit troops right along side of ours.
Have a good one!:s4:
Russia and China are well known for thier tyranical regimes and I would expect no less from them , America says it targets only military and terrorist targets but these weapons are a threat to children and civilians and that's why I feel the US is being hypocritical .
Way off topic but I will answer anyway.
Britain wasn't alone in the founding of modern Israel as it was a decision of the League of Nations,
I very rarely comment on Israel except to point out that the nuclear capability they have is ignored by the US and yet others are singled out for sanctions if they dare to emulate the Israelis.
As for aid to those who need it :
After exploiting other nations to the degree WE have I believe Europe and America should do all they can to help nations suffering because of our reckless sale of weapons allowing facists and dictators to thrive.
In the case of humanitarian aid for amongst others the Asian tsunami then we should all try to do our bit to help those less fortunate than ourselves.
One thing I will point out is how slow America was in helping it's own after Katrina.
Anyway that's going way way off topic.
I'm suprised you didn't use the L word.
Cluster bomb ban treaty is signed
The British Mandate....The Balfour Declaration of 1917....LOL, if ya want to pawn this off on the League of Nations well, fact is that region was under British military control at the time.
Israel got nuke technology but from where? Seems that good ol' Europe did it again:
Nuclear Weapons - Israel
Ah yes Katrina...."Hey, catagory 5 huricane is on it's way!!"; "Time to celebrate on Bourbon St.".
Then when the levy breaks all of a sudden we're suppose to have housing, etc...for all those poor individuals that didn't use their head in the first place. Another clear case of Democratic thought where the people shouldn't have to think for themselves, let the government pick up the pieces.
As for the "L" word....don't care much for using the word Liberal since many of my views are considered just that.:D
Now back to the Cluster Bombs....I think if Russia, China, AND the U.S. were to come to an agreement that would be one thing but it won't happen without a unilateral agreement.
Have a good one!:s4:
Cluster bomb ban treaty is signed
Okay one final comment on Israel
It wasn't Europe that helped them it was France , France is one country , Europe is much more than just those bunch of surrender monkeys.(I don't like the French very much,, they took my drugs :D)
As for Katrina I was refering to the slow rebuild of what was a disaster zone.
I would like to see every country sign up to this agreement but like you I don't really see it happening.
Cluster bomb ban treaty is signed
I've never seen Psychocat's posts as being anti-American or reflecting any kind of hate for America. It's perfectly fair to point out this country's hypocrisy if that is what he sees. I love my country and am defintely not anti-American, but I see a lot of hypocrisy too. And I also think it is completely possible to hate this lying-sack-of-shit Bush administration and its hypocritical, greedy, self-serving, short-sighted policies without hating the country and people as a whole.
P4B, it's sort of ridiculous to tell Psychocat, "I've NEVER seen a post by ya regarding the aid that is given by this country or the rapid response from the evil U.S.A. when there is a natural disaster anywhere in the world." You've defended yourself when people have said you never post anything that is not pro-Republican or anti-Democratic by saying that you will leave that to someone else. I won't speak for Psychocat, but it seems like he could probably leave the pro-American posts to you and others and they would be pretty well covered.
The US definitely has some hypocritical policies, but there are also good reasons for at least some of those policies. For example, the nuclear non-prolification policies of every country that has nukes of their own are hypocritical on the face of it. If you have your own nukes but tell other countries that they can't develop them, that is an obvious two-faced, self-serving policy. Often it comes down to a condescending point of view that the exisitng nuclear powers are responsible enough to handle nukes, while the aspiring nuclear powers are irresponsible rogue nations who would use them without hesitation. That's obviously not "fair," and if nations were individuals in a democratic society, we wouldn't tolerate that kind of double-standard. But the practical matter is that nations are not individuals in a democratic society. And there is no higher authority that we can appeal to if one nation decides to behave irresponsibly and misuse a nuke that it was allowed to develop out of a sense of "fairness." So I am completely in agreement with the idea that a country like Iran should not be allowed to have a nuke, even though it is obviously unfair and hypocritical for the US to say so when we have thousands of nukes of our own.
It's also obviously hypocritical for the US to say a country like Iran must submit to IAEA inspections and must completely disclose all of it's nuclear programs and must destroy banned programs or face sanctions of different kinds, while at the same time not insisting on the same thing for Israel. It's generally assumed Israel has a secret nuclear program and has a secret inventory of nuclear weapons. That is not something we would ever allow any of Israel's neighbors to develop. In fact, almost everyone is certain that if any of Israel's neighbors were to develope a nuke, then Israel would use it's own nuclear capability to take out the threat. So we don't want Iran to get a nuke bacause it MIGHT attack Israel, but we reassure ourselves with the certainty that Isreal DEFINITELY WOULD use it's nukes on Iran. So that is hypocrisy. There are good geopolitical reasons for it, but let's not pretend it's not hypocritical.
Cluster bomb ban treaty is signed
Quote:
Originally Posted by Psycho4Bud
So what countries is the big bad U.S.A. telling not to have cluster bombs? All this hate for the U.S. ......makes a person wonder if it's really hate or jealousy from an empire long gone?:D
Have a good one!:s4:
Tell to not to? More like sell to them!!
