Senate passes bill on cluster bomb use
Fri Sep 7, 2007 3:17PM EDT
By Sue Pleming
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Senate has moved to restrict the sale or transfer of U.S. cluster bombs, the munitions blamed for the deaths of Lebanese civilians in a conflict with Israel last summer.
The measure, included in a foreign aid funding bill for next year that passed late on Thursday, would require that no military funds be used for the sale or transfer of the bombs unless they had a failure rate of 1 percent or less.
In addition, any sale or transfer agreement must specify that the bombs would be used only against clearly defined military targets and not where civilians were known to be present.
"Sensible standards can greatly reduce the gruesome casualties these weapons needlessly inflict on innocent civilians," said Democratic Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont, one of the sponsors of the measure, along with fellow Democrat Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California.
U.S.-made cluster bombs were used in Israel's war in July last year against Hezbollah guerrillas in Lebanon. The State Department opened a probe of the bombs after reports they were responsible for many civilian deaths.
Cluster bombs burst into bomblets and are meant to explode near the ground but often do not. The United Nations has called for a freeze on the use of these bombs in or near populated areas.
Feinstein said on Friday the bombs had taken a lethal toll on civilians across the world from Vietnam and Laos to the Middle East. "It's time to put an end to this needless death and suffering," she said in a statement with Leahy.
The Senate bill must still be reconciled with a spending bill passed by the House of Representatives in June, which did not include any measures on cluster bombs.
Moreover, President George W. Bush could veto the bill, which passed 81-12 in the Senate.
The Bush administration has threatened to veto foreign aid spending bills moving through Congress in part because they would allow U.S. agencies to be involved with family planning groups outside the United States that engage in abortion activities or counseling.
The State Department ruled last January that Israel may have violated a "use agreement" over the cluster bombs but no further action has been taken, The department declined comment on the restrictions included in the Senate bill. |
