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Ban Cluster Bombs? Yes, We Can!
Mar 25, 2009
President Obama and Secretary of State Clinton are getting big praise
around the world for their new Charm Offensive. As far as I'm
concerned, the praise is justified. I heard our Secretary of State
interviewed on the BBC a few weeks ago about our diplomatic
outreach to Iran on Afghanistan. And the BBC was all, what
makes you think Iran is going to help you on Afghanistan? And Hillary
was all, you know, actually Iran helped us tremendously in Afghanistan
after 2001. Our Ambassador in Afghanistan and the Iranian Ambassador
were meeting practically every day. I just about fell off my chair.
You'd have thought Hillary was applying for a job at the National Iranian American
Council.
But at some point nice words about international cooperation have to
be matched by deeds, the kind of concrete, bite down on, facts on the
ground deeds you can wave around while saying, "see, there really is
change," without fear of plausible contradiction.
A big step would be for the United States to formally join the
international consensus on cluster bombs: these weapons are inherently
anti-civilian and should be totally banned from the face of the earth.
On Monday, March
30, US groups campaigning for the cluster bomb ban are asking
Americans to call their Senators, urging them to support the Cluster
Munitions Civilian Protection Act (S.
416). Mark your calendar.
This isn't pie in the sky. As a Senator, President Obama supported
restrictions on cluster bombs - in fact, he was the only Democratic
Senator running for President who supported Senator Feinstein's
amendment restricting exports of cluster bombs in 2006. And the
restrictions on exports that Obama supported as a Senator are now US
law. Now campaigners are asking: "If U.S. allies should not use
these weapons, then why should U.S. troops?"
There's been a good bit of resistance in the United States - even more
now that the Wall Street boys have tanked the economy with their
publicly-insured gambling - to the notion that the United States,
along with other wealthy countries, should pull its weight in terms of
foreign aid. So here's something we can do that's free: stop causing
destruction that people will expect us to pay for later.
Earlier this month, CNN reported
that cluster bomb clearing operations in Southern Lebanon following
the 2006 Israeli invasion were shutting down due to lack of
international funding. In large measure, those cluster bombs are our
cluster bombs - cluster bombs that are still killing and maiming
Lebanese children today. If we don't want to pay for the cleanup, then
we should redouble our efforts to make sure that there's nothing to
clean up in the future.
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Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
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Robert Naiman
Robert Naiman is Policy Director at Just Foreign Policy. Naiman has worked as a policy analyst and researcher at the Center for Economic and Policy Research and Public Citizen's Global Trade Watch. He has masters degrees in economics and mathematics from the University of Illinois and has studied and worked in the Middle East.
President Obama and Secretary of State Clinton are getting big praise
around the world for their new Charm Offensive. As far as I'm
concerned, the praise is justified. I heard our Secretary of State
interviewed on the BBC a few weeks ago about our diplomatic
outreach to Iran on Afghanistan. And the BBC was all, what
makes you think Iran is going to help you on Afghanistan? And Hillary
was all, you know, actually Iran helped us tremendously in Afghanistan
after 2001. Our Ambassador in Afghanistan and the Iranian Ambassador
were meeting practically every day. I just about fell off my chair.
You'd have thought Hillary was applying for a job at the National Iranian American
Council.
But at some point nice words about international cooperation have to
be matched by deeds, the kind of concrete, bite down on, facts on the
ground deeds you can wave around while saying, "see, there really is
change," without fear of plausible contradiction.
A big step would be for the United States to formally join the
international consensus on cluster bombs: these weapons are inherently
anti-civilian and should be totally banned from the face of the earth.
On Monday, March
30, US groups campaigning for the cluster bomb ban are asking
Americans to call their Senators, urging them to support the Cluster
Munitions Civilian Protection Act (S.
416). Mark your calendar.
This isn't pie in the sky. As a Senator, President Obama supported
restrictions on cluster bombs - in fact, he was the only Democratic
Senator running for President who supported Senator Feinstein's
amendment restricting exports of cluster bombs in 2006. And the
restrictions on exports that Obama supported as a Senator are now US
law. Now campaigners are asking: "If U.S. allies should not use
these weapons, then why should U.S. troops?"
There's been a good bit of resistance in the United States - even more
now that the Wall Street boys have tanked the economy with their
publicly-insured gambling - to the notion that the United States,
along with other wealthy countries, should pull its weight in terms of
foreign aid. So here's something we can do that's free: stop causing
destruction that people will expect us to pay for later.
Earlier this month, CNN reported
that cluster bomb clearing operations in Southern Lebanon following
the 2006 Israeli invasion were shutting down due to lack of
international funding. In large measure, those cluster bombs are our
cluster bombs - cluster bombs that are still killing and maiming
Lebanese children today. If we don't want to pay for the cleanup, then
we should redouble our efforts to make sure that there's nothing to
clean up in the future.
Robert Naiman
Robert Naiman is Policy Director at Just Foreign Policy. Naiman has worked as a policy analyst and researcher at the Center for Economic and Policy Research and Public Citizen's Global Trade Watch. He has masters degrees in economics and mathematics from the University of Illinois and has studied and worked in the Middle East.
President Obama and Secretary of State Clinton are getting big praise
around the world for their new Charm Offensive. As far as I'm
concerned, the praise is justified. I heard our Secretary of State
interviewed on the BBC a few weeks ago about our diplomatic
outreach to Iran on Afghanistan. And the BBC was all, what
makes you think Iran is going to help you on Afghanistan? And Hillary
was all, you know, actually Iran helped us tremendously in Afghanistan
after 2001. Our Ambassador in Afghanistan and the Iranian Ambassador
were meeting practically every day. I just about fell off my chair.
You'd have thought Hillary was applying for a job at the National Iranian American
Council.
But at some point nice words about international cooperation have to
be matched by deeds, the kind of concrete, bite down on, facts on the
ground deeds you can wave around while saying, "see, there really is
change," without fear of plausible contradiction.
A big step would be for the United States to formally join the
international consensus on cluster bombs: these weapons are inherently
anti-civilian and should be totally banned from the face of the earth.
On Monday, March
30, US groups campaigning for the cluster bomb ban are asking
Americans to call their Senators, urging them to support the Cluster
Munitions Civilian Protection Act (S.
416). Mark your calendar.
This isn't pie in the sky. As a Senator, President Obama supported
restrictions on cluster bombs - in fact, he was the only Democratic
Senator running for President who supported Senator Feinstein's
amendment restricting exports of cluster bombs in 2006. And the
restrictions on exports that Obama supported as a Senator are now US
law. Now campaigners are asking: "If U.S. allies should not use
these weapons, then why should U.S. troops?"
There's been a good bit of resistance in the United States - even more
now that the Wall Street boys have tanked the economy with their
publicly-insured gambling - to the notion that the United States,
along with other wealthy countries, should pull its weight in terms of
foreign aid. So here's something we can do that's free: stop causing
destruction that people will expect us to pay for later.
Earlier this month, CNN reported
that cluster bomb clearing operations in Southern Lebanon following
the 2006 Israeli invasion were shutting down due to lack of
international funding. In large measure, those cluster bombs are our
cluster bombs - cluster bombs that are still killing and maiming
Lebanese children today. If we don't want to pay for the cleanup, then
we should redouble our efforts to make sure that there's nothing to
clean up in the future.
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