US to Use Less-Dangerous Cluster Bombs

A U.S. Defense Department memo says the United States will begin using cluster bombs that pose less danger to civilians, after international pressure to change its use of the controversial weapon.>> A three-page Defense Department memo requires that, effective in 2018, 99 percent all the bomblets dispersed by a cluster bomb would detonate on impact.>> Cluster bombs explode in mid-air and scatter hundreds of smaller bombs over a wide area. Currently bomblets that do not explode on impact can remain active for years, often killing or maiming unsuspecting civilians.>> The Defense Department memo says the United States will also begin reducing its inventory of cluster bombs that do not meet the new safety requirements.>> The change was made after the United States boycotted a May conference in Dublin, during which 111 countries agreed to ban the use of cluster bombs.>> The United States opposed the ban saying cluster bombs are an effective weapon that can help save the lives of both soldiers and civilians.>> The Dublin Treaty requires countries to destroy their cluster bomb stockpiles within eight years, stop selling cluster bombs and discourage their use.>> -ends->