Pentagon Releases 'New' Cluster Bomb Policy: 10 More Years of the Same

The Pentagon announced on Monday [July 7] that it would continue to use and export event the most unreliable cluster bombs for the next decade. This decision comes just a month after 111 countries, including all major NATO allies, agreed to a global treaty banning cluster bombs because of the weapons' record of killing and injuring more civilians than combatants.

The new policy represents a real step backward. Since 2005 it has been Pentagon policy to only buy new cluster bombs with a dud rate of less than 1 percent, meaning that the weapons' use would not result in a widely dispersed minefield that threatens civilians for years after the fighting stops. Congress applied that same criterea to cluster bomb exports last year. The export restriction has bipartisan support and is likely to be renewed in the coming year.

The Pentagon policy confirms that congressional action will be needed to rein in U.S. cluster bomb use of the types of weapons that pose the greatest danger to civilians. Please urge your senators to co-sponsor the Cluster Munitions Civilian Protection Act (S.594). Increasing congressional support for restrictions on cluster bombs will also encourage the next President to sign the cluster bomb treaty upon taking office.

For more information, check out:

• USCBL's response to the new cluster bomb policy.
• AP story on the policy.
• USCBL’s press release following completion of the global cluster bomb treaty.