Does the U.S. Really Need Cluster Bombs?
By STEVE BREYMAN Amidst the tumult over sex education for kindergardeners, lipstick on pigs, well-to-do pregnant teenagers, and other such topics of import, it’s understandable that some trivial matters go undiscussed during the presidential campaign. Take the case of cluster bombs. Cluster munitions are air-dropped or ground-launched weapons that eject a number of smaller submunitions (from 3 to more than 2000) over potentially wide areas. The most common types aim to destroy armored vehicles and unarmored personnel. Others are to destroy runways and electric power transmission lines, deliver chemical or biological weapons, or distribute landmines over large areas. Modern cluster bombs have been around in one form or another since the Germans first used them against civilian and military targets during the Second World War. Due to their lethality, they have grown in popularity over the decades. Today, thirty-four countries produce cluster bombs, and another 76 stockpile them. Fourteen
