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Israel/Zionism See other Israel/Zionism Articles Title: IDF commander: We fired more than a million cluster bombs in Lebanon "What we did was insane and monstrous, we covered entire towns in cluster bombs," the head of an IDF rocket unit in Lebanon said regarding the use of cluster bombs and phosphorous shells during the war. Quoting his battalion commander, the rocket unit head stated that the IDF fired around 1,800 cluster bombs, containing over 1.2 million cluster bomblets. In addition, soldiers in IDF artillery units testified that the army used phosphorous shells during the war, widely forbidden by international law. According to their claims, the vast majority of said explosive ordinance was fired in the final 10 days of the war. The rocket unit commander stated that Multiple Launch Rocket System (MLRS) platforms were heavily used in spite of the fact that they were known to be highly inaccurate. MLRS is a track or tire carried mobile rocket launching platform, capable of firing a very high volume of mostly unguided munitions. The basic rocket fired by the platform is unguided and imprecise, with a range of about 32 kilometers. The rockets are designed to burst into sub-munitions at a planned altitude in order to blanket enemy army and personnel on the ground with smaller explosive rounds. The use of such weaponry is controversial mainly due to its inaccuracy and ability to wreak great havoc against indeterminate targets over large areas of territory, with a margin of error of as much as 1,200 meters from the intended target to the area hit. The cluster rounds which don't detonate on impact, believed by the United Nations to be around 40% of those fired by the IDF in Lebanon, remain on the ground as unexploded munitions, effectively littering the landscape with thousands of land mines which will continue to claim victims long after the war has ended. Because of their high level of failure to detonate, it is believed that there are around 500,000 unexploded munitions on the ground in Lebanon. To date 12 Lebanese civilians have been killed by these mines since the end of the war. According to the commander, in order to compensate for the inaccuracy of the rockets and the inability to strike individual targets precisely, units would "flood" the battlefield with munitions, accounting for the littered and explosive landscape of post-war Lebanon. When his reserve duty came to a close, the commander in question sent a letter to Defense Minister Amir Peretz outlining the use of cluster munitions, a letter which has remained unanswered. 'Excessive injury and unnecessary suffering' It has come to light that IDF soldiers fired phosphorous rounds in order to cause fires in Lebanon. An artillery commander has admitted to seeing trucks loaded with phosphorous rounds on their way to artillery crews in the north of Israel. A direct hit from a phosphorous shell typically causes severe burns and a slow, painful death. International law forbids the use of weapons that cause "excessive injury and unnecessary suffering", and many experts are of the opinion that phosphorous rounds fall directly in that category. The International Red Cross has determined that international law forbids the use of phosphorous and other types of flammable rounds against personnel, both civilian and military. IDF: No violation of international lawIn response, the IDF Spokesman's Office stated that "International law does not include a sweeping prohibition of the use of cluster bombs. The convention on conventional weaponry does not declare a prohibition on [phosphorous weapons], rather, on principles regulating the use of such weapons. "For understandable operational reasons, the IDF does not respond to [accounts of] details of weaponry in its possession. "The IDF makes use only of methods and weaponry which are permissible under international law. Artillery fire in general, including MLRS fire, were used in response solely to firing on the state of Israel." The Defense Minister's office said it had not received messages regarding cluster bomb fire. Poster Comment: So is Obama going to attack Israel for violating int'l law and his own personal"red line?" Inquiring minds want to know... snip International law forbids the use of weapons that cause "excessive injury and unnecessary suffering", and many experts are of the opinion that phosphorous rounds fall directly in that category. The International Red Cross has determined that international law forbids the use of phosphorous and other types of flammable rounds against personnel, both civilian and military. Post Comment Private Reply Ignore Thread Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/Latest Begin Trace Mode for Comment # 5.
#1. To: scrapper2 (#0)
A million seems a bit much. One million seconds adds up to 11½ days, so dropping one cluster bomb a second would use up fully a third of the duration of the Israel-Lebanon conflict. More to the point, no more than 130,000 Lebanese are thought to have died in that conflict, from all causes, which means that most of those cluster bombs were totally wasted since it would seem that it took something like Nine cluster bombs to kill just one Lebanese. Are the Israelis that wasteful? Are they that bad shots? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006_Lebanon_War
From the article: Quoting his battalion commander, the rocket unit head stated that the IDF fired around 1,800 cluster bombs, containing over 1.2 million cluster bomblets. Each frickin' bomb has thousands of clusters Shoonie! Have you seen what these cluster bombs do to children? Or do you not care what they do to Lebanese children? Any unrecovered cluster bomb could kill a child TODAY, years after it is dropped. Do you fail to understand that the cluster bombs are left all over the ground and can explode anytime a person, such as an innocent child, picks them up? They are effective for YEARS!! The cluster bombs dropped by Israel years ago remain a threat to any person attempting to remove them or any person who unknowingly touches them. This is why the world wants to ban the, because they are cruel and they are not used to directly impact an enemy during confrontation but to lay waste to civilians for years after the conflict is over!
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