MavericksHMB
08-27-2006, 10:06 AM
From the TimesOnLine UK ([Only registered and activated users can see links])
Cluster bombs leave ‘toys’ that kill children
Hala Jaber, Yuhmur, South Lebanon
[Only registered and activated users can see links] AFTER 34 days of war that confined them to one shelter after another, three children almost lost their lives last week when they returned to their devastated village and went outside to play, oblivious to the cluster bombs around them.
Marwa al-Miri, 10, and her cousins Sikna, 12, and Hassan, 10, skipped between the ruined houses of Aita al-Shaab in a game of treasure hunt, then heard a macabre rumour and decided to investigate.
“We were going to see my grandfather’s house. We were told there was Israeli blood in there from the fighting and we wanted to see it,” Sikna explained.
Suddenly a strange object caught Sikna’s eye. It was small, round and metallic, with a tip that looked like a cigarette end. She picked it up to show her cousins.
<... snip>
Tekimiti Gilbert, operations chief of the UN Mine Action Co-ordination Centre in Lebanon, said he had “no doubt” that Israel’s use of cluster bombs had violated international law prohibiting their use in civilian areas.
Israel denies using them illegally, saying it had to defend itself against Hezbollah fighters in Lebanese towns and villages firing rockets that killed Israeli civilians.
The US State Department opened an investigation last week into whether Israel’s use of American-made cluster bombs violated an agreement that they would not be used in civilian areas.
So they've got a cease-fire and still little kids are getting blown up. With U.S. made bombs. Not just any U.S. bombs... but those little shiny ones that do so much damage with their shrapnel. Any bets on where this supposed investigation will end up? Truly, this makes me ill.
Cluster bombs leave ‘toys’ that kill children
Hala Jaber, Yuhmur, South Lebanon
[Only registered and activated users can see links] AFTER 34 days of war that confined them to one shelter after another, three children almost lost their lives last week when they returned to their devastated village and went outside to play, oblivious to the cluster bombs around them.
Marwa al-Miri, 10, and her cousins Sikna, 12, and Hassan, 10, skipped between the ruined houses of Aita al-Shaab in a game of treasure hunt, then heard a macabre rumour and decided to investigate.
“We were going to see my grandfather’s house. We were told there was Israeli blood in there from the fighting and we wanted to see it,” Sikna explained.
Suddenly a strange object caught Sikna’s eye. It was small, round and metallic, with a tip that looked like a cigarette end. She picked it up to show her cousins.
<... snip>
Tekimiti Gilbert, operations chief of the UN Mine Action Co-ordination Centre in Lebanon, said he had “no doubt” that Israel’s use of cluster bombs had violated international law prohibiting their use in civilian areas.
Israel denies using them illegally, saying it had to defend itself against Hezbollah fighters in Lebanese towns and villages firing rockets that killed Israeli civilians.
The US State Department opened an investigation last week into whether Israel’s use of American-made cluster bombs violated an agreement that they would not be used in civilian areas.
So they've got a cease-fire and still little kids are getting blown up. With U.S. made bombs. Not just any U.S. bombs... but those little shiny ones that do so much damage with their shrapnel. Any bets on where this supposed investigation will end up? Truly, this makes me ill.