Think Progress

Senate ok’s cluster bombs.

By Nico Pitney on Sep 6th, 2006 at 4:27 pm

Senate ok’s cluster bombs.

In a 30-70 vote, the Senate defeated an amendment by Sens. Diane Feinstein (D-CA) and Patrick Leahy (D-VT) to ban defense spending “on the purchase or use of cluster munitions near civilian areas.” Cluster bombs are “the type of weapon responsible for the majority of civilian deaths in the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq.”



49 Responses to “Senate ok’s cluster bombs.”

  1. Spudge_Boy says:

    Cluster bombs equal the landmine for the 21 century.


  2. For Truth says:

    George has some very dear friends that make cluster bombs, now would you want to starve the children of the cluster bomb makers?


  3. TripMaster Monkey says:

    Of course the Repug-controlled Senate defeated the measure…our biggest purchaser of cluster bombs is Israel, and heaven forbid we try to protect Lebanese children from death and mutilation.

    I am sickened by my country on a daily basis.


  4. dlet says:

    to ban defense spending “on the purchase or use of cluster munitions near civilian areas

    We could always outsource the making of these from Asia. Mongolian cluster fu….I mean…bombs.

    Aren’t we just the righteous country. Dropping cluster bombs on civilian areas and didn’t we just start making land mines again. One of only what 5 other countries and those are I believe N. Korea, China and other friendlies.


  5. Juan C says:

    Oh, how I love America.


  6. Retired Republican Soldier says:

    Why not take away any 7.62 ammo which I think causes lots deaths? With no bombs or bullets our troops should just look mean, throw rocks, or shout at the enemy. But then if they shouted civilians might hear the bad words so maybe they should wear a muzzle and the rocks might bounce off a bad guy car and hit a civilian. So lets just have our troops concentrate on looking mean that will win a few battles. No wonder Al Queda doesn’t fear our forces! You want them to fight with one hand tied to their balls. Yup pretty soon EVERY military decision will be made by a bipartisan commission in DC. Now THAT would be just like Vietnam.


  7. Howard says:

    Bush Should Be Sacked As Commander In Chief

    The Army Has A Don’t Ask Don’t Tell Policy.

    Bush Kissing Lieberman and Holding hands with the King of Saudia Arabia is blantant.

    The Army Has A Don’t Ask Don’t Tell Policy and it needs to be used on Bush.

    Bush Should Be Sacked As Commander In Chief

    * * Please Repost this Message all over the internet.

    To copy the slide show just add a


  8. Juan C says:

    In a 30-70 vote, the Senate defeated an amendment by Sens. Diane Feinstein (D-CA) and Patrick Leahy (D-VT) to ban defense spending “on the purchase or use of cluster munitions near civilian areas.”

    It would be useful to remind these Dems that the “spending” will soon turn into huge “profits” when militias (legal and illegal) run to purchase these amazing toys that some very sick people have invented.


  9. Tobey Tall says:

    what a Friggin disgusting race of human beings


  10. Juan C says:

    Comment by Retired Republican Soldier
    Those US 5000 nukes have never made you feel safe. Be scared, buddy. Thats what you do best.


  11. Wayne A. Schneider says:

    That means 70 US Senators believe that killing civilians is acceptable.
    I do not see how this can be interpreted differently.
    Do they all own stock in the company that makes these bombs?


  12. midwestblue says:

    Well, according to Raw Story, Hillary Clinton, Frank Lautenberg, and Mary Landrieu voted to defeat the amendment. Children losing limbs from bomblets must not matter much to them.


  13. TerrytheTurtle says:

    #6, sure, let’s bring back napalm (oh, it never went away, sorry), phosgene and mustard gas, what’s wrong with a bit of anthrax between you and me too? I’m not taking the moral position here, but what purpose do cluster munitions serve when dropped into civilian areas, if not to terrorize and intimidate long after the combatants have gone elsewhere?

    Putting your self in someone else’s shoes (something Americans have a hard time doing), what advantage does it gain the US if the cluster bomb that your child stands on and loses his leg as it goes off, albeit months after the shooting has stopped and all you can find of the bomb and his leg is a fragment, with ‘Made in the good old US of A’ on it? If it was me, next American I see would lose his leg.

    Even in warfare, the world has at least attempted to outlaw weaponry that has no other purpose but to terrorize civilian populations. But the US refuses to sign up to these treaties…. shall we name them? And you wonder why they hate you….


  14. Tobey Tall says:

    In the last 3 days of the Lebanon conflict once the ceasefire had been established the UN found 357 impact sites of cluster bombs and 100,000 unexploded cluster bomblets hanging around which have killed 13 so far and wounded 57 lebanese ……….. Thats why I call America a disgusting race of human beings you all get tarred with Bushes war crimes

    These munitions get used on civillian populations which is a war crime

    Thats why we have this war on Karma (terror)

    Your NOT showing the way forward in this world only backwards

    Greed was invented by ancient Egyptians when farming the land came about 5000 years ago , most Europeans have gold based economies , America has weapons sales based economy – Greed Based society that dont care ??? shit


  15. Marie says:

    BTW – OT, I know, but related.

    It turns out the official toll of violent deaths in August was just revised upwards to 1535 from 550, tripling the total. A much-publicized drop-off in violence in August – heralded by both the Iraqi government and the US military as a sign that a new security effort in Baghdad was working — apparently didn’t exist.


  16. Spudge_Boy says:

    Well, according to Raw Story, Hillary Clinton, Frank Lautenberg, and Mary Landrieu voted to defeat the amendment. Children losing limbs from bomblets must not matter much to them.

    Hillary, just like Bill is part oif the Carlyle Group. They are war profiteers.

    Don’t know Lautenberg that well.

    Mary Landrieu ran up and hugged and kissed Bush after his State of the Union speech this year, just a couple of months after he let her state wallow in water for 5 days. She is a DINO.


  17. Marie says:

    Cluster bombs are OK?
    What in hell are they thinking?
    How could they defend that out loud on the floor of the Senate — the scumbags are now on record as approving the killing of civilians, particularly children.
    Unbridled greed and barefaced politics – morality has no place in the Republiscum party.


  18. Marie says:

    This vote today is another reason to fire Rumsfeld, impeach Bush and change the face of Congress.
    They don’t represent America – not the America I know and love – they represent themselves only.


  19. Clyde the Ripper says:

    …”on the purchase or use of cluster munitions near civilian areas.”

    According to my old English textbook this is to be read as prohibiting two separate acts (1) the purchase of cluster munitions near civilian areas, and (2) the use of cluster munitions near civilian areas. From that we can gather it is OK to purchase the munitions away from a civilian area, e,g, FOB a military base and it OK to use the munitions inside the boundaries of the civilian area.

    My guess is that Feinstein and Leahy were just grandstanding. If they were serious that would have allowed the use of the munitions within the confines of a non-civilian area called 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW.


  20. TripMaster Monkey says:

    Retired Republican Soldier sez:

    Why not take away any 7.62 ammo which I think causes lots deaths? With no bombs or bullets our troops should just look mean, throw rocks, or shout at the enemy.

    There’s a big difference between a bullet and a cluster bomb, RRS. With a handle that includes the word ’soldier’, I’d expect you to know the difference, but with a handle that includes the word ‘republican’, I guess your ignorance and stupidity is at least understandable, if still not pardonable.


  21. Marie says:

    #20 TMM
    Don’t waste your time on RSS – he is so hopelessly lost in bizarroland, he can’t see straight.


  22. Clyde the Ripper says:

    The bill was just treating a symptom not the disease. The cluster bomb is a very effective weapon when used for the purpose for which it was intended. It is is the same category of all the other Military weapons in the US arsenal. I hate to use the NRA argument but it appropriate to make my point. Cluster bombs, nor any other weapon, including guns, do not kill civilians. People belonging to the Military kill civilians at the direction of criminal leaders. The persons responsible for the misuse of the Military weapons by our Military personnel and Rummy and Queen George the Dumb. If we remove Rummy and Impeach Bush, convict them, et. al. of war crimes, and plant their evil asses in Leavenworth the Cluster Bombs can be moved back to Hawthorne, Nevada, to grow old in peace.

    Stupid is Forever. Long live the Strawman!


  23. Marie says:

    Change that to RRS, please.


  24. Chuck Heston says:

    #14 Cluster bombs don’t kill people, people kill people and I want to say those words again for everyone within the sound of my voice to hear and to heed…you can take my cluster bombs from my cold dead hands…


  25. Chuck Heston says:

    #21 I bet he can’t shoot straight either, I’ll get Wayne to give him a call.


  26. Wayne A. Schneider says:

    you can take my cluster bombs from my cold dead hands…

    Comment by Chuck Heston

    Could you give us a date, Mr. Heston?


  27. Trinary Suka says:

    You want them to fight with one hand tied to their balls.
    ==
    Stupid me, here I am thinking cluster bobs are dropped out of planes…What does a cluster bomb have to do with your nads?

    Those tens of thousands of cluster bombs that havent exploded can be reused,,so maybe having your hand on your balls isnt such a bad idea, I wouldn’t suggest you tie your hand to your nads though


  28. TerrytheTurtle says:

    #22 Clydester – As Tobey points out, there was a massive dumping of cluster bombs all over Lebanon in the final days before the cease-fire. What other purpose did the Israelis have but to sew these aerial mines all over southern Lebanon as the terrorized population prepared to return to their homes? And the US jumped on the chance to ship those bombs post-haste when the Israelis asked for them, shipping them through allied countries in contravention of those countrys’ laws in some cases.


  29. Chuck Heston says:

    #26 Hang on a second, I need to nip round the back with my lighter and fire up this bush I have growing back here. I swear it talks to me if you inhale enough of the smoke…


  30. Trinary Suka says:

    actually soldier i propose we put bush and saddam in a ring and whoever wins wins


  31. Wayne A. Schneider says:

    #26 Hang on a second, I need to nip round the back with my lighter and fire up this bush I have growing back here. I swear it talks to me if you inhale enough of the smoke…

    Comment by Chuck Heston

    #29 I have one that does that. But you have to put it in a pipe.


  32. midwestblue says:

    Hillary, just like Bill is part oif the Carlyle Group. They are war profiteers.

    Don’t know Lautenberg that well.

    Mary Landrieu ran up and hugged and kissed Bush after his State of the Union speech this year, just a couple of months after he let her state wallow in water for 5 days. She is a DINO

    “Carlyle Hillary” doesn’t deserve to be called a Democrat. I’ve always thought her stance on the war had a lot to do with her personal finances. She’s a real piece of work, and Landrieu might as well be a Republican, it’s true. I always thought Lautenberg was a fairly decent kind of guy, but I don’t know much about him, either.


  33. Margaret says:

    How can ANYONE think that cluster bombs anywhere near civilian areas is okay? Hard to fathom.


  34. bones says:

    That’s ok when the rest of the world turns against US, and that day isn’t far off, US officials travelling overseas will be picked up and delivered to the Hague for war crimes trials and this vote will be offered as evidence at their trials. Idiots.


  35. M 26 says:

    man… That is fugged up!

    Those bombs are never to be used against civilians…at least thats the deal we make with the countries that we sell them to… like Israel who dropped a ton of them in Lebanon recently.

    They’re nasty because they’re still “live” like mines and can blow the crap out of you even years down the road. Don’t believe me, try it yourself.


  36. ignu says:

    Good thing CT for Lieberman, Republicans and a few Conservative Democrats teamed up to protect our right to inflict massive death on civilian populations!!

    Hooray for this new party of unity with the purpose of inflicting massive death cluster bombing civilian targets.


  37. Clyde the Ripper says:

    #28 Terry

    I disagree with you not in the least and you enforce my point. Those little old cluster boomers didn’t sneak out of their bunkers, disguise them selves as iPods, forge their passports, and fly first class on El Al to Tel Aviv. Somebody helped them, a lot. That somebody or somebodies is/are to blame and since they are Military weapons, it is the responsibility of the Military and the FINAL RESPONSIBILITY OF THE CHIMP IN CHARGE, to see that the weapons are used responsibly, or better yet, not used at all. We Americans, for the most part, are too busy trying to legislate morality to prosecute those with none in the first place. To ban the production of Military Weapons because the producer is selling them is the same as banning gasoline because big oil is price gouging, aside from being asinine it is against the economic principle of supply and demand, as big oil is so eager to point out. We should be spending our time putting a permanent stop to the NECESSITY of demand of Military weapons rather than curtailing the supply artificially. If nobody fights what good are the boxing gloves?


  38. Zooey says:

    Our Senate….approves the use of cluster bombs….near civilian populations.

    I feel sick…


  39. Jackie says:

    Now that makes since as the United States gave Israel the bombs to use against Lebanon. Look for other countries to use those bombs and pray that don’t use it on the United States. Well if any cluster bomb were used on the United States Bush would say that is illegal and bring charges to the United Nations for action. Bush has laws for others as the United States is the sole dicatator of the world. We make that laws we don’t follow them.


  40. SUSA says:

    Republicans + Senate = PROBLEM


  41. SUSA says:

    Retired Republican Soldier:

    Put on your dunce hat and sit in the corner, adults are talking here dumbass. We don’t have time for your baby BS.


  42. Jay Randal says:

    Those 70 Senators who voted to allow the use of cluster bombs on civilians will all rot in Hell someday > shame on all of them!


  43. MediaBloodhound says:

    Don’t wait for them to rot in hell one day. Expose them now. Find out who they are. Contact their offices. Their financiers. Their constituents. Contact local and national media outlets to cover their deeds. Call them out on this despicable act.

    Expose them.


  44. Jay Randal says:

    Post 43 > supposedly Sen. Hillary Clinton is one of those 70 Senators > she has gone completely goofy since the Israel lobby started funding her > New York has lots of Jewish people, so I guess cluster bombs are cool to them? Makes me sick, but not even Cindy Sheehan can get Hillary to act rationally! Power tends to corrupt some people, and Hillary seems to fall for war too easily, so she should never run for the presidency > she is too gullible!


  45. TomPaine says:

    The senate can’t limit the military’s tactical options. While currently it is unwritten rule that the US doesnt use these munitions near heavily populated areas, that could change depending on the situation. FASCAM and DPICM are the most destructive rounds we have and we can fire them with incredible accuracy to root out a dug in enemy. I’m an artilleryman and I can tell you that even in a conventional war, by doctrine, it takes a General to authorize the use of Scatterabl Mine artillery munitions. And I dont think we are using FASCAM and DPICM in Iraq anyway. Since I’m not actually doing artillery here I would have to go talk to the guys from my battalion that are and I’m 99% sure I wouldnt find any FASCAM or DPICM in their ammo storage area. So, it’s all hype over nothing. Why dont you concentrate on real issues? This is a non-issue. You have the republicans beat on other more important things.


  46. TomPaine says:

    Just because Israel and their defense forces are a bunch of marauding criminals doesnt mean we are. Israel has their own doctrine and tactics, and if they feel that’s the way they want to fight their wars, and be war criminals thats on them. Dont get me wrong I think we should cut all military and foreign aid to Israel immediately, and not resume until Jews and Arabs learn how to share.


  47. win a car » Win a car - Mosport: John Walko Racing says:

    [...] Senate ok s cluster bombs.Think Progress, DC - 10 hours ago… a muzzle and the rocks might bounce off a bad guy car and hit a civilian. So lets just have our troops concentrate on looking mean that will win a few battles. … [...]


  48. Tobey Tall says:

    Stevens argued that the amendment would restrict “the ability of our military to use these munitions to protect our people.”

    These weapons are used in Invasions nothing else ..you would not use them on american soil if the canadians invaded ……..can nobody figure this out

    you have now legalised bombing civillians in Invasions – America Tumor of the world – very sick nation – stay at home we dont need your cluster bombs-


  49. Randy says:

    Does anyone have the names of all the Democrats who voted against this sickening bill?



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