Laws are Made to Be Broken

There is a game that is played in the political hallways of the powerful nations. It is called the game of “appearances.” Nowhere is this more apparent than in the blatant disregard for the lives of civilians in conflict, specifically by the nations possessing the deadliest arsenals.

The war between Israel and Hizbollah in 2006 demonstrated such a phenomenon and its schizophrenic manifestations to brutal levels. The use of cluster bombs against civilians by Israel and the initial denial of their use demonstrate the ineffectiveness of the laws that govern warfare and the treatment of civilians. The United States provides the bulk of the cluster bomb munitions to the Israeli military. Israel also manufactures its own. Current international law does not ban the use of such weapons. But agreements between the United States and Israel prohibit the use of such bombs in civilian areas. According to the Council on Foreign Relations:

International law does not ban the use of cluster bombs, though humanitarian groups claim they have killed or maimed hundreds of innocents in recent armed conflicts. Cluster bombs scatter hundreds of bomblets over a large area but with limited accuracy and high failure rates. After last summer’s war between Israel and Hezbollah, in which both sides were accused of killing civilians with cluster bombs, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) called on countries to ban cluster bombs and destroy their stockpiles. A proposal to limit their use during wartime came under review at a November 2006 conference in Geneva on the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons, a 1980 agreement that seeks to protect military troops from inhumane injuries and prevent civilians from being wounded or killed.ter bombs specifically.

Following the brutal assault on Lebanon last year, investigation into the use of cluster bombs is on the way. The effectiveness of the outcome is to be seen since Israel is still refusing to provide detailed and accurate maps of the drop sites. It is estimated that as many as one million bomblets litter about 250 villages and towns. While the United States is conducting this investigation, it has neglected to practice according to the rules it laid out for its allies. Cluster bombs have littered the landscapes of invasion areas such as Iraq, Afghanistan, Kosovo, and Vietnman by the American military.

The nations that dictate the rules of warfare are the same nations that are breaking them. Israel has justified the use of cluster bombs for "security" reasons to target Hizbollah because Hizbollah "hide behind civilians." Such an argument is idiotic at best because most warfare is conducted in civilians areas and not in the wilderness. Occupations are resisted in towns and villages, especially when the occupiers or aggressors are launching their own attacks from civilian areas. In the case of Israel, many of the bombing missions were launched close to Jewish settlements near the border with Jewish children scribbling "love notes" on the bombs themselves. Should these civilians and children then be considered "legitimate targets?"

In an era of military escalation and nuclear armament, is it really feasible and honest to talk about sanctions and laws while we continue to produce more deadly weapons that kill mostly civilians? The outcome of this investigation will be a glimpse of things to come.

Marilyn