[Ngo-lwg] NYT Gives a False Pass to US on Cluster Bomb Sales

Chuck Searcy chuckusvn at gmail.com
Fri Sep 4 16:53:44 BST 2015


*FAIR
<http://fair.org/home/action-alert-nyt-gives-a-false-pass-to-us-on-cluster-bomb-sales/>*
Sept. 3, 2015

Action Alert: NYT Gives a False Pass to US on Cluster Bomb Sales
By Jim Naureckas <http://fair.org/?s=Jim%20Naureckas>
[image: Part of a US-made cluster bomb found in Yemen. (photo: Human Rights
Watch)] <http://fair.org/new/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/ClusterBomb.jpg>

*Part of a US-made cluster bomb found in Yemen. (photo: Human Rights Watch)*

*See “Update” below.*

The *New York Times*‘ Rick Gladstone (9/3/15
<http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/04/world/banned-cluster-bombs-were-used-in-five-countries-report-says.html>)
has an article on the use of cluster bombs—aptly described as the “widely
outlawed munitions that kill and maim indiscriminately”—in conflicts in
Libya, Sudan, Syria, Ukraine and Yemen, five countries that have not signed
the Convention on Cluster Munitions <http://www.clusterconvention.org/>,
which banned the production, sale and use of these weapons in 2010.

Writes Gladstone:

The use of these weapons was criticized by all 117 countries that have
joined the treaty, which took effect five years ago. Their use was also
criticized by a number of others, including the United States, that have
not yet joined the treaty but have abided by its provisions.

This is just wrong: The  Convention not only bans the use of cluster
bombs—which the US military used against Serbia, Afghanistan and Iraq
before the treaty went into effect, but did not use
<https://www.hrw.org/news/2011/11/15/united-states-aims-low-cluster-munitions>
subsequently
in its air attacks on Libya—it also mandates that signatories are “never
under any circumstances to…develop, produce, otherwise acquire, stockpile,
retain or transfer to anyone, directly or indirectly, cluster munitions.”

As Human Rights Watch (5/3/15
<http://www.hrw.org/news/2015/05/03/yemen-saudi-led-airstrikes-used-cluster-munitions>)
recently reported, “Credible evidence indicates that the Saudi-led
coalition used banned cluster munitions supplied by the United States in
airstrikes against Houthi forces in Yemen” this year.  The weapon in
question is the CBU-105, manufactured in Wilmington, Massachusetts–and
“banned under the Convention on Cluster Munitions,” HRW notes. The report
specifies:

In August 2013, the US Department of Defense concluded a contract
<http://www.defense.gov/contracts/contract.aspx?contractid=5116> for the
manufacture of 1,300 CBU-105 Sensor Fuzed Weapons for Saudi Arabia by
Textron. The contract stipulated that delivery of the weapons should be
completed by December 2015. Human Rights Watch does not know when
deliveries began, or if they have finished.

Additionally, the UAE received an unknown number of CBU-105 from Textron
Defense Systems in June 2010, fulfilling a contract announced
<http://investor.textron.com/newsroom/news-releases/press-release-details/2007/Textron-Defense-Systems-and-UAE-Armed-Forces-Sign-Sensor-Fuzed-Weapon-Contract/default.aspx>
in
November 2007.

Even were the Saudis (or the United Arab Emirates) not using the cluster
bombs, the US simply making and transferring them (and stockpiling them in
its own arsenal) clearly violates the Convention. Their use by the US’s
allies presumably puts Washington in conflict with another provision
forbidding parties to “assist” others in activities contrary to the treaty.

Aside from the inaccuracy of claiming that the US has abided by the
provisions of the Convention, the *Times* article fails to follow the
principles of newsworthiness. For a US-based paper like the *Times* with a
largely American audience, the fact that the United States is making and
selling some of the deadly weapons whose use is the subject of the article
ought to be a central point. Instead, the *Times*‘ willingness to play down
<http://fair.org/home/missing-from-reports-of-yemeni-carnage-washingtons-responsibility/>
Washington’s
role in conflicts it reports on has led it to publish certifiable
falsehoods.

*ACTION:* Please write to the *New York Times* and ask them to correct the
false claim that the US is abiding by the provisions of the Convention on
Cluster Munitions.

*CONTACT:* The *New York Times* accepts requests for corrections at
nytnews at nytimes.com. Remember that respectful communication is the most
effective.

*UPDATE:* A few hours after FAIR issued this Action Alert, the *New York
Times* appended a correction to its piece
<http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/04/world/banned-cluster-bombs-were-used-in-five-countries-report-says.html?_r=0>
:

An earlier version of this article misstated the position of the United
States regarding the treaty banning cluster munitions. According to the
Cluster Munition Coalition, while the United States has reduced its supply
of cluster munitions, it reserves the right to use, transfer and stockpile
them. The United States is not among the countries that abide by the
treaty’s provisions even though they have not joined the treaty.

Perhaps more importantly, the story has been rewritten to include the fact
that US-made cluster bombs continue to be used:

The United States, which is among the countries that have not signed the
treaty, still produces and exports cluster munitions. In a telephone
interview, Ms. Wareham said that although the United States had sharply
reduced its supply of cluster munitions, at least three different types of
American-made cluster munitions had been used by Saudi-led forces this year
in the Yemen conflict.

“The United States reserves the right to use, transfer and stockpile the
munitions, unfortunately, so we cannot say they abide by its provisions,”
she said.

FAIR appreciates the correction and the expanded story. Thanks to all those
who participated by writing to the *Times* or helping to spread the word.
------------------------------

*Jim Naureckas is the editor of FAIR.org <http://www.fair.org/>.*

*=========================================*
*CHUCK SEARCY*
*International Advisor, Project RENEW*
*Vice President, Veterans For Peace  Chapter 160*
*Co-Chair, NGO Agent Orange Working Group*
*VN    +8 490 342 0769*
*E       chuckusvn at gmail.com <chuckusvn at gmail.com>*
*Sk     chucksearcy*
*=========================================*
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