Measure to ban transfer of cluster bombs to Saudis defeated in US House of Representatives

The U.S. House of Representatives narrowly defeated a measure to ban the transfer of cluster bombs to Saudi Arabia. The vote was 204 for and 216 against. The vote against the measure was made up of 200 Republicans but only 16 Democrats.

The Obama administration had urged Democrats to vote against the measure. The closeness of the vote shows the growing opposition against Saudi Arabia's conduct of the war which shows that cluster bombs were used several times and fragments show that some at least came from the U.S. This vote comes just as the Obama administration is reported to have quietly put a hold on transfer of cluster bombs to the Saudis.

However, the administration is obviously dead against a ban on sending the weapons to the Saudis. Representative Rodney Frelinghuysen of New Jersey, chair of the House Committee on Defense Appropriations, said during debate:“The Department of Defense strongly opposes this amendment, They advise us that it would stigmatize cluster munitions, which are legitimate weapons with clear military utility.”

The munitions scatter hundreds of thousands of miniature explosives over large areas often the size of several football fields. Some fail to explode leaving mine-like explosives that can kill civilians long after a battle. There is an international ban against cluster munitions as described in Wikipedia:The Convention on Cluster Munitions (CCM) is an international treaty that prohibits the use, transfer and stockpile of cluster bombs, a type of explosive weapon which scatters submunitions ("bomblets") over an area. The convention was adopted on 30 May 2008 in Dublin,[6] and was opened for signature on 3 December 2008 in Oslo. It entered into force on 1 August 2010, six months after it was ratified by 30 states.[2] As of April 2016, 108 states have signed the treaty and 100 have ratified it or acceded to it.[3]

Neither the United States, China, Russia, nor Israel have signed the treaty. Neither, have Yemen nor Saudi Arabia.The U.S. position is that they are militarily useful but should not be used in densely populated areas. Representative Hank Johnson from Georgia spoke in favor of the amendment saying: “Earlier this year, the Saudi-led coalition dropped cluster bombs in Yemen’s capital of Sanaa, specifically targeting known civilian neighborhoods. One of the buildings hit was the al Noor Center for Care and Rehabilitation for the Blind, which also has a school for blind children. The destruction of the school and the injuries sustained by the children was unbearably gruesome.”

The vote came just one day after Mohammed Bin Salman, the defense minister as well as Saudi deputy crown prince met with US lawmakers to discuss among other items "the threat posed by Iranian aggression in ..Yemen and the broader Middle East." The closeness of the vote encouraged, Sunjeev Bery, of Amnesty International who said: “This is a big deal for the U.S.-Saudi Arabia alliance, More and more members of Congress are clearly getting tired of selling Saudi Arabia bombs when it is dropping them on civilians in Yemen.”

While Canada is a signatory to the ban on cluster bombs, four Canadian financial institutions have invested $565 million in companies that manufacture the bombs. This information is revealed in the report released in Ottawa by the Dutch Peace Group PAX. The four are among a total of 158 companies worldwide that have invested a whopping $28 billion in companies connected to the weapons from June 2012 to April 2016. Paul Hannon, director of Mines Action Canada wants the Canadian government to issue guidelines to ban such investments by Canadian institutions. Hannon said:"These are inhuman and indiscriminate weapons and no financial institution should be investing in them. Whether it's because they don't realize that they're doing this, whether it's because they're such huge corporations, and one arm doesn't realize what the other arm is doing, that's fine. But they now need to understand."

Named in the report are the Royal Bank of Canada(RBC), Manulife Financial, Sun Life Financial and CI FInancial. CI claims it no longer holds any shares in the US company cited in the report. Royal Bank invested $132 million and Manuflie $48 million in the US firm Textron that manufactures the bombs. RBC said:"RBC is a responsible lender and practices a high level of due diligence prior to lending funds..Our policy prohibits directly financing equipment or material for cluster munitions. We are currently working towards extending this policy beyond lending."Manulife and Sun Life did not respond to a request to comment. Suzanne Ooserwijk, author of the report noted that the Royal Bank had taken positive steps to ban investments in cluster munitions but that their policy contained loopholes. As the appended video shows some of the cluster bombs used in Yemen by the Saudis come from the UK rather than the U.S.

Evidence shows Saudi-coalition used cluster bombs in northern Yemen

Human Rights Watch claims to have credible evidence that the Saudi-led coalition used cluster munitions against Houthi rebels in bombings in Yemen as part of Operation Decisive Storm.

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Cluster bombs release small bomblets over a wide area and pose risks to civilians during attacks and long afterwards: During attacks, the weapons are prone to indiscriminate effects, especially in populated areas. Unexploded bomblets can kill or maim civilians and/or unintended targets long after a conflict has ended, and are costly to locate and remove.

A 2008 Convention on Cluster Munitions bans, their use, production or distribution. Although 116 countries have signed the treaty Saudi Arabia and Yemen have not signed the treaty. Neither have the United States, China, Russia or Israel. Canada has.

Human Rights Watch has collected photographs, video, and other evidence since the middle of April 2015 showing that the munitions have been used in recent weeks. The attacks have been in areas that are traditional strongholds of the Houthis in the north of Yemen. Through satellite imagery it appears the bombs landed within 600 meters of several dozen buildings in four to six villages. Some of the photographs and other evidence can be found here. Steve Goose, of HRW said:"Saudi-led cluster munition airstrikes have been hitting areas near villages, putting local people in danger. These weapons should never be used under any circumstances. Saudi Arabia and other coalition members – and the supplier, the US – are flouting the global standard that rejects cluster munitions because of their long-term threat to civilians.”

The cluster bombs are likely provided to Saudi Arabia by the United States:"In August 2013, the US Department of Defense concluded a contract 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 in November 2007:"Stephen Goose has been instrumental in pushing for the 2008 treaty banning cluster munitions. Even though a number of the big powers refused to sign on to the treaty, Goose and others thought that the very fact so many countries agreed to ban them would limit their use. The United States maintains that cluster bombs are a legal weapon and have a "clear military utility in combat."

This is not the first time that Saudi Arabia has used cluster munitions in Yemen. In 2009 Saudi planes dropped cluster bombs on Houthis in Saada, their home province. In the same year US naval forces fired one or more cruise missiles that contained cluster munitions on what was supposed to be an Al-Qaeda training camp

In 2009, the United States naval forces fired one or more cruise missiles on Al Majalah camp in Abyan province Yemen. Originally the attack was attributed to Yemeni forces but a Yemeni journalist Abdulelah Shaye visited the site and found fragments of a US Tomahawk missile and cluster munitions showing that the Yemeni government was lying to cover up US involvement: Shaye also reported that 21 children and 14 women had been killed in the attack. On August 16, 2010,[8] Shaye was arrested by the Yemeni government. After 34 days of confinement, he was convicted of "terrorism-related charges" in a trial regarded by Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, Committee to Protect Journalists, and the International Federation of Journalists as a sham trial and sentenced to 5 years imprisonment.[1][9] After a public outcry from tribal leaders in Yemen over Shaye's imprisonment, Yemeni president Ali Abdullah Saleh was prepared to release Shaye, but he was swayed otherwise by a call from U.S. President Barack Obama on February 2, 2011 citing his "concern" over Shaye's imminent release.[7][10][11]On July 13 Shaye was finally released from prison and allowed to serve out the remaining 2 years of his sentence under a house arrest.

U.S. fails in attempt to water down cluster bomb ban

   The Obama administration has never signed on to the international ban on cluster bombs. The U.S. attempted to water down the ban by suggested that manufacture of the bombs should be regulated rather than banned. The U.S. was supported by Russia, China, and Israel all of whom have cluster bombs and have failed to sign on to the ban.
     Even the UK which usually supports U.S. policies filed objections to the U.S. proposal. Unlike the U.S. the U.K. has already signed on to the ban. The U.S. said it was deeply disappointed by their failure. The regulations it claimed would have prohibited many cluster munitions and restricted and regulated the remaining munitions. The U.S. noted that there would be a beneficial humanitarian result on the ground. If the nations suggesting these changes had signed on to the ban there would have been any even more dramatic humanitarian impact on the ground!
     The U.S. proposals claimed that cluster munitions are a military necessity. This seems to be the case only for the nations that did not sign the ban. The over 50 nations that objected to the U.S. proposals including the UK are able to function without them. Opponents of their use claim that the weapons are not only indiscriminate but often do not explode only to explode later when disturbed. For more see this article.
   

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U.S. absent as global cluster munitions ban agreed.

There is a new axis of evil: U.S. China, and Russia (et al). The U.S. not only opposes this ban on cluster bombs but also the ban on landmines. The U.S. through its allies and client states such as Canada and Australia have been pressing for the loophole mentioned that in joint operations with non-signatories such as the U.S. signatories could be involved in joint operations that use cluster bombs. Whether the final text retains this loophole should be evident today.

U.S. absent as global cluster munitions ban agreed
By Andras GergelyWed May 28, 5:40 PM ET
A draft treaty for a worldwide ban on cluster munitions was adopted on Wednesday although major powers including the United States did not attend the meeting.
The Dublin gathering attended by more than 100 nations made the final step towards agreement after a promise from Britain to stop using the devices. Cluster bombs can cause indiscriminate injury long after a conflict has ended.
Diplomats and activists said the text built on the lessons from the 1997 treaty to ban landmines and it did not allow exceptions.
"It's a strong and robust prohibition on all known cluster munitions," Christian Ruge, a member of the Norwegian delegation, told Reuters after a meeting that Russia and China also did not attend.
The draft will be submitted to a plenary session on Friday but approval is now regarded as a formality. Unless any unexpected objections derail the process, the treaty is due to be signed in Oslo in December.
Cluster munitions open in mid-air and scatter as many as several hundred "bomblets" over a wide area. They often fail to explode, creating virtual minefields that can kill or injure anyone who finds them later, often curious children.
Despite the draft treaty, the United States said it still opposed a ban on cluster munitions.
U.S. State Department spokesman Tom Casey said the elimination of cluster bombs from U.S. stockpiles would put the lives of U.S. soldiers and those of their allies at risk.
"While the United States shares the humanitarian concerns of those in Dublin, cluster munitions have demonstrated military utility," said Casey.
WEAKEN TREATY
Activists have accused the United States of pressing allies such as Britain, Canada, France, Germany and Australia to try to weaken the treaty.
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown has been pushing his reluctant military to ban the use of the munitions and ordered a Ministry of Defense review earlier this month.
"In order to secure as strong a convention as possible, in the last hours of negotiation we have issued instructions that we should support a ban on all cluster bombs, including those currently in service by the UK," Brown said on Wednesday.
France said last Friday it would withdraw a type of munition that accounted for 90 percent of its cluster bomb stocks.
The last major issues to be resolved centre on military cooperation with countries still using cluster bombs and whether non-signatories such as the United States could keep stockpiles of such weapons in states that have signed up to the ban.
Steve Goose, arms director at New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW), said Wednesday's agreement was a success for activists but a section in the text about military cooperation with non-signatories was a partial American victory.
"The US won some concessions on the issue of interoperability," the HRW statement said. "The draft treaty text contains a loophole."
Cluster bombs can be dropped from aircraft or fired in missiles or artillery shells and have been used in conflicts including Iraq, Afghanistan, Vietnam, the Balkans and by Israel in southern Lebanon as recently as 2006.
(Additional reporting by David Clarke in London; Editing by Robert Woodward)
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