More than half the world’s governments have banned the production, use, and export of cluster bombs. Meeting in May, 111 countries decided that the global community should not tolerate the use of weapons that kill or maim more civilians than combatants. The U.S. government did not attend the negotiations. Instead, the Bush administration worked from the sidelines to weaken the treaty and to discourage some governments from attending.

Following the negotiations, the U.S. military released a “new” cluster bomb policy that would allow the Pentagon to continue using these indiscriminate weapons for the next ten years.

Take Action

You can help move U.S. policy in the right direction by urging your senator Carl Levin to cosponsor the Cluster Munitions Civilian Protection Act (S.594). This bill states that, “Cluster munitions will not be used where civilians are known to be present or in areas normally inhabited by civilians.”

As chair of the Armed Services committee, Sen. Levin is the most influential senator on questions of military policy. His support for cluster bomb legislation would provide strong encouragement for other senators to do the same.