Horrid Weapons: US Cluster Bombs Used (Again) in Lebanon

Summary: Extreme hate misguides people to kill other people in a blind generalized way: not just the individuals who have wronged them, but anyone nearby as well. Haters maim and murder innocents thus planting more lasting rage in their opponents. This is the cycle of violence they deny exists ... because they are blind with hate. We, the Enabling States of America, greedily feed the fire. High ranking religious zealots, each filled with a secret bloodlust, loyal to other than the USA, wait with their wrist slaps and rationalizations for crimes against humanity.

"Israel dropped cluster bombs -- anti-personnel weapons that spray bomblets over a wide area - on at least 170 villages in their 34-day offensive, according to Tekimiti Gilbert, operations chief of the UN Mine Action Coordination Centre in Lebanon. The UN group is attempting to map the 285 unexploded cluster bomb sites that have so far been identified in southern Lebanon, said Dalya Farran, a spokesperson for the group." - ctv
...State Department official Gonzalo Gallegos said the investigation began after human rights groups complained that cluster weapons had been found across Lebanon and were responsible for many civilian deaths. ... In 1978, 1979 and 1981, the State Department notified Congress that Israel ``may have violated'' U.S.-Israeli agreements by using U.S. weapons for purposes other than defense, according to the Congressional Research Service. But the probes did not result in any penalties against Israel.

In 1982, the Reagan administration suspended sales of cluster bombs to Israel for six years after a congressional investigation found that Israel had violated agreements on their use during its invasion of Lebanon.

During President Bush's first term, the State Department investigated whether Israel misused U.S.-made Apache helicopters in its assassinations of Palestinian leaders. State Department officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to disclose internal debates, said lower-level officials had determined that Israel had violated its agreements with the United States, but, the officials said, the finding was quashed at a more senior level. - mercurynews

What's to investigate? They asked Bush around August 10th for a speedy delivery of M-26 artillery rockets (dumb bombs). It seems the order went though and they were fired in large numbers a few days later (the week of Aug 14-18th).

"Each M-26 rocket disperses 644 M-77 "bomblets" over an area roughly 350 feet by 650 feet. Each individual M-77 -- essentially a small grenade -- is stabilized by a ribbon." - stratf