Condemn cluster munitions

WASHINGTON DC. - While already bombing populated areas of Georgia, a former Soviet state in the Caucasus region, Russia used indiscriminate cluster munitions, Human Rights Watch revealed this week.
“Cluster bombs are indiscriminate killers that most nations have agreed to outlaw,” said Marc Garlasco, senior military analyst at Human Rights Watch.
“Russia’s use of this weapon is not only deadly to civilians, but also an insult to international efforts to avoid a global humanitarian disaster of the kind caused by landmines”
Cluster bombs are designed to target areas — they are the opposite of precision ’smart bombs’ — and many fail to explode upon impact, leaving a dangerous legacy of unstable ordnance after fighting ends.
The fighting that began when a Georgian offensive against a Russian-backed separatist province drew a heavy-handed counterattack from Russia. The cluster munition strikes killed least 11 civilians and injured many more, adding to the estimated 170 to 2,000 civilian casualties. Some 100,000 people have been displaced by the conflict.
These munitions are thus considered indiscriminate, and unacceptable, weapons by the 107 state signatories to the recent cluster munitions ban treaty. Neither Russia nor Georgia (nor the US) are signatories of the treaty.  However, last May Russia condemned the use of cluster bombs “in places where large numbers of civilians congregate.”
There are four simple steps to taking a clear stand against Russia’s outrageous use of an indiscriminate weapon:
First, educate yourself about the issue by researching in the newspapers or on the internet. A good place to start is the Cluster Munitions Coalition web site (www.stopclustermunitions.org).
Second, call or write to the Russian Embassy (2641 Tunlaw Road, N.W., Washington DC 20007. Phone: 202-939-8907) or the Russian President Dmitry Medvedev himself (Staraya pl. 42, 103132 Moscow, Russia. Phone: 011 7 495 925 3581). You can find template letters at: www.stopclustermunitions.org/news/?id=595
Third, call or write to your senators and representatives. Ask them to press for condemnation and pressure on Russia and Georgia to minimize civilian casualties, avoid cluster bomb use and seek a peaceful solution. But also tell them that the moral example starts at home with the US also accepting limits on cluster bombs. 
Tell them to co-sponsor and vote for S594 Cluster Munition Civilian Protection Act, which would stop the US using, producing, stockpile or transferring any cluster bomb with more than a one percent failure rate. So far, no congressperson from Missouri has sponsored the bill.
Finally, sign and collect others signatures for the cluster munition ban petition available from the US Campaign Against Landmines. Either download them from www.banminesusa.org or call 202-547-6000.