The Pentagon made a decision that “beggars belief,” human rights groups said Friday, when it tossed out its plan to ban certain cluster bombs that leave a large percentage of lethal, unexploded munitions, which pose a significant risk to civilians.
“This is a profoundly retrograde step that puts the U.S. way out of line with the international consensus—cluster munitions are banned by more than 100 countries due to their inherently indiscriminate nature and the risks they pose to civilians,” said Patrick Wilcken, researcher on arms control and human rights at Amnesty International.
The Cluster Munition Coalition also condemned the change, calling the decision “shocking.”
A ban on cluster bombs that leave more than 1 percent unexploded ordnance—a smattering of bomblets that can explode and kill or maim any adult, child, or creature—was set to take effect on Jan. 1, 2019.
But on Thursday, the Trump administration scrapped that deadline, arguing that “the weapons are legitimate, not necessarily a humanitarian hazard, and important for wartime attacks on ‘area targets’ like enemy troop formations.”
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