By Shawn Pogatchnik
Associated Press
Tuesday, May 27, 2008

DUBLIN, May 26 -- American activists and global victims of cluster bombs united Monday to demand that governments -- particularly the United States -- ban the weapons because they kill and maim too many civilians.

They made their appeal four days before negotiators from 110 governments are expected to unveil a treaty restricting the development, sale and use of cluster munitions. The pact would be formally signed in December in Norway.

A cluster bomb drops dozens to hundreds of "bomblets," carpeting a target with explosions. Some fail to detonate on impact and instead explode when civilians stumble across them days to years later.

"There is no doubt that cluster munitions have some military utility. You could say the same of land mines. I suppose you could say the same of poison gas. But we do ban some weapons," said Sen. Patrick J. Leahy (D-Vt.), who has led U.S. efforts to outlaw cluster munitions.

But the treaty talks, which began in Norway in February 2007 and moved to Dublin this month, do not involve the biggest makers and users of cluster bombs: the United States, Russia, China, Israel, India and Pakistan.

One of the toughest points of debate is whether to include a rule forbidding signatories to deploy their forces alongside cluster bomb users -- an idea that would hamper cooperation with U.S. forces.