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111 Nations, Minus the U.S., Agree to Cluster-Bomb Ban
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"We decided not to go to Oslo," Stephen D. Mull, acting assistant secretary of state for political-military affairs, told reporters last week, "because we don't want to give weight to a process that we think is ultimately flawed, because we don't think that any international effort is going to succeed unless you get the major producers and the users of these weapons at the table."
The United States argues that the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons is a more appropriate forum in which to talk about cluster munitions with major world powers at the table, Mull said.
Rachel Stohl, senior analyst at the Center for Defense Information in Washington, said the Pentagon gets "nervous" over discussions on restricting use of a weapons system it has in its arsenal and has used in previous conflicts.
She said the fact that in the past five years no situation has arisen in which U.S. forces have needed cluster bombs should show that they are not critical to modern warfare.
"The fact that these 100-plus countries have been able to come together and develop a convention text signifies that the rest of the world is ready to move forward with international agreements that are pro-humanity," Stohl said. "In the end, the victims of cluster munitions have won."
The Convention on Cluster Munitions, as approved in Dublin, calls on signatories to stop producing and using cluster bombs and to destroy all stockpiles within eight years.
Despite pleas from Washington, Britain endorsed the plan, along with other close U.S. allies and members of NATO. But the United States will no doubt welcome a provision that allows states that adopt the treaty to "engage in military cooperation and operations with States not parties to this Convention." That would let signatories partner with the Americans in military and humanitarian operations, despite U.S. use of cluster munitions, without penalty.
Conway said that although the United States did not attend the conference, it worked behind the scenes. This provision, he said, was "undoubtedly the product of U.S. pressure."
White reported from Washington. Special correspondent Karla Adam in London contributed to this report.
