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A coalition of human rights organizations, anti-war groups, and Christian churches are urging the U.S. to cancel its $210 million purchase of next-generation cluster munitions from an Israeli state-owned company, citing the “severe, foreseeable dangers” these weapons pose to civilians.

In an open letter shared exclusively with RS, the organizations write that cluster munitions “disperse submunitions across broad areas, making it exceedingly difficult to confine their impact to lawful military targets.” By expanding its cluster munitions stockpiles, the U.S. is putting itself “dramatically out of step with civilian protection practices,” the groups argue.

“These weapons’ humanitarian impacts vastly outweigh any possible tactical benefit that they provide,” said Ursala Knudsen-Latta of the Friends Committee on National Legislation, which signed the letter. “Unfortunately, it is really sowing seeds of terror for generations to come anywhere they are used.”

The purchase, first reported by the Intercept earlier this month, represents the latest step in the unraveling of an international consensus against the use or stockpiling of cluster munitions. Years of advocacy, fueled by research showing the long-term dangers of unexploded bomblets left behind after conflict, culminated in the widespread adoption of an anti-cluster munitions treaty in 2010.

The U.S. military stopped using cluster munitions in its own operations back in 2009, and American companies haven’t produced the weapons in years. But Washington never opted to join the treaty or destroy its existing stockpile. (Notably, Russia and China also refused to sign the convention.)

Annual Defense Bill Includes Provision to Effectively Undo Israel Arms........

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