Cluster bombs
Nature
Cluster bombs are composed of 202 small bomblets which are scattered and designed to explode on impact. When they fail to detonate – 5 percent are typically duds – they effectively become antipersonnel mines.
Background
Cluster bombs emerged as a significant global concern during the latter half of the 20th century, particularly following their widespread use in conflicts such as Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia. International awareness intensified as unexploded submunitions caused civilian casualties long after hostilities ended. The problem gained further prominence through advocacy by humanitarian organizations, leading to the 2008 Convention on Cluster Munitions, which reflected growing recognition of their enduring humanitarian and developmental impact.
Incidence
Cluster bombs are often used by U.S. forces. Human Rights Watch estimated in a recent report on Afghanistan that 12,400 unexploded bomblets remain on the ground and have killed or injured 127 civilians since October 2001.
Claim
Cluster bombs are a grave humanitarian crisis that demands urgent global attention. Their widespread use leaves behind deadly unexploded ordnance, endangering civilians—especially children—for years after conflicts end. This indiscriminate weapon causes needless suffering, maiming, and death, violating basic human rights and international law. The continued production and deployment of cluster bombs is an unacceptable moral failure, and the world must act decisively to ban and eliminate these horrific weapons once and for all.
Counter-claim
Concerns about cluster bombs are vastly overstated and distract from far more pressing global issues. These munitions are just one of many tools used in warfare, and their impact pales in comparison to larger threats like poverty, disease, or climate change. Focusing on cluster bombs is a misallocation of attention and resources; the world should prioritize real, widespread problems instead of fixating on a single, relatively minor aspect of modern conflict.
Broader
Aggravates
SDG
Metadata
Database
World problems
Type
(D) Detailed problems
Biological classification
N/A
Subject
Defence » Arms
Fundamental sciences » Mathematics
Content quality
Unpresentable
Language
English
1A4N
J3852
DOCID
12038520
D7NID
147507
Editing link
Official link
Last update
Oct 4, 2020