quote:
Originally posted by Silver Cheetah:
To my mind, the use of cluster bombs removes all credibility from the American and British govts claims to be proceeding with due care and respect for civilian lives.
What utter nonsense. No-one is forcing them to use these disgusting weapons.
[ 11-04-2001: Message edited by: Silver Cheetah ]
Due care and respect doesn't mean they figured out a way to completely eliminate civilian casualties. After a month of bombing, the number of civilian casualties is incredibly low. If they were indiscriminately bombing, the number could easily be into the thousands by now.
A bomb drops into an Afghan city and accidently kills 10 people. If we wanted to kill people in cities do you think 10 at the time, or even a thousand, is the best we could do? Of course not, you are just appalled by the loss of human life as am I, but it's important to keep things in perspective.
While no one is "forcing" them to do it, Osama Bin Laden certainly forced "our hand". Before September 11th, we were using the smartest bombs of all in Afghanistan...no bombs. The only coalition force in Afghanistan prior to September 11th was distributing food. September 11th changed things in a way no previous terrorist attack on American's had. Put the blame where you will.