Cluster Munitions

The United States shares in the international concern about the humanitarian impact of all munitions, including cluster munitions. That is one of the reasons that it spends more than any other country to eliminate the risk to civilians from landmines and all explosive remnants of war, including unexploded cluster munitions. That is also why the United States strongly supports negotiations on cluster munitions within the framework of the Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW; http://ccwtreaty.state.gov/aboutccw.htm). All of the nations that produce cluster munitions are represented in the CCW.

Cluster munitions have demonstrated military utility. Their elimination from U.S. stockpiles would put the lives of its soldiers and those of its coalition partners at risk. Moreover, cluster munitions can often result in much less collateral damage than unitary weapons, such as a larger bomb or larger artillery shell would cause, if used for the same mission.

The following documents describe the United States position on cluster munitions, which carefully balances humanitarian and legitimate military considerations.

--07/23/08  U.S. Delegation Intervention in Support of Article 3 on International Humanitarian Law; Stephen Mathias, Head of the U.S. Delegation; Remarks to Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons; Geneva, Switzerland
--07/15/08  United States Intervention on Technical Improvements; Stephen Mathias, Head of the U.S. Delegation; Group of Governmental Experts to Conventional Weapons Convention (CCW-GGE) ; Geneva, Switzerland
--07/09/08  Cluster Munitions Policy Released; U.S. Department of Defense; Washington, DC
--07/07/08  Opening Statement; Stephen Mathias, Head of the U.S. Delegation; Meetings of the Group of Governmental Experts of the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons (CCW-GGE) ; Geneva, Switzerland
--07/07/08  U.S. Statement on International Humanitarian Law; Group of Governmental Experts to Conventional Weapons Convention (CCW-GGE); Geneva, Switzerland
--05/27/08  Statement at the Security Council on the Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict; Alejandro D. Wolff, Deputy U.S. Permanent Representative; United States Mission to the United Nations; New York City
--05/21/08  U.S. Cluster Munitions Policy; Stephen D. Mull, Acting Assistant Secretary for Political-Military Affairs; On-the-Record Briefing; Washington, DC
--04/28/08  Is There A Strategy for Responsible U.S. Engagement on Cluster Munitions?; Richard Kidd, Director of the Office of Weapons Removal and Abatement; Remarks at the "Connect US Fund" Roundtable Dialogue at the Aspen Institute; Washington, DC
--02/15/08  White Paper: Putting the Impact of Cluster Munitions In Context with the Effects of All Explosive Remnants of War
--01/17/08  U.S. Statement on the Central Challenge of the CCW-GGE Negotiations; Stephen Matthias, Head of Delegation to the Meetings of the CCW-GGE; U.S. Mission to the UN ; Geneva, Switzerland
--01/16/08  U.S. Statement on Humanitarians Aspects of Cluster Munitions; Katherine Baker, Member of the U.S. Delegation to the CCW-GGE; U.S. Mission to the UN; Geneva, Switzerland
--11/21/07  U.S. Landmine Policy and the Ottawa Convention Ban on Anti-Personnel Landmines: Similar Path; Richard G. Kidd, Director, Office of Weapons Removal and Abatement; Washington, DC
--11/13/07  United States Leadership in Clearing Landmines and Saving Lives
--06/20/07  U.S. Intervention on Humanitarian Impacts of Cluster Munitions; Richard Kidd, Director, Office of Weapons Removal and Abatement; Remarks as repared for the CCW Group of Governmental Experts ; Geneva, Switzerland
--02/23/07  United States Clearance of Unexploded Cluster Munitions