Wednesday, October 1, 2008 Israel buys superior Israeli cluster bombs, reducing purchases of inferior US bombs

Israel Buys Self-Destruct Cluster Bombs: Radio
By agence france-presse
Published: 30 Sep 14:41 EDT (18:41 GMT)
www.defensenews.com/story.php?i=3750224&c=MID&s=AIR

JERUSALEM - The Israeli army is equipping itself with self-destruct cluster
bombs in order to lower the number of civilian victims of this type of
weapon, used in the 2006 war in Lebanon, military radio said.

The army has reduced its purchases of U.S. made cluster bombs, instead
buying Israel-made M-85 cluster bombs, which contain a mechanism to destroy
themselves if they fail to explode immediately on impact, according to the
report.

Cluster munitions spread bomblets over a wide area from a single container.

The United Nations estimates that a million cluster bombs were dropped on
Lebanon by Israel between July 12 and August 14 in 2006 in the conflict with
Hezbollah.

About 40 percent of these did not explode on impact and are spread among
villages and orchards in the south of Lebanon.

According to a U.N. report in June, at least 38 people have been killed and
217 wounded by bomblets exploding since the end of the fighting.

The Israeli government's Winograd Commission of enquiry into the mistakes of
the Lebanon war recommended the army use fewer cluster bombs in future to
reduce civilian injuries.

In May, delegates from 111 countries agreed a landmark treaty in Dublin to
ban the use, production, transfer and stockpiling of cluster munitions by
its signatories.
However, the agreement lacked the backing of major producers and stockpilers
including Israel, China, India, Pakistan, Russia and the United States.

This is a good thing the IAF will provide jobs for Israelis and have a supply close at hand.

Now we just need to use them in Gaza until Gilad Shalit is returned to Israel.