I might wanna join the marines when I grow up and if this still Happens, I got to find a new choice!
This is extremely saddening. I do want to add, in the case of the Army EOD team, that it could have been prevented had proper safety precautions been taken. Handling any ordnance like that, regardless of whether or not it might be a dud, is a huge no-no. Rest in peace to all my brothers and sisters who were just trying to do their job.
3
Generals are charged to do a job. They wiil do their job. Next.
Who is responsible for killing our own troops? The answer is administrations after administrations . I mourn the death of American soldiers. At the same time I like to express my frustration for killing innocent civilians. We killed more innocent Afghan people than Taliban did. We killed about 200, 000 innocent Iraqi people. Now we know that GW BUSH and Rumsfeld lied leading to Afghan war. We spent about 2 trillion dollar for these unnecessary war. I mourn for those innocent civilians killed too.
21
Not just cluster bombs.
And also killing allies.
Remember the friendly fire killing of a dozen or so Canadian troops in Afghanistan? An Air Force pilot with a meth buzz on, disobeyed two or three warnings to wait for verification and bombed them on a bridge.
Also, in Vietnam bombing and artillery FF mistakes were commonplace.
9
As long as someone is maimed or killed the weapon has done its job.
At least that's how they frame it at Raytheon.
5
In 1471, during the War of the Roses (well before America existed), two elements of the Lancastrian forces mistakenly fired upon one another, with heavy casualties. In 1643, during the English Civil War (before America existed), the commander of the Royal forces was killed by cannon fire from his own side. In the Battle of Waterloo (no Americans were present), Prussian artillery forces mistakenly fired upon their British allies, who returned fire. There were heavy casualties. In October of 1918, a British Q Ship mistakenly sank a British Submarine due to mistaken identity. Few survived. I can cite hundreds of other examples in which no Americans were present. This is not just “America’s Dark History”, it’s the dark history of war.
23
The MIC rules the day. Human lives, whether friend or foe, are just not important when the MIC wants to make war to make money.
3
We learned this week that through lies we basically have wasted close to 2 trillion dollars in our 20 year war in Afghanistan, another country littered with our bombs. Charges that ours is a basically war machine economy are hard to dispute.
15
Make the generals and the executives of the manufacturing companies do the clean up of the "duds". That will get them banned, replaced or improved ASAP.
7
Like the financial industry, the military only counts its victories, and never its losses. If there are no victories, there is no discussion.
6
As a mother of a soldier who witnessed first-hand the death of a fellow young man by "friendly fire", I agree that decisions would be different if the Generals and government officials making these inhumane decisions would be vastly different if they had their children in uniform. Mandatory military service for 1 year - then see how many wars we get into.
8
“An international outcry against them led to the ratification, in 2008, of the Convention on Cluster Munitions, a treaty that prohibits the production, use, transfer and stockpiling of these weapons.”
Once again, the lofty rhetoric of US benevolence is not reflected in our leaders’ actions.
7
I am appalled by this. No more war!
2
Rest In Peace, Terry.
6
Russia, China, Iran and North Korea. What good company we keep, with weapons designed to kill innocents.
25
Life is cheap in the US, it takes a backseat to money. Sick...
25
More proof that military intelligence is an oxymoron. It is obscene that we even make cluster bomblets. Now our brave soldiers are tasked with finding and destroying them. Let’s send the sadistic engineers who designed them and the corrupt politicians who paid for them to clean up the mess.
23
Well, in February 1991, I was walking across a Kuwaiti airfield we had just taken from the Iraqis. In fact, it was the one that plays a central part in the final scenes of the book/movie “Jarhead.” I looked down and noticed I was about to tread upon a bomblet from one of our own cluster munitions. I was an inch from terrible injury or death. I still have fitful dreams about that. And I’m 60 now.
Retired Marine
25
NO mention of the thousands of children still being killed and maimed, with arms and legs blown off in Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam and elsewhere. American munitions by the millions left unexploded in the jungles and fields of our failed adventures.
And America does nothing but continue to spread misery and death to future generations.
29
I was an US Army CIVILIAN (emphasis added) volunteer and part of a Advanced-Forward Engineer Support Team (A-FEST) assigned to Baghdad, Iraq in early May 2003. Our A-FEST’s assignment was to quickly and efficiently categorize the damage (both from Coalition forces and Iraqi looters) and recommend a fix for critical Iraqi Ministry buildings and infrastructure. One of our early field investigations was at a large repair and maintenance facility for the Iraq national railroad. The vast covered maintenance sheds went on for acres. Coalition munitions had hit the facility and the only advice/warning from our US Army escort was “ Cluster bombs were used here, but they are bright yellow, you’ll see them”. This and the guidance we were given before our deployment in-country, “If you didn’t drop it, don’t pick it up”, were in the forefront of my mind as I looked out over this vast debris field. Watching my every step, and not picking anything up, we safely left the area.
10
Apparently war is becoming obsolete...it’s much cheaper, easier and safer to just use the internet to manipulate poorly educated voters to do your bidding and swing a corrupt dupe into power. Make him destroy his own country from the inside.
26
“The sole official protocol in 1991 for making a BLU-97 dud safe was to use another explosive to destroy it.”
Other bomb disposal personnel said to explode them in place as recommended, but somebody else was in a hurry and thought they knew better.
“ Seven combat engineers from 27th Engineer Battalion were killed when a pile of the BLU-97 duds they were tasked with clearing from the airfield detonated at once.”
8
Donnie Rumsfield told us during Bushwacker Junior's debacle in Irag: "You go to war with the Army that you have, not the Army that you want."
Also: " There are Known Knowns,
Known Unknowns.
And there are Unknown Knowns,
and Unknown Unknowns."
We, who are about to die, salute you.
9
War is not meant to be won-- it is meant to be continuous.
George Orwell
25
We had to make the weapons so we could destroy the weapons,
signed,
The Military Industrial Complex
13
@Vanessa Hall
Perfectly stated
How could soldiers in an engineer unit - and their Captain - NOT know how dangerous these bomblets could be?
Given the history of these munitions, you'd expect the Army to make it VERY clear just how dangerous they were. Apparently not.
Throw in an arrogant officer disinclined to listen to ordinance disposal experts, engineers trained to deal with explosives (but NOT these munitions) and a VERY dangerous munition, the scene was set for a disaster.
It is a shame that an eighth person - Staff Sergeant Crick - died as a result of this incident as well. Our military has a tendency to destroy those who manage to hold on to their moral compass.
Again it was sheer idiocy NOT to include a self destruct mechanism in these munitions. But then those charged with the design of these munitions were concerned only with their ability to destroy the enemy - NOT the long term consequences of leaving large amounts of unexploded munitions all over a battlefield (it was probably thought of as a positive design attribute - able to kill the enemy for a long time after being dropped.
8
@cynicalskeptic
Did you read this article?
It says that clearance methods have been excluded from the training curricula for combat engineers.
Which is astonishing.
7
You know who usually picks them up though? Not troops at all, but little kids who are attracted to the bright colors ... a lesson I learned the hard way doing humanitarian work in the Middle East.
17
Marine infantry officer here. I can't speak to the engineer schools, but at The Basic School (where all Marine officers train in Quantico before proceeding to their specialty schools) the high dud rate for cluster munitions is most certainly taught, and DPICM and other cluster munitions are taught to be a no-go for any terrain where friendly or civilian personnel might go. With that said, great journalism, I had no idea that so many died in the Gulf War from these munitions.
24
I was in Afghanistan in 2004 visiting my friend working for the UN.
We visited the OMAR Land Mine Museum which also focused on unexploded ordinance. The country is filled with explosives danger from years of war.
My friend's housemate lost part of their hand to a Soviet butterfly cluster bomb designed to appeal to children. They brought it into their bedroom where it exploded.
Your article is admirable, thanks.
America thinks of itself as a moral country, even a Christian country.
Most cluster bombs, and land mines, both of which America clings to against the world, impact innocent people.
When is America getting back to morality?
21
It is fascinating that the US, again the outlier, refused to sign the international convention banning cluster munitions. And children are still dying some 50 years from these bombs in places like Laos and many others. When will this country finally come to grips with its obsession with killing and redirect some of that money from the bloated Pentagon and the vast military-industral complex to useful purposes like education and health care? But then, there is money to be made, and those who pay the piper call the tune.
22
What's the problem with sarin gas?
Sarin gas would be a much more humane alternative. It kills in 5 minutes or less, and degrades in 6 months.
5
I do, unfortunately, see how in a WW3, sub nuclear conflict where the adversary has not sworn off the use of such weapons, the top brass would be reluctant to let go such an option.
However, these weapons are counter productive for winning a lasting peace in smaller conflicts and as such should essentially never be used.
4
This article reminds me of the Army using soldiers as guinea pigs in testing atomic bombs and their effect on radiation.
The soldiers were placed in various distances from the bomb explosion and tests were run to determine how the radiation and blast affected the soldiers health.
The soldiers were told that this was a secret experiment and they were sworn to secrecy under punishment of treason if they told anyone.
It was years later that the soldiers realized how they were used and abused by their government. They made claims for damage to their health but the claims were denied.
19
@Michael Kittle
There are any number of programs where US soldiers were used as guinea pigs.
The whole MK Ultra program - a series of experiments in mind control - treated soldiers and their children horrifically - one officer threw himself out a 10th floor hotel window after being given LSD without his knowledge.
But then the CIA thought it would be nice to have assassins who could be turned on and off without remembering anything......
We wave the flag and tout patriotism and love of country all the time. Truth is we treat our troops horribly.
The ordinary soldier has been little more than cannon fodder throughout history. But we don't teach such things in school.
There was something to be said for having kings at the head of their armies.
10
At times the utter lack of forethought and demonstration of even fundamental common sense on the part of this administration (and some previous administrations) is stunning. The calculus seems to express an assumption that unintended civilian victims - and even our own soldiers - is insufficient to join virtually the rest of the thinking world in outlawing cluster munitions.
As many have said for years, if legislators sons and daughters were going abroad to fight our battles, the defense secretary and others would be rushing to sign the treaty. But when they’re gambling with other people arms, legs, eyes, and lives, it’s easier to see them as expendable pawns in a careless game of death.
The day George Bush, Barak Obama, and Donald Trump’s kids are at risk of going to war is the day the wars will cease and diplomacy will prevail. Until then, the carnage, death, and destruction will continue unabated.
15
These weapons are war crimes waiting to happen. As terrible and tragic as the military fatalities are, there will be civilian deaths. To whom do we assign accountability? BLU-97 designers? Pilots who dropped them? Senior officers who ordered their use?
We have become so fond of making war that our weapons override our capacity or will to disarm.
37
We were clearing bunkers during the Gulf War I ...it was after the cease fire but our perimeter had been breached prior night. ...while we were getting the 1srt couple hours of sleep in what it seemed like Weeks. Entire Frontline had ordered to destroy vehicles, let disarmed prisoners walk home and clear bunkers. As we approached it ...one of our drivers(who could sprint a mile in what seemed mere minutes) was first in the ground, went to pick up newspaper then kicked what it looks like a coke can in the dirt. ...but fell back after small explosion. Found out later entire place was littered with Cluster-Bombs the U.S. Air Force had dropped earlier in the Air War. Most of Us still in our 20s Miraculously managed to 9line MEDIVAC him within 15minutes. We all started our way back next day. Today my former roommate is Alive & Well. But the Cluster-bombs have always been an issue. Even worked in places where My Father Fought decades ago which are still littered with bombs. We still have to be careful where we step.
27
But Donnie Trump said that they all would be compensated just as the those killed by the Saudi pilot are.
9
Fact-check paragraph 1; there was no American invasion of Iraq in 1991. That occurred in 2003. The reporter means Kuwait.
Actually in Feb 28, 1991 13:25 afternoon my unit along with 150,000 Allied soldiers, MARINES& NAVY @Charles Dean Went into Iraq and Free Kuwait. The Cluster-bombs were a problem but were able to MEDIVAC our personnel within 15minutes. We were there to reduced/push back it's army and free Kuwait then get out. Before you start cheering Free Iraq ...you must know we Face the Elite Republican Guards ...thus we took casualties. It was not pretty. We suffer from nutrition, cold, respiratory problems due to sandstorms and some of Us still have nightmares. We were the 1srt on the Ground Ever in the Middle East so there was absolutely NO LOGISTICS set up. We were on our own for the longest time. ...8months total. Some of us have participated in Afght War but this was called Gulf War I.
25
Thank you, I stand corrected. I recall now a flanking maneuver to cut off the Iraqi retreat. Bless you for serving!
8
George Washington's Farewell Address warned about the threat to our American republic posed by entanglement with foreign nations.
Dwight Eisenhower's Farewell Address warned against the power of the military-industrial complex as a menace to our American republic.
This inhumane bomblet story inextricably ties both dangers to the survival of our republic together.
When America is on the wrong side of this reckless inhumane weapons use with likes of Nazi Germany, North Korea, Iran, China, Saudi Arabia, Israel and Russia then you realize that it is mighty confusing about who or what we are fighting against and for and why.
America did invent and use nuclear weapons.
27
@Blackmamba :"Dwight Eisenhower's Farewell Address warned against the power of the military-industrial complex as a menace to our American republic."
From Eisenhower's speech:
"Until the latest of our world conflicts, the United States had no armaments industry. American makers of plowshares could, with time and as required, make swords as well. But we can no longer risk emergency improvisation of national defense. We have been compelled to create a permanent armaments industry of vast proportions. "
Yes, compelled.
He went on to say:
"We should take nothing for granted. Only an alert and knowledgeable citizenry can compel the proper meshing of the huge industrial and military machinery of defense with our peaceful methods and goals, so that security and liberty may prosper together."
Then there was the enemy:
"Progress toward these noble goals is persistently threatened by the conflict now engulfing the world. It commands our whole attention, absorbs our very beings. We face a hostile ideology global in scope, atheistic in character, ruthless in purpose, and insidious in method. "
The latter would be the Soviet Union, Red China and Communism. Yep, that was Ike.
2
@Blackmamba - Don't forget that we supplied poison gas to Sadam Hussein and Iraq in his war of aggression against Iran.
9
@Jp
Where is there ..'an alert and knowledgeable citizenry" in America whose #1 cable station is Fox News?
America' won' the 'war' in Vietnam.
And American 'victories' in Afghanistan, Grenada, Iraq, Libya, Syria
When was the last time that Congress debated, declared and paid for a war?
When was the last time that American 'won' a peace?
America annually spends on it's military as the next eight nations combined. Including 10x Russia and 3x China.
Since 9/11/01 a mere 0.75% of Americans have volunteered to wear the military uniform of any American armed force.
While the rest of us pretend to be brave honorable patriots by rising to sing the national anthem and saluting the flag at sporting events.
The only 'communists' left in Russia and China are the preserved bodies of Vladimir Lenin and Mao Zedong.
8
I just read the column on health care rip off now this cluster bomb article no wonder I have this feeling I just want to crawl under a rock.
23
@robert conger
There is only one candidate who has spoken up over these two issues for many years. The fault lies with the voters in the democratic primary especially in the south and the democratic party leadership and the media influencers to include this newspaper. That being said both articles are outstanding reasons to try to do better this election and I commend the New York Times for this.
10
At 75 years old I feel the same about American wars like Vietnam and Iraq as I did at 25.
I have a very bad feeling about the competence of the Department of Defense and the military incursions they plan.
Trump is my generation and apparently is allergic to wars as I am.
If he doesn’t do anything else well at least he can keep America out of war.
6
Except he’s setting the stage for more war, and already emboldened states to take up arms against citizens and states they wouldn’t have when the US was viewed as a leader of moral values.
4
@Michael Kittle :"I have a very bad feeling about the competence of the Department of Defense and the military incursions they plan."
As you know, getting into wars is easier than getting out. At least the US avoided a Dien Bien Phu. And no, the evacuation of the US embassy in Saigon was nothing like it.
1
US Military Industrial Complex...never willing to let go of a means to keep the cash flowing back forth.
In reality we should be switching the two worlds around, Industrial Military Complex...as it seem the Industry half gets the most favor by the House and Senate, and Oval. Gotta keep those local munitions factories running.
Then there's this; "They (duds) have killed or injured an estimated 56,000 to 86,000 civilians since World War II."
I'm not trusting those numbers, in that they are what the DOD is willing to admit to...with a 30K margin of error. Who gets such margins? Why do we allow this sort of shoddy bookkeeping? My money is the number being over 100K.
I also don't trust the numbers on how many US soldiers and allies have been injured by duds, and/or poorly dropped/aimed bombs/missiles.
12
@Boregard - Can you imagine what it must be like living in an area where a walk in the desert can kill you? Remember we were providing cluster bombs for the Saudi's to use in Yemen.
Picture some Americans out dune buggying in the California desert and then getting blown to bits. Not so funny.
7
In July, 1969, my infantry company was RIFing from a remote S Vie the names hamlet 10 Klicks through jungled terrain toward a FSB our battalion operated out of. Toward the end of the first day the Plt leader called back to me as Company RTO and asked the CO to come forward. When we got there he pointed to multiple devices lying on the ground all around his platoon file. His point man had taken them into a field of unexploded cluster bomb devices. After informing battalion of a route change we took 20 minutes to carefully move the platoon out of the field and start around the field. One of the scarier friendly moments in my tour.
11
@John F McBride RIF reconnaissance In force, RTO radio telephone operator CO commanding officer FSB fire support base. Helps to break it down.
1
As Trump might say: our soldiers knew what they were getting into when they enlisted. Just he knew what he would be getting into when he decided not to get into it in Vietnam by developing bone spurs.
Civilians don’t decide to get into but that’s another story v
8
Military personnel should at least know that they are “ getting into” combat conditions as controlled as possible. Weapons that could and should be designed better are inexcusable, and hopefully there will be a follow up piece on exactly who manufactured them and how much they profited from them. I wonder if the flaws were explained at some point before they were put to use.
2
@Claire Green explained to who? These are ground troops not pilots. Cannon fodder is the term from the civil war that still applies. The military is a dangerous business to be in at ANY time. You follow orders to do what your told when your told to do it. It’s not a discussion group.
6
@Eric D.
"You follow orders to do what your told when your told to do it."
As long as it is a legal order. The Uniform Code of Military Justice demands that illegal orders be disobeyed.
Following illegal orders can be prosecuted as war crimes. "I was just following orders" is not a defense when one is charged with a war crime:
https://www.humanrightsfirst.org/sites/default/files/War-Crimes-Factsheet.pdf
This is why all branches of the military were disturbed when President Bone Spurs recently pardoned several members who were either convicted of or accused of committing war crimes.
2
One thing was shown in the Iraq war and the Persian Gulf war the US uses weapons that harm civilians and cause more casualties among their own soldiers than the enemy. The Yemen episode reported how crazy US military leader are in their use of these weapons. The US military routinely orders enlisted personnel to remove highly dangerous ordnance without properly protecting them. General Mattis showed his policy of lethality in Mosul in Raqqa. When Obama was dithering around protecting civilians Mattis took charge and caused 1000s of civilian casualties and complete destruction of the cities.
9
How many of the American deaths in the US invasion of Iraq and Afghanistan were from our own errors?
Those who pushed for these wars which have caused untold deaths and a world refugee crisis should be tried as war criminals.
18
@penney albany
Libya, Syria, Ukraine as well. Maybe we are fortunate that the deplorables rejectected the most qualified candidate in history.
A human life is not as important than the profits made by Northrop or Boeing, the prime contractors for devices of death.
15
How little we have learned. In WW1 prior to the disastrous 1916 Somme offensive, the British bombarded the German positions with over a million shells, >20% which never detonated. There were so many artillery duds, there exists today, teams of French engineers who collect dangerous unexploded ordinance from French farmers each year as they surface from freezing thawing soils. A 100 years later! People die every year from 100 yr old ordinance. I won't even start about Vietnam and Cambodia.
31
@LaPine Berlin as well has had hundreds of duds removed from construction sites. A few months ago one was discovered resulting in the evacuation of thousands of civilians.
1
This article is not complete without a mention that people (mostly children) are still dying every year today in Laos due to cluster bombs dropped 50 years ago!
The bomblets can survive for decades. We dropped over two million tons of munitions during the Vietnam War--and people are still getting blown apart today. About 50 individuals were killed last year--75% of them were little kids. Animals also get blasted to bits when they nuzzle or step on the bombs.
The children in Laos learn the "bombie" song when they are babies and multiple games/dances revolve around avoiding getting blown apart. Imagine being a mom or dad--constantly worried that your curious little kid will pick up a US bomb that looks like a toy ball or a rock.
Any munition that continues to destroy year after year after year once a war is over should be banned. What are we trying to do? Make the entire world uninhabitable?
53
Only two things rule in America, power and money. To think that the Military Industrial Complex that is in place gives a fig about anyone or anything beyond profit is to kid oneself. We are, every one of us, expendable in their eyes.
23
Only those who haven't spent time in combat in any branch of our armed forces would be surprised by anything in this article.
14
Put this into historical context.
Russia actively sent troops into areas that were hit by Nukes to examine the affects of radiation on them without telling them. They also have the Semipalatinsk, where they just bombed without telling anyone in current day Kazakhstan. People just died for whatever reason. Who cares.
Japan has Unit 713 which used disposable Chinese poor to figure out many Gs a human could take before dying. Also actively cut off limbs and tried to reattach to others, vivisection, etc. We used their science on frostbitten limbs, too.
Aribert Heim, Butcher of Mauthausen, who'd remove organs without anesthesia and inject poison into the hearts of inmates.
But yes, bad America. History is full in absolutely insane, torturous unethical human testing that makes Guantanamo Bay look like peanuts.
2
As a nation we put on a continual celebration for our troops.
Sadly both the government and the military treat the in the field, on the ground personal as disposable. The VA is a national embarrassment. It’s time for a change.
Junk the Electoral College!
12
Forty-four years after the Vietnam war, hundred of Vietnamese, Laotian, and Cambodian farmers and children are killed and maimed every year because of unexploded cluster bombs dropped by American warplanes.
18
Good story. Need to fix one thing to protect from discerning eyes: Photograph of purported M-113 in images of cluster bomb test is in fact an M-114. Not important unless absolute accuracy is not important.
6
That they want to keep producing these munitions for the “waves of soldiers in North Korea” is astoundingly stupid. The political and military leaders actually think China will just stand by while the US invades North Korea?
They apparently have no problem with WW3 as long as they and theirs are not affected.
I am ashamed to say I worked on the X47B prototype as a contractor, a bomber that cost billions, was flown a few times and discarded. We spent 6 full shifts hanging skin on the frame work so some low level officer could see our “ progress”. My brother often works on military contracts where the military person that approves or denies a product is a 20 year old Sgt.
6
@Paulie To answer the premise of your comment - no, they mean as a deterrant for the million North Koreans expected to invade a much smaller group of South Korean/American defenders. I am not sure why you would think there is strategic interest in invading the North.
2
In the old days in the Canadian military, the America military was noted for its high tolerance for very high friendly fire incidents. In the Canadian military, at least in the very old days, your promotional capacity could be severely limited if your military operations exercises included potential injury or death to your personnel. You would be deemed a danger to yourself and others and not fit for command.
I believe it was thought that the bottom line for an effective fighting and/or peacekeeping force was the personnel. The amount of time, energy and money to create one member of this force was substantial, and thus, not to be wasted. After reading this article, I am not sure that the American military has a bottom line that is admirable.
Great article. You can’t fix problems if you don’t articulate them.
14
The basic premise of this article is that senior management, when they are not competent in the technology, are more likely to make bad decisions. According to the article: "...the engineer officers outranked them and disregarded their advice."
Today, this situation is being played out in the Cyber war. Most cyber security books will describe the CEO as the person most in charge of computer security. But in many cases the CEO is more-or-less incompetent when it comes to computer issues. What this means in practical terms is that CEO suddenly finds himself or herself at the helm of a computer network that is the ultimate tool for micro-managing -- and abusing -- their employees.
To make matters worse, in the Cyber war the U.S. Government has managed to place people with security clearances into companies that it deems to be critical infrastructure (telecom, banks, etc.). The idea is to pass critical information to the company, while maintaining it as a secret. But this person is placed into the impossible position of being sub servant to the CEO, and also beholding to the U.S. Government who controls their security clearance. Both control their job. Furthermore, he or she can't tell the CEO what they're being told to do by the Government, because the information is confidential.
What we've created is an impossible dual chain of command in our companies. But employees, stockholders and customers can't tell who is in charge anymore.
12
@W As long as the dividend checks keep inching upward don't worry, all is well.
2
It's easy for some countries to accept a treaty banning cluster bombs, or mines, or whatever, if they have the US to defend them. I would suggest that if any NATO country - or any other country in a military alliance with the US - decides to ban a particular weapon, the US should agree that we will never use that weapon in their defense.
8
@J. Waddell - Your suggestion that nations we'd be bombing for their own good get to veto cluster weapons is a worthwhile idea, and would also make it safer for our own ground troops.
This article notes that at least 24 American troops were killed by our cluster bombs in Desert Storm. That's 8% of total US confirmed deaths.
https://gulflink.health.mil/timeline/fast_facts.htm
The article also mentioned at least two French troops killed by the same duds.
Did you note this sentence in the article: "Marine Corps guidance to its forces in 1969 stated that early in the war as many as 75 percent of its casualties came from such booby traps, and 90 percent of them incorporated American supplies — often bomblet duds."
Giving the enemy a large supply of duds to turn back against us isn't a great idea.
As for using cluster munitions to "defend" local residents who will then suffer additional deaths and maiming for years, perhaps the cluster bomb is not a good weapon, especially considering how old the stockpile is becoming. Minefields have issues, too, but they're not brightly-colored things scattered around randomly for people (including children) to find and suffer from.
The article also mentioned the new, supposedly reliable cluster-bomb replacements are being bought in very small quantities. Given the military willingness to spend, that means they're either hair-raisingly expensive, or not as reliable as promised.
3
@J. Waddell
The countries that have banned them have lots of other weapons, including nukes (countries that have nuclear bombs and who knows what other weapons are: US, Russia, India, Pakistan, China, the UK, France, Israel, and now North Korea).
I dont think that any of those countries (except perhaps those ruled by dictators of course) want cluster bombs used because they kill civilians, thus helping the enemy (or dictator?).
1
You'll notice that these tragic American and allied casualties were due to mishandling the UXO (unexploded ordinance). This is typical, and is primarily a training and discipline issue, not a BLU-97 flaw. The BLU-97 can be improved, but it is not "easy" and never perfect. Self destruct fusing is not a panacea. Our military has been trying. We must not just shrug and let it be, but must also understand all the issues. Good article.
4
@mainliner Who said self-destruct fusing was a panacea?? Just a much smarter engineering design - at the least. You seem to be saying "Yes it's broken, but why fix it". There are several impt. "WHY's" spelled out in the article... IF we persist in employing this type of munition, while refusing to join the majority of the rest of the international community.
4
@mainliner But a lot of the deaths are because people who didn't know that they were cluster bombs picked them up. When is the murder of thousands of non-combatants, including a high proportion of children the right thing to do? Cluster bombs are a terrorist weapon. Are we Americans willing to be known as the world's largest terrorist organization? terrorists? You will notice that there was absolutely no information as to wheres as, as a weapon of war, that cluster bombs actually are effective.
9
@Jeff you can bet their effective, this is America. Safe not really, but effective yes.
1
I was there. I was in B Company, I saw this on FB and was floored. Thanks for bringing it all back (sarcasm) I was pulling security when we all heard an explosion louder than all the others that day. We figured they were just using extra C4. Our Commander was the first on scene. I remember the call over the radio still to this day. "7 KIA"
49
@John Leport
I wonder how these deaths were reported to their families.
Were they categorized as deaths by 'friendly fire' or simply a death in combat or .....?
6
Excellent journalism John. Thanks for all the hard work and reporting I know you put into this piece. David, don't know how much editing you did but it is a great read.
12
Spill enough blood on a problem, it'll likely get solved.....Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines...all work the same way.
Keep digging like this - there's a huge number of fields to plow...just be careful that you're in a 'safe' field....
13
"The age of huge set-piece battles between large armies and armored units in no-man's-land is over. "
I have read this opinion so many times & I can't fathom how anyone really believes this. You may think all the tech toys and satellites and ultra sophisticated gadgets will make the above prediction come true, but by the 2cnd or 3rd day of any future major conflict, most all of those toys will be destroyed or defeated. It will be back to the soldier in the field. And if this conflict happens anytime in the near future, the folks who believe such fantasies will find just how woefully unprepared we really are.
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I’ve had my own experiences with unexploded ordinance 50 plus years ago. Simply by being ordered to go into an active range to look for unexploded artillery rounds. Touch nothing, be careful of where you’re standing, keep your eyes open and your whits sharp, and just put this little flag on a stick next to anything you find. The engineers will handle the rest. I was more nervous for my two hours on that impact zone than I was in VN. I was glad I didn’t have to do that more than once.
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It makes no sense for these munitions to lack a self destruct mechanism. With a high failure rate, you are in effect creating an unmapped mine field when these munitions are used.
Cluster Bombs have had the same issues since first deployed.
'Dud' bomblets were used by VC and NVA troops as boobytraps against US Troops in Vietnam.
It would make sense to have a timed self destruct on bomblets. This would prevent them from being reused and eliminate the need to clear unexploded bomblets later. It would be safer and cheaper.
As another comment makes clear, other nations have developed far more effective munitions. Why can't we? though perhaps the more fundamental issue is Why is the US still using mines and cluster munitions when so many other nations have outlawed their use?
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An interesting sidelight that I'm surprised was not mentioned is that Humanitarian Daily Ration (HDR) packages that were dropped to supplement food for civilians in the war zone were originally contained in yellow packages that were the same color and about the same size as the BLU-97 bomblets. The HDRs were quickly changed to blue packaging.
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Geniuses at work. Humankind at its best.
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Not clear what the message is except be careful. If the message is don’t use dangerous weapons, then I guess trump and xi can duke it out with sticks
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@Rhporter
The message is about facing the truth, and putting the truth in the record, no matter how unpleasant.
The first casualty of any armed conflict is the truth. If that were no longer true, perhaps we would have a lot fewer armed conflicts, or at least fewer cluster bombs.
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No words. The article has become seared into my memory until my last breath. The horror of it all!
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"The United States alone has spent more than $3.4 billion on demining operations since 1993..."
Billions to make these, to deploy them, then to clean them up after they fail. When they aren't killing civilians or our own troops.
But universal health coverage or affordable college? Forget it, no way, don't have the money for anything like that.
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To me this is just one more reason why the entire US military concept of war needs to be rethought. We are not in the WWII era anymore, or even the Viet Nam era. The age of huge set-piece battles between large armies and armored units in no-man's-land is over. We are already in an era where most conflicts take place between small units in areas populated by civilians. The aftermath of the Iraq and Syria conflicts has shown us that indiscriminate, large-scale destruction of cities has enduring consequences that can be worse than the original conflict. Greater precision is called for in modern warfare, not greater lethality. Intelligence is more valuable than fancy ordnance. We are moving into an era where cheap, small scale weapons like drones take a more central role than tanks and bombers. Cyberwarfare is taking off, and that is where Russia, China, and North Korea are really taking the lead. There is no need of an enormous army when you can cripple your opponent by disabling their electric grid, their communications, their banking system. We need to rethink what our defense forces need to do, and how they need to do it, not shrug and keep relying on 50-year-old weapons because we haven't come up with anything else.
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@Nikki I would love to think you are right. But I fear that you missed one point: all these bombs were dropped on foreign countries... That's why the civilian deaths are thousands of times higher that US military casualties and also, of course, why they seem acceptable to US governments, in old fashion wars.
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I have first hand experience of this type of weapon, where this design is cheaply made and of poor engineering. I know of another design which was safer and had an efficient distribution pattern of the bomblets against armoured targets. Although considered expensive and over engineered, this design had a very low probability of failure and had safety mechanisms included. Albeit now irrelevant as these were destroyed under the auspices of the treaty.
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108 nations signed the ban. Did South Korea sign? France, Germany, Ukraine? So, if and when tanks start rolling, one side will fight, honorably, and the other side will- say thank you?
Re-reading Shaara’s “The Fateful Lightning” about Sherman’s march to the sea, he was outraged at the small land mines the Confederates laid around Savannah. Cowardly, I think he called them.
We are well past the stand-and-fight type of war. When it’s your freedom, your way of life, your family, home, town- what price honor, then. These horrible maiming cluster munitions- along with IEDs, should, in theory, be banned.
And what about the last alternative to those tanks coming for you; nukes. Then, which is worse? No answers here.
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@Jo Williams - "No answers here."? One Yuge answer is for the USofA to stop randomly, preemptively invading small, weak countries that have done us no harm, e.g., Viet Nam, Iraq… No more wars that are implemented by old, white, male, Chickenhawk politicians, to be fought by Other Mother's Children.
Our history of Perpetual War for the profit of the MIC is shameful and insane.
Answers? How about these?
1. Slash the budget of the War Dept (euphemistically renamed the Dept of "Defense") and;
2. Re-institute the draft for All - including the spawn of the entitled rich.
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@Miss Anne Thrope Oh, how I wish we still had the draft. I was offered an all expense paid trip to Vietnam and, fortunately didn't have to go. Well, I had already decided I was not going to go!
If young people nowadays were faced with the prospect of having to engage in our unnecessary wars, college campuses would be erupting with dissent, which would be great (the dissent, that is)!
There's no way kids nowadays would be peacefully lining up to go off to fight ridiculous battles. Well, maybe if everyone gets a trophy they would.
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Isolationist thinking is easy when you don’t have enemies on your borders. Perhaps If you were Ukrainian, South Korean, keeping all weapons options open might sound more These munitions are horrible, no question. So are the greater options-nuclear weapons.
As for the draft, I agree; universal, young, old, men, women.
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Thank you for this important and horrifying reporting.
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Incredible and important article. As Americans we like to think of our soldiers as human beings, but this story clearly demonstrates that that is not how commanders of the United States Military sees them. American soldiers are not humans but really just ordnance. Disposable, expendable weapons. May God bless those soldiers who paid for the mistakes of their commanders with their lives. What a waste.
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Thanks so much. There's a lot there to think about. Great reporting.
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This is an example of how dysfunctional our military strategies have become in recent decades. And we never seem to learn from experience. But admitting that anything important is being done wrong might damage someone's career, and careerism seems to have taken over the military.
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@Stephen Merritt
Been saying this for many years, since the Viet Nam days when I draft age. Still the same except it is much worse.
I live near Fort Bragg and have had many friendship encounters with all military branches mainly Special forces and SEALS. Interesting to me to see some of them have an epiphany when they are unjustly mistreated or confronted with the fact that yes, they are expendable, and not really supported by the leaders of this country.
I know they had high hopes and idealism to serve the USA, but the decision makers and arms manufacturers seem to dump them whenever they get the chance.
All for careerism, indeed.
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@Stephen Merritt - Careerism is a given with our uncontrolled, bloated, cash-stuffed, top-heavy military structure and funding.
The DOD conducted, and failed, it's first EVER audit in '17 that revealed $2,700,000,000,000.00 in assets (!!!) and "accounting discrepancies that will take years to resolve."
Our military has fewer troops, yet 20% more 3 and 4 star generals than it did a decade ago, with the typical general responsible for 5k fewer troops each.
Meanwhile, our Congress Critters "patriotically" vote for any and all bills that shove more taxpayer funds down the insatiable maw of the MIC.
"'Forward!', he cried from the rear
and the front rank died.
And the General sat and the lines on the map
moved from side to side." - Pink Floyd
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@Miss Anne Thrope
given the enormous cost and complexity of the high tech systems in the military, it is necessary to have a far higher general/admiral/officer per enlisted person ratio.
A cyber warfare group or a set of nuclear submarines, for example, does not likely have a huge number of persons, but they each need dedicated high level oversight.
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