9:16 a.m. - 2008-05-30
Campaign the Singapore Government to stop producing cluster bombs
http://theonlinecitizen.com/2008/05/campaign-the-singapore-government-to-stop-producing-cluster-bombs/
From the report:
"The Singapore government, through its government-linked company, Singapore Technologies Kinetics Ltd (ST Kinetics), manufactures, stockpiles and publicly advertises two types of cluster ammunitions for sale (Cluster Munition Coalition 2008)."
"Given that the world-wide trend is towards banning cluster bombs; and that the Singapore government has remained steadfastly committed to manufacturing and selling such munitions, Singaporeans should be duly concerned about these weapons being used against innocent civilians."
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I read some of the comments and am quite angry. There are people who think it doesn't matter what kind of weapon you use, war is unfair anyway, SG got to have such weapons to act as a deterent, etc.
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Think about it.
There is a difference between using different weapons. You can�t say that there�s no difference. Different weapons have different uses and effects. A good weapon kills effectively and intentionally, those you wish to kill. A bad weapon kills indiscriminately, harming those you don�t wish to harm.
Cluster bombs and landmines are bad weapons.It only costs US$1 to produce 1 landmine but it costs hundred times more to remove it once it�s in the ground. Cluster bombs are worse than landmines because they are spread more easily over large areas of land and it has been consistently shown that large numbers remain unexploded on the ground. Hence cluster bombs are like landmines, remnants of war that endanger civilians, even years after a war.
From wikipedia:
�While all weapons are potentially dangerous to civilians, cluster bombs pose a particular threat to civilians for two reasons: they have a wide area of effect, and they have consistently left behind a large number of unexploded bomblets. The unexploded bomblets remain dangerous for decades after the end of a conflict.
Cluster munitions are opposed by many individuals and hundreds of groups, such as the Red Cross,[3] the Cluster Munition Coalition and the United Nations, because of the high number of civilians that have fallen victim to the weapon.�
On national defence:
The campaign to stop the SG govt from producing more cluster bombs does not mean that SG will have no other means of defending itself.
We can use other kinds of weapons; weapons that have the same deterent effect without causing the disastrous effect of cluster bombs and landmines. If you think SG is only dependent on cluster bombs and landmines to scare enemies away, you might as well throw away the Navy, airforce, artillery, tanks, etc.
All this while, the arguments for landmines and cluster bombs is just talk.
Too much weightage has been given to such weapons, defending them as good weapons and deterents of war.
Be realistic?� Well, the reality here is that since various wars around the world, there are more than 70 million UNEXPLODED landmines on the ground already. How much more do you want to put there?
How do you propose to remove them? Governments (especially the powerful countries like US) are shirking responsibility. When its war time, everybody just blast away and lay many bombs. After war ends, does anyone clean up? They just run away!
And what do you think happens to the land?
The land is WASTED. Nobody is safe to use it for farming or for economical development. Yet, precisely because the people are poor, they risk their lives to continue using the land. And many end up losing limbs or worse still, dead.
Is it fair for the children and descendants to continue to suffer? Lets leave fairness out if you think WAR IS UNFAIR anyway.
Limited land is all we�re fighting for on this planet. Land to farm for food, etc. By placing landmines and cluster bombs, to prevent your enemy or yourself from ever using the land, in the end only results in a land full of dangerous weapons. A land nobody can live in.
In the end, you�re just limiting the amount of space people can live on the planet. This will only lead to more conflict as countries are unable to sustain their populations.
When governments do wrong things, how easy do you think they�ll own up? The politicians just want to protect their rice bowl.
They won�t admit their wrongs at all. We need to continue to highlight these pigheaded actions of governments and armies.
Let's do something now.
