['That Tony Blair, whose government sells lethal weapons to Israel and has sprayed Iraq and Yugoslavia with cluster bombs and depleted uranium and was the greatest arms supplier to the genocidists in Indonesia, can be taken seriously when he now speaks about the "shame" of the "new evil of mass terrorism" says much about the censorship of our collective sense of how the world is managed.' - Pilger.

'What a shame! While the US and Britain are denouncing terrorism, they themselves are inventing, manufacturing and using weapons of mass destruction and mass terrorism.'
- Editor]

Mirror UK

Ahli Parlimen British Mendesak Agar Bom Berangkai Diharamkan

(MP's Demand Cluster Bomb Ban)

Ahli Dewan Rakyat Britian (House of Commons) semalam mendesak agar diharamkan penggunaan bom berangkai di Afghanistan.

Tetapi, Menteri Pertahanan Geof Hoon telah menolak permintaan agar mendesak AS menghentikan pengguguran bom jenis itu. Pembangkang berkata bom itu bertukar fungsi menjadi jerangkap samar seandainya ia tidak meledak ketika mendarat di bumi.

Mr. Hoon mengaku bom itu membunuh dan mencederakan orang yang tidak berdosa tetapi katanya: 'Selagi dan sehingga tidak ada cara lain menangani ancaman yang disebabkan oleh keretakebal, UK dan AS akan terus menggunakannya.'

Bom berangkai boleh merebak dengan cara mengeluarkan lebih dari 2000 bom kecilan untuk menjangkau satu kawasan yang bersamaan 12 padang bolasepak. Setiap bom kecilan itu adalah sebesar satu tin minuman dan mengeluarkan pula peluru kecil yang sebesar jarum.

Selalunya sekitar 20 peratus bom itu gagal meletup serta-merta dan mereka mudah meledak seandainya ada sesiapa terpijakkannya.

Ahli parti labour Ann Clwyd daripada Lembah Cynon, berkata: 'penggunaan bom berangkai ini memang menggambarkan sikap yang tidak berperikemanusian.' Dia menuntut pengharamannya seperti yang berjaya dilakukan untuk mengharamkan jerangkap samar.

Terjemahan: SPAR

30 Oktober 01.

http://mirror.icnetwork.co.uk/news/allnews/page.cfm ?objectid=11394620&method=full

Hoon rejects calls in Parliament

By Paul Gilfeather, Whitehall Editor

MPs yesterday demanded a ban on the cluster bombs being used in Afghanistan.

But Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon defied calls to pressure the US to stop using the devices. Opponents say they create landmines when they don't go off.

Mr Hoon admitted they are killing and maiming innocent people but he said: "Unless and until there is a better means of dealing with the threat posed by armoured vehicles, the UK and the US will continue to use them."

The cluster bomb spreads more than 200 smaller bomblets over an area equivalent to 12 football pitches. Each bomblet is the size of a soft drinks can and scatters needle-like shrapnel.

But 20 per cent do not go off straight away and they can be triggered simply by being stepped on.