Because they can spread hundreds of bomblets across a wide area, they can prove a potent weapon against concentrations of enemy troops and their weapons on a battlefield. If deployed responsibly, they can be an effective military tool. And now they are being deployed in Ukraine. in Iraq, Russia and Syria in the ongoing Syrian civil war, and the Saudis in Yemen. Delivered by air or ground artillery, they have been used by the United States in Laos and Vietnam during the Vietnam War, Israel in southern Lebanon, the U.S. Effective or indiscriminate?Ĭluster munitions have been part of nations’ arsenals since World War II. And that, in turn, could increase the chances of cluster bombs’ being deployed illegally.

to provide Ukraine with cluster bombs could weaken the argument against others’ doing likewise. As a scholar of the law of war, I know that cluster bombs highlight a reality about the use and regulation of weapons, even those that can cause widespread civilian suffering: These munitions are not in themselves illegal, but their usage can be.

Right to life in armed conflict ihl