Bureau of Political-Military Affairs
Washington, DC
White Paper: Putting the Impact of Cluster Munitions In Context with the Effects of All Explosive Remnants of War
The United States shares the humanitarian concerns expressed by many other countries with regard to the use of cluster
munitions. In order to find an internationally-accepted way of effectively addressing the humanitarian aspects
associated with cluster munitions, all relevant facts should be considered. Unfortunately, much of what is said for
public consumption by certain advocacy groups and some foreign governments on this issue is not accurate. Therefore, as
part of the United States’ overall policy of contributing to meaningful progress on concerns related to cluster
munitions, including its strong support for the negotiation of a new Protocol to address the humanitarian impact of
cluster munitions within the framework of the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons (CCW), this White Paper is
being released in order to ensure that all parties interested in this issue have available the most accurate information
possible.
Cluster munitions constitute a small portion of the total humanitarian threat presented by unexploded aerial bombs,
unexploded artillery shells, and other conventional unexploded munitions – collectively known as explosive remnants of
war (ERW) – that often remain in post-conflict environments. Yet, some are claiming that unexploded cluster munitions
constitute a major category of post-conflict hazard, warranting new mechanisms beyond those that already exist in
Amended Protocol II and Protocol V of the CCW. Rather than creating redundant treaty mechanisms, states need to remain
focused on comprehensive post-conflict clearance of all explosive hazards, using the lessons that have already been learned from decades of successful humanitarian clearance
of landmines.
This White Paper is intended to share what the United States has learned from its efforts to destroy surplus, abandoned,
and unexploded conventional munitions in 52 countries.
The Gap Between Estimated Impacts and Actual Impacts
In almost every recent conflict – Afghanistan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Iraq - the initial estimates regarding the
degree of impact caused by cluster munitions have been grossly off the mark. Indeed, once clearance is started and
accurate casualty data collected, initial estimates have been proven wrong. At the same time, the long-term impacts of
other munitions have been ignored or under reported, to the detriment of affected civilian communities.
A careful examination of the 2007 edition of the “Landmine Monitor” (www.icbl.org/lm/2007/ ) reveals 289 known post-conflict casualties from unexploded cluster munitions around the world in 2006, far fewer than
advocates of a ban on cluster munitions have claimed or implied. Even if one assumes that casualties from unexploded
cluster munitions are probably under-reported due to difficulties in collecting accurate casualty data, a more expansive
estimate would still be hard-pressed to find 400 cluster munitions casualties out of the world wide total of 5,759 from
all ERW.
For example, advocates of a ban on cluster munitions cite their alleged ongoing impact in the Balkans, stemming from the
conflicts there in 1999. Yet, there was only one recorded casualty from a cluster munition in the entire Balkans in 2006, according to the
Landmine Monitor.
To further place this figure in context, more people (645 according to the Mozambican Information Agency) were harmed in
one afternoon by an ammunition depot explosion in Maputo Mozambique in 2007, than were reported by the Landmine Monitor
to have been killed or injured by cluster munitions throughout the world during an entire year. Such catastrophic
explosions of old, poorly maintained munition depots around the world pose a far greater threat to civilians in
adjoining communities than unexploded cluster munitions. This truly dire threat is one that the United States is also
helping to address.
U.S. Contribution to Clearing Explosive Remnants of War Globally
Before proceeding further with this analysis, it is important to understand the United States’ role in post-conflict
clearance of explosive remnants of war as well as of landmines. First, with the exception of the explosive hazards that
remain in Laos and to a lesser extent Vietnam, the vast majority of the landmines and unexploded ordnance found around the world were neither produced nor used by the
United States. For example, there are practically no United States-produced landmines being found by deminers anywhere in the world today. Second, the regulations and laws that govern the U.S. exports of weapons systems are among the strictest in the world.
These laws provide extensive safeguards against the proliferation of U.S.-produced weapons, require proper storage and
security of all U.S. weapons, contain prohibitions on unlawful use, and include extensive post-sales inspection
procedures (see www.pmddtc.state.gov to learn more). With regard to use, the U.S. has consistently adhered to all applicable Laws of Armed Conflict in its
past use of cluster munitions and has a demonstrated record of continuously improving the features of these munitions in
order to enhance the safety of civilians. Finally, even though the preponderance of ERW and landmines around the world
that remain a threat are of foreign origin, the United States is the most generous donor to humanitarian mine action, having spent over $1.3 billion dollars so far to help clean up other countries’ ERW and landmines.
Reality on the Ground
The following cases describe the current impacts caused by unexploded cluster munitions around the world. While these
impacts should not be taken lightly or dismissed, they certainly are much less than ban advocates are actively leading
people to believe.
AFGHANISTAN: During the Soviet occupation, vast quantities of cluster and unitary munitions as well as landmines were used against
the Afghan freedom fighters. The ensuing civil war affected Afghanistan further, and then U.S. and Coalition forces used
cluster and unitary munitions against Al Qaeda and the Taliban. Building on the U.S.’s longstanding demining program in
Afghanistan dating back to 1988, the U.S. Department of State’s Office of Weapons Removal and Abatement (www.state.gov/t/pm/wra) initiated a major clean up of all known sites with unexploded allied cluster munitions. This dedicated clean up was
successfully concluded in 2002. In 2006, the UN reported 16 known casualties from unexploded cluster munitions out of a
total of 796 casualties of all ERW. For that same year, the International Committee of the Red Cross reported 22 cluster
munitions casualties out of a total of 784 casualties from all ERW. No matter which set of figures one accepts, the findings by these organizations prove that other forms of ERW constitute
a far greater threat than cluster munitions in Afghanistan. Meanwhile, the United States continues to help Afghanistan clear all of its explosive remnants of war.
ALBANIA: During the Kosovo conflict, border regions in Albania were hit by cluster and unitary munitions fired by Serbian forces
of the former Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. Extensive post-conflict landmine and ERW clearance supported by the United
States and other donors has been successful. In 2006, there were no new casualties from any form of ERW, although in
2007, regrettably, four children were injured after playing with a hand grenade, according to the Albanian Mine Action
Executive.
BOSNIA and HERZEGOVINA: This former Yugoslav republic, badly affected by ERW and landmines generated by all combatants, has received
significant humanitarian mine action assistance from the United States and other donor nations and groups. In 2006,
there were 35 ERW casualties; 1 of those casualties was caused by a cluster munition, according to the Bosnia and
Herzegovina Mine Action Center.
CAMBODIA: Cluster munitions accounted for 20 of the 450 casualties that Cambodia suffered from ERW and landmines in 2006, as
reported by the Cambodian Mine Victim Information Service. Overall casualty rates in Cambodia have dropped dramatically
in the past two years due to the Cambodian Government’s efforts to restrict dangerous scrap metal collection from
recycling of ERW, and to the success of large scale demining programs, supported in part by the United States.
IRAQ: According to the Landmine Monitor, the Iraqi government estimated that from 2003 to 2006 there were 75 casualties from
cluster munitions used by U.S. forces. The Landmine Monitor also estimated that between 2003 and 2005, there were 2,810
casualties from ERW and landmines. Immediately after the fall of Saddam Hussein, the U.S. Department of State initiated
a major humanitarian mine action program in Iraq, which included a deployment by its Quick Reaction Demining Force in
the summer and fall of 2003 to clean up unexploded cluster munitions and other ERW. In 2006, Iraq suffered 99 casualties
from ERW and mines that were reported: 1 of those casualties was caused by a cluster munition, according to the Landmine Monitor. The United States continues to provide Iraq with significant ERW/mine action
assistance.
KOSOVO: By the time former Federal Republic of Yugoslavia forces were driven from Kosovo by U.S. and NATO forces, this province
was heavily affected by landmines and ERW, including unexploded cluster munitions. The United States contributed to a
UN- led clearance effort that declared Kosovo free from the humanitarian impacts of landmines and ERW in 2001.
Nonetheless residual ERW do remain in Kosovo and produced 11 casualties in 2006, not one of which was reported as being caused by cluster munitions, according to the Office of the Kosovo Protection Corps Coordinator.
LAOS: Laos was heavily bombed by the United States during the Vietnam conflict in an attempt to block the flow of North
Vietnamese arms and troops through Laotian territory. Cluster munitions comprised a significant portion of the U.S. bomb
attacks over a seven- year period and, due to the technology in use at the time, very large amounts of unexploded
cluster munitions were generated, making Laos the only country in the world where cluster munitions constitute the
principal and most dangerous ERW hazard. The United States has since provided significant ERW clearance assistance to
Laos, which has helped to reduce casualty rates, with annual casualties dropping dramatically by 65 % according to the
Landmine Monitor. In 2006 there were a total of 59 known casualties from all ERW (it is likely that additional
casualties took place but were not reported to authorities). The Landmine Monitor calculates that given the sufficient
information known about 49 of those cases, the majority of the casualties were caused by handling, tampering, and
playing with unexploded cluster munitions. U.S. cluster munitions technology has evolved to ever more accurate and
reliable systems since the Vietnam conflict.
LEBANON: The 2006 conflict between Hezbollah militias and Israeli forces that took place predominantly in southern Lebanon is
one of the exceptions to the case in which unexploded cluster munitions normally constitute a small portion of ERW.
Unexploded cluster munitions created a significant humanitarian impact in southern Lebanon. In response, the United
States quickly and significantly increased the funding for its long-standing humanitarian mine action program there,
contributing at least 25% of the $53 million in international donations to aid clearance operations. A summary of the
U.S. surge in assistance to deal with ERW clearance as of October 2006 is available at http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2006/73579.htm. U.S. assistance continues. The combined efforts of U.S. and other donors and the Lebanese people have made great
strides in the clearance of ERW, and restoration of impacted land to safe use. As clearance operations and ERW risk
awareness programs have expanded, casualty rates have fallen. For example, in December 2007, there were 2 casualties
from unexploded cluster munitions, down from 57 in August 2007. Further details are available in the UN Mine Action
Center (UNMACC) for South Lebanon Quarterly Report for October–December 2007 at www.mineaction.org/downloads/1/attwr8c9.pdf .
But even in southern Lebanon, the projects failure rates of cluster munitions were ultimately incorrect. As of December 2007, UNMACC reported that 68% of the impacted land (25% with sub-surface clearance to 20 centimeters;
43% surface cleared of all threats) there had been cleared, producing 138,750 unexploded cluster munitions. Based on the
rate of clearance, this indicates that the initial estimates of over 1,000,000 unexploded cluster munitions were high.
Similarly, this would make the actual failure rate of cluster munitions there closer to 5% rather than the oft-quoted
20% - 40% estimates. (U.S. policy for its own cluster munitions is that new types must have a 99% functioning rate in
testing.)
SERBIA: During hostilities to prevent ethnic cleansing in Kosovo, Federal Republic of Yugoslavia targets in Serbia were struck
by NATO forces using unitary and cluster bombs. Between 2001 and 2005, there were 52 casualties caused by ERW, according
to the Landmine Monitor. The Associated Press reported that 1 of those ERW incidents involved a deminer who was injured
by a cluster munition that had failed to detonate in 1999. There were no ERW or landmine casualties in 2006, according
to the Landmine Monitor.
VIETNAM: In 2006, according to Clear Path International there were 96 reported casualties from ERW and landmines, a legacy of
conflicts dating back to World War II, the French period, American period, and the Sino-Vietnamese War in 1979. Handicap
International-Belgium calculated that at least 20 of these casualties were reported to come from cluster munitions. The
United States has spent millions of dollars to help clear landmines and ERW from Vietnam, as well as teach ERW/mine risk
education in affected areas, and render assistance to ERW/mine survivors. Its long-standing efforts along with those of
other donor nations and non-governmental organizations have made a difference.
Survivors Must be Helped Regardless of What Type of Munition Injured Them
The debate about cluster munitions should not distract the international community from the fact that tens of thousands
of survivors from landmines and the full range of ERW have been physically, emotionally, and economically harmed over
the years. Thanks in part to the U.S. Humanitarian Mine Action Program, the world’s largest such program which includes
a robust survivors assistance component, the casualty rate from landmines and ERW has plummeted from the estimated range
of 10,000 - 20,000 four years ago to 5,751 as of 2006 for which the most comprehensive data exists at the time of this
White Paper, a clear positive trend even taking into account the incomplete collection of data for accident and health
statistics in many conflict-affected countries. (Statistics for ERW and landmine casualties in 2007 have not been fully
compiled yet.) Today more civilians come to harm through tampering with abandoned or unexploded ordnance than are
injured or killed by landmines. Nonetheless, current survivors and survivors of new accidents from explosive hazards
left from past or on-going conflict continue to deserve help that will restore their dignity, mobility, and ability to
reintegrate in their communities.
Since 1989 when the U.S. Agency for International Development’s Leahy War Victims Fund (http://www.usaid.gov/our_work/humanitarian_assistance/the_funds/lwvf/index.html) was founded, the United States has assisted tens of thousands of survivors of mines and other war-related causes. It
should be noted that the United States has reached out to help war victims around the world, even though the vast majority have been injured by mines and other devices that were manufactured and used by foreign combatants, and not injured by United States mines or munitions.
Furthermore, assistance to victims should be provided purely on a humanitarian basis and not be made conditional upon a
state’s agreement to any politically motivated international agreement, whether that agreement concerns landmines,
cluster munitions or any other conventional weapons. The best example of this principle can be found in Protocol V of
the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons (http://ccwtreaty.state.gov/keydocs.html) which the United States has signed and which calls on its States Parties to:
“… provide assistance for the care and rehabilitation and social and economic reintegration of victims of explosive
remnants of war. Such assistance may be provided inter alia through the United Nations system, relevant international,
regional or national organizations or institutions, the International Committee of the Red Cross, national Red Cross and
Red Crescent societies and their International Federation, non-governmental organizations, or on a bilateral basis.”
Conclusion
The campaign to ban cluster munitions has endeavored to elevate a single type of munition to infamy rather than
addressing the continuing need to clean up all explosive remnants of war, the vast majority of which are not cluster munitions. To truly save lives, responsible governments and civil society should urge all states to take a comprehensive,
humanitarian, impact-based approach to reduce the effect of landmines and all ERW and by providing more support to
existing clearance and survivors’ assistance efforts, and not dissipate resources in a variety of competing and
redundant mechanisms.
States that are party to the CCW should support Protocol V. States that are not party to the CCW but claim to be
genuinely concerned about the humanitarian impacts of conventional weapons should accede to this Convention. They should
support Protocol V and support any future instrument in the CCW that addresses cluster munitions.
Additional Information:
To learn more about the United States position on cluster munitions and all ERW, and on the inter-agency U.S.
Humanitarian Mine Action Program, the world’s largest such program that clears landmines and ERW, teaches ERW/mine risk
education, renders assistance to ERW/mine survivors, conducts research and development on faster and safer ways to
detect and clear ERW and mines, and provides humanitarian mine action training to foreign deminers, consult the
following materials and websites:
“U.S. Statement on Humanitarians Aspects of Cluster Munitions,” delivered by Katherine Baker, Member of the U.S.
Delegation to the CCW-GGE, January 16, 2008, http://geneva.usmission.gov/Press2008/January/0116KatherineBaker.html;
“U.S. Landmine Policy and the Ottawa Convention Ban on Anti-Personnel Landmines: Similar Path,” by Richard Kidd,
Director, Office of Weapons Removal and Abatement, November 21, 2007, http://www.state.gov/t/pm/rls/rm/95596.htm;
“U.S. Intervention on Humanitarian Impacts of Cluster Munitions,” delivered by Richard Kidd, Director, Office of Weapons
Removal and Abatement, June 20, 2007 http://www.state.gov/t/pm/rls/rm/87303.htm;
“United States Clearance of Unexploded Cluster Munitions,” February 23, 2007 U.S. Department of State Fact Sheet http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2007/february/81000.htm.
Website of the Office of Weapons Removal and Abatement in the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Political-Military
Affairs www.state.gov/t/pm/wra;
Website of the U.S. Agency for International Development’s Leahy War Victims Fund http://www.usaid.gov/our_work/humanitarian_assistance/the_funds/lwvf/index.html;
Website of the U.S. Department of Defense’s Humanitarian Demining Research & Development Program http://www.humanitarian-demining.org/;
Website of the U.S. Department of Defense’s Humanitarian Demining Training Center http://www.wood.army.mil/hdtc/.
For further comprehensive information about the clearance of landmines and ERW around the world, visit the website of
the Mine Action Information Center at James Madison University at http://maic.jmu.edu/ and consult their “Journal of Mine Action” at http://maic.jmu.edu/journal/index/search2.htm.
ENDS