http://news.independent.co.uk/world/asia_china/story.jsp?story=102228
Don't confuse food parcels with cluster bombs, warns US
By Andrew Buncombe in Washington
30 October 2001
The US has been forced to broadcast radio messages warning the people
of Afghanistan not to confuse food parcels with cluster bombs that are
also being dropped over parts of the country.
In an embarrassing admission of the danger posed by such weapons, the
US has warned that from a distance the two items could be mistaken -
both are roughly the same size and both are bright yellow
"Attention, noble Afghan people," starts the message broadcast in both
Pashto and Dari. "As you know, the coalition countries have been air
dropping daily humanitarian rations for you. The food ration is
enclosed in yellow plastic bags. They come in the shape of rectangular
or long squares. The food inside the bags is halal and very
nutritional.
"In areas away from where food has been dropped, cluster bombs will
also be dropped. The colour of these bombs is also yellow. All bombs
will explode when they hit the ground, but in some special
circumstances some of the bombs will not explode."
A Pentagon spokesman yesterday confirmed that the broadcasts were
being carried out but denied there was any embarrassment to the US.
"We have never had to bomb and drop food at the same time in such
close proximity," he said. "We are trying to alleviate any possible
mistakes."
Cluster bombs are canisters which break open on impact with the ground
to scatter, smaller so-called "bomblets". It is estimated that these
bomblets have a dud rate of about 5 per cent and can lie buried "live"
in the ground for years until something detonates them. They have been
condemned by various humanitarian organisations for the indiscriminate
way they can injure civilians.
The United Nations has already expressed concerns about using the
weapons in Afghanistan. Last night, a spokesman for the UN High
Commissioner for Refugees said: "The food drops are not the most
efficient way of delivering food. None the less, in a situation where
there is no food coming in, you cannot be too choosy. We have urged
that any military action should take into account the civilian
population and that it should be as least harmful as possible to this
population."
While Britain has not dropped cluster bombs in Afghanistan, its
position on their use is no different to that of the US. The Secretary
of State for Defence, Geoff Hoon, yesterday told the Commons that they
had been used in Afghanistan on a "limited number of occasions against
the particular military threat of armoured vehicles".
Responding to a call from the Labour MP Ann Clwyd to pressurise the
Americans to stop using the bombs, Mr Hoon added: "They are not used
against the civilian populations and the number of circumstances in
which they have been used in Afghanistan has been extremely limited.
They are not, either, in any way comparable with land mines."
Ms Clwyd later said: "It is known very well that cluster bombs are,
unfortunately, anti-personnel mines as well. They can destroy innocent
civilians in much the same way as land mines."
The radio message is being broadcast by the US using specially
designed EC-130E Commando Solo planes bristling with electronic
equipment to broadcast messages as well as jam other transmissions. It
informs the Afghan population: "In future cluster bombs will not be
dropped in areas where food is air dropped.
"However, we do not wish to see an innocent civilian mistake the bombs
for food bags and take one away believing that it might contain food.
We would like you to take extra care and not to touch yellow-coloured
objects."
