Quote:
Originally Posted by Yirmeyahu
I have already provided you with the laws whereby cluster munitions are illegal weapons.
1) International law forbids indiscriminate warfare (see above). The use of cluster munitions in populated areas is inherently indiscriminate warfare.
2) International law forbids indiscriminate weapons, which includes weapons whose effects cannot be limited to military targets. Cluster munitions, on account of the fact that they have a built in dud rate and unexploded munitions become de facto landmines, are inherently indiscriminate weapons.
3) Landmines have been explicitly outlawed. Unexploded cluster munitions are de facto landmines.
It is a tortured reading of the letter of law indeed that allows cluster munitions to be regarded as "legal". The spirit of the law is unambiguous.
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There is no international law that explicitly prohibits cluster munitions. There is also no customary law that prohibits cluster munitions. A cluster munition is not a landmine. (This is why there are proposed conventions coventions covering cluster munitions). Thus, the only prohibition of cluster munitions is inappropriate use, i.e. deliberately targeting non-combatants as opposed to military targets, disproportionate use of force, etc.
No, if you want to claim that the "spirit" of the law provides some sort of customary law, then you need to provide case law to support your case. To date, you have not done so. Therefore, your "spirit" argument is nothing but thin air or hot air, depending on how you want to label it.
Next, I got us going down the wrong track when asking about whether cluster munitions are inherently indiscriminate. In reality, all munitions are indiscriminate. Once you fire a bullet, it does not discriminate between combatant and non-combatant. Once you fire an artillery shell, it does not discriminate between combatant and non-combatant. I could provide numerous more examples, but you should be able to get the picture. Thus, the appropriate question is whether or not a weapon can be discriminately used. For example, a bullet can be aimed at combatants. An artillery shell can be aimed at combatants. Likewise, a cluster munition can be aimed at combatants. It can be used within the laws of land warfare.