The suggestion of a task force created to defuse cluster bombs was made at a United Nations conference in Geneva. The conference was to discuss conventional weapons along with protecting civilians after hostilities. This new force would be deployed at short notice to places such as Lebanon where the civilian population was at risk.
So far, the United States, Russia, China, and Israel have opposed efforts to ban cluster bombs. These countries produce and stockpile the weapons. Almost 100 countries support this “Oslo Process” which is an initiative launched by Norway in 2007.
This process aims in creating a legally binding treating banning cluster weapons by the end of 2008.
Currently, the ban is supported by the International Committee of the Red Cross. Red Cross has given an estimate that 400 million people in countries such as Iraq, Afghanistan, Lebanon, and Chechnya live in areas affected by cluster bombs. Those areas are effectively minefields.
When cluster bombs are dropped, they break apart and scatter hundreds of smaller bombs over a wide area. Some are not designed to explode on impact and can be unexploded on the ground for a long time if undisturbed. This poses a great threat to civilians long after these conflicts end.
The United States supports the use of these weapons on the grounds if used and defused properly they are effective. It says that the efforts should be focused on making sure countries know how to use the weapons in a way that acts in full accordance with international humanitarian law.
The war between Lebanon and Israel in 2006 was the most recent use of cluster bombs. Israeli military prosecutors have said that deployment was legal in full accordance of international law.