Human Rights Watch (HRW) berichtet: Die US-Truppen setzen Clustermunition ein. HRW hat Multiple Launch Rocket System (MLRS) identifiziert, verschossen von Artillerie der 3rd Infantry Division. 1 solche Rakete enthält 677 separate Sprengkörper. Typischerweise werden 12 Raketen in einem "Gutsch" abgefeuert auf ein Zielgebiet von der Grösse eines Quadrates mit 500 Metern Seitenlänge. Laut einem Bericht an den US-Kongress aus dem Jahr 2000 haben die Sprengkörper eine Fehlerrate von 16%. Rechne: 677 * 12 * 0,16 = rund 1300 Blindgänger, verteilt auf die Fläche von 30 Fussballfeldern!!! Die Folgen: Two U.S. Marines were killed in separate incidents on March 27 and 28 after stepping on unexploded cluster munitions delivered by artillery in southern Iraq. Und "The United States should not be using these weapons," said Steve Goose, executive director of the Arms Division of Human Rights Watch. "Iraqi civilians will be paying the price with their lives and limbs for many years." Aktuelles Beispiel heute in Baghdad: At the scene of the bombing, dozens of what seemed to be parts of cluster bombs equipped with small parachutes were peppered over a large area, an AFP correspondent at the site said. Iraqi soldiers were seen collecting the debris, which witnesses said coalition warplanes had dropped over the neighborhood. The soldiers poured fuel on the bombs before setting them on fire to explode the ordnance.