Israel Reconsidering Use of Cluster Bombs; Olmert Under Severe Threat

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The war against Lebanon, little publicised in the international press at the time, almost certainly will have bigger consequences than anyone suspected at the time it was conducted.

Among Israel´s dirtiest ever war, the 34 day deployment of intense offenses, was the first to be publicly linked by its own politicians with effecting weakened security. Leading officials, long convinced that serious mistakes were made by the Israeli army are demanding strong penalties.

A report compiled by a special commission looking into the war, the Winograd Commission, has confirmed that many strategic and operational blunders had been committed.

Ehud Barak, who is also the Defence Minister, has called for Olmert's resignation and has been joined by a chorus of supporters who want Barak to step down. In a counter move, Olmert is drumming up support, but he is strongly dependent on Labor Party that Barak leads. Olmert has played down the severity of the crisis, but his fate is in the hands of the Labor Party members, who will decide Monday whether he can stay on.

The war has in the past year frequently been termed inconclusive and many Isrealis consider it a psychological defeat. And even though the Winograd Commission´s verdict fell short of condemning Prime Minister Ehud Olmert for his role, pressure is growing for the man to pay the price.

The 4 million cluster bombs that landed in Southern Lebanon, many of which are still unexploded, were part of a campaign that, in the report´s terms, testified of a ´lack of operational discipline, control and oversight´ in use of explosives.

The army, strongly criticized by Amnesty International and the United Nations, has in the past said that its deployment of cluster bombs had not violated international humanitarian law. The use of cluster bombs has been investigated within the Israeli army for the past year too. Had the outcome been negative, officers in charge would have been charged with misconduct for their use of the bombs.

The Winograd Commission did not directly criticise this but recommended instead that reevaluation of cluster bomb use take place. It suggested that nonmilitary specialists as well as the country´s attorney general review it and that the results should be publicly available. In what might be a response to criticisms, the Commission also said better mapping information of unexploded bombs should be made available.

Cluster bombs carry warheads that spray many smaller bomblets over a wide area. The UN has said that 1 million unexploded bombs are strewn across areas that are now inhabited by civilians. A total of 26 people have been killed after the war ended. Lebanese authorities call the bombs a ´daily war crime´.

Amnesty International, in a reaction, said that the Winograd Report failed to adequately address the violations of international law. The war in which over 1,000 Lebanese people, mostly civilians, were killed, saw just over 100 Israeli soldiers dead and 39 Israeli civilians. Apart from Israel, Hezbollah was also condemned by international parties.