A Walk Through the Rubble

Israel's Use of American Cluster Bombs

By FRANKLIN LAMB

Al Sultaneih, Lebanon.

As the initial assessment and clean up of American cluster bombs, estimated at more than 130,000 unexploded bomblets across the south of Lebanon, gets underway, unanticipated findings are emerging:

The breadth and depth of the problem with cluster bombs found in 498 locations in scores of villages as of September 9th was not expected. So far less than 4% have been disposed of, and 0 % of the villages in the south have been certified as safe for domestic or agricultural use by the United Nations ordnance disposal task force.

Even operators of heavy rubble clearing equipment are finding their work is stymied because Israel dropped cluster bombs both before and after many buildings were destroyed by bombs, and therefore cluster bombs are sandwiched between layers of pancaked walls and piles of rubble.

While the M-26 Cluster Bomb Unit may have looked "promising" at military demo shows when observed in ideal conditions of level, obstruction-free open areas, using "polished bomblet" conditions, the reality is very different in villages which are seeing not the military touted "dud rates" in the 1% to 4% range, but rather "dud rates" in the 40-60% range. No weapons with this performance statistic would be taken seriously at arms sale outlets.

The U.S. cluster munitions dropped across Lebanon have been a near total failure as far as their claimed purpose and justification, degrading Hezbollah forces. Lebanese Army, UN, and Hezbollah sources agree the Cluster Bombs had virtually no impact on Palestinian, Amal, and Hezbollah fighters during the recent conflict.

One Hezbollah commander told this observer: "Maybe 3 or 4 [were killed] -- perhaps a few more I didn't hear about -- due to accidents by our forcesbut unlike the civilian population, we have a long history of confronting the Zionist aggressors and we often know what they will do before they do. True, they have your country's latest weapons, but one-on-one they are not impressive at all. Much more cowardly and incompetent than their propaganda claimsplus they are very weak psychologically -- they know they stole Palestine, and they realize that sooner or later they will have to make peace, or they will destroy themselves and disappear from the region."

Another commander added, "My brothers can't wait for their [Israeli] troops to enter Lebanon again on the ground. We are eager to hit them harder next time. The Zionists' training has been used to using tanks against stone-throwing children and harassing pregnant women at check points. We now have the weapons to quickly destroy their tanks. That is why they couldn't enter and finally accepted a ceasefire. We don't respect them either as men or soldiers".

Yet another offered: "When we fire a rocket or series of rockets at their weapon stockpiles or artillery positions in northern Palestine, our brothers know that they have approximately 6-7 minutes to disappear -- usually underground. The Zionists place their weapons next to Arab neighborhoods, where they have not provided shelters for the non-Jews. We are accused of targeting civilians. This is not truewe know where their weapons are exactly. They hide behind the civilians in northern Palestine like they do in Gaza. Using the people as shields."

Other recent findings confirm that Israel may have dropped as many as 60 % of the cluster bombs they used during July-August 2006 in the 72 hours immediately before the ceasefire. Military analysts on the ground offer two explanations:

1. Shear frustration, hatred, and rage by Israel's leadership and its obsession with punishing Lebanon for its more than 85% support (including Lebanon's middle class and Christian citizens) for Hezbollah's resistance to Israel's attempted reoccupation up to the Litani River.

2. A desire by Israel to get rid of as much of its U.S. cluster bomb inventory as possible, which the Pentagon has stipulated must be reduced to a lower level before Israel can reorder newer models like the M-26. This is why the 33 year old CBU-58, almost extinct, was used so widely. Israel was cleaning out its CBU closet for new orders, one Lebanese army source reported.

Senator Ted Stevens and those in the Senate who opposed banning cluster bombs on Sept. 9 might want to reflect on what actual utility the US cluster bombs used by Israel in Lebanon actually achieved.



* * *

According to Israeli soldiers, reported in the Israeli newspaper Ha'aretz on Sept. 13, the Israeli military launched over 1.2 million cluster bombs into Lebanon, and used phosphorous shells as well -- "the overwhelming majority used in the last ten days of the war." The use of phosphorous, which causes excruciating burns, is prohibited under international law.

An Israeli rocket unit commander stated that because the Israeli rockets are so imprecise, his unit was ordered to "flood" the area with them. The soldiers said that during IDF training exercises live rockets are almost never fired, to prevent leaving duds behind that would "fill the IDF's firing grounds with mines." Yet, the soldiers said, Israeli forces in Lebanon fired the rockets at ranges of less than 15 kilometers, "even though the manufacturer's guidelines state that firing at this range considerably increases the number of duds."

The rocket commander, who said he had complained to Israel's Defense Minister but has received no response, stated: "In Lebanon, we covered entire villages with cluster bombs. What we did there was crazy and monstrous."

Dr. Franklin Lamb, an international lawyer and author of "Israel's War in Lebanon: Eyewitness Chronicles of the Invasion and Occupation," is a research associate at If Americans Knew. He can be reached at fpiercelamb@aol.com

Thanks for posting, you don't see this in the mainstream media--the vast majority of what is spewed out of the right wing pro-war, projizrael media is propaganda these days.

Thank Yahweh for alternative media.

Looks like the number was much higher...and counting?????

Too many.

The new al-Qaida field commander in Afghanistan

is calling for Muslims to leave the U.S. –

particularly Washington and New York – in

anticipation of a major terror attack to rival

Sept. 11, according

to an interview by a Pakistani journalist.

Abu Dawood told Hamid Mir, a reporter who has

covered al-Qaida and met with Osama bin Laden,

the attack is being coordinated by Adnan

el-Shukrijumah and suggests it may involve some

form of weapon of mass destruction smuggled across the Mexican border.

"Our brothers are ready to attack inside America.

We will breach their security again," he is

quoted as saying. "There is no timeframe for our

attack inside America; we can do it any time."

<http://www.wnd. com/news/ article.asp? ARTICLE_ID= 46158>As

WND has previously reported, el-Shukrijumah is a

trained nuclear technician and accomplished pilot

who has been singled out by bin Laden and Ayman

al-Zawahiri to serve as the field commander for

the next terrorist attack on U.S. soil.

The terrorist was last seen in Mexico, where, on

Nov. 1, 2004, he allegedly hijacked a Piper PA

Pawnee cropduster from Ejido Queretaro near

Mexicali to transport a nuclear weapon and

nuclear equipment into the U.S., according to

Paul Williams, a former FBI consultant and author

of

<http://shop. wnd.com/store/ item.asp? DEPARTMENT_ ID=6&SUBDEPARTME NT_ID=23& ITEM_ID=1838>"The

Dunces of Doomsday."

"He is an American and a friend of Muhammad Atta,

who led 9/11 attacks five years ago," said

Dawood. "We call him 'Jaffer al Tayyar' (Jafer

the Pilot); he is very brave and intelligent.

(President) Bush is aware that brother Adnan has

smuggled deadly materials inside America from the

Mexican border. Bush is silent about him, because

he doesn’t want to panic his people. Sheikh Osama

bin Laden has completed his cycle of warnings.

You know, he is man of his words, he is not a

politician; he always does what he says. If he

said it many times that Americans will see new

attacks, they will definitely see new attacks. He

is a real mujahid. Americans will not win this

war, which they have started against Muslims.

Americans are the biggest supporters of the

biggest terrorist in the world, which is Israel."

Dawood said he was currently conducting

operations in Afghanistan under the leadership of

the Taliban. He warned of a series of upcoming

suicide bombings there directed against

government and coalition forces during Ramadan.

He is also quoted as saying the next attack in

America will not be conducted by people like Atta.

"We have a different plan for the next attack,"

he told Mir. "You will see. Americans will hardly

find out any Muslim names, after the next attack.

Most of our brothers are living in Western

countries, with Jewish and Christian names, with

passports of Western countries. This time,

someone with the name of Mohamed Atta will not

attack inside America, it would be some David, Richard or Peter."

He said there will be another audio message from

bin Laden aired within the next two weeks.

Mir reportedly interviewed Dawood Sept. 12 at the

tomb of Sultan Mehmud Ghaznawi on the outskirts

of Kabul. Dawood and the al-Qaida leaders who

accompanied him were clean-shaven and dressed as

Western reporters. The al-Qaida commander had

contacted Mir by cell phone to arrange the meeting.

"You have witnessed the brutality of the Israelis

in the recent 34-day war against Lebanese

civilians," said Dawood. "9/11 was a revenge of

Palestinian children, killed by the U.S.-made

weapons, supplied to Israel. The next attack on

America would be a revenge of Lebanese children

killed by U.S.-made cluster bombs. Bush and

(British Prime Minister Tony) Blair are the

Crusaders, and Muslim leaders, like (Pakistani

President Pervez) Musharraf and (Afghani

President Hamid) Karzai are their collaborators.

We will teach a lesson to all of them."

El-Shukrijumah was born in Guyana Aug. 4, 1975 –

the firstborn of Gulshair el-Shukrijumah, a

44-year-old radical Muslim cleric, and his

16-year-old wife. In 1985, Gulshair migrated to

the United States, where he assumed duties as the

imam of the Farouq Mosque in Brooklyn.

The mosque, located at 554 Atlantic Avenue in

Brooklyn, has served as a hive for terrorist

activities. It has raised millions for the jihad

and has served as a recruiting station for

al-Qaida. Many of the planners of the 1993 attack

on the World Trade Center, including blind Sheikh

Omar Abdel Rahman, were prominent members of this

notorious "house of worship."

In 1995, the Shukrijumah family relocated to

Miramar, Fla., where Gulshair became the

spiritual leader of the radical Masjid al-Hijah

Mosque, and where Adnan became friends with Jose

Padilla, who planned to detonate a radiological

bomb in midtown Manhattan; Mandhai Jokhan, who

was convicted of attempting to blow up nuclear

power plants in southern Florida; and a group of other home-grown terrorists.

Adnan Shukrijumah attended flight schools in

Florida and Norman, Oklahoma, along with Mohammad

Atta and the other 9/11 operatives, and he became

a highly skilled commercial jet pilot, although

he, like Atta and the other terrorists, never

applied for a license with the Federal Aviation Commission.

In April 2001, Shukrijumah spent 10 days in

Panama, where he reportedly met with al-Qaida

officials to assist in the planning of 9/11. He

also traveled to Trinidad and Guyana, where

virulent al-Qaida cells have been established.

The following month, he obtained an associate's

degree in computer engineering from Broward Community College.

During this time, he managed to get passports

from Guyana, Trinidad, Saudi Arabia, Canada and

the United States, according to Williams. He also

began to adopt a number of aliases, including Abu

Arifi, Jafar al-Tayyar, Jaafar At Yayyar, Ja'far

al-Tayar, and Mohammed Sher Mohammed Khan (the

name that appeared on his official FBI file). He

traveled to Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, where he

met with Ramzi Binalshibh, Khalid Sheikh

Mohammed, and other members of the al-Qaida high

command. He also spent considerable time within

al-Qaida camps in Afghanistan, where he received

training in explosives and special operations.

Following 9/11, el-Shukrijumah was reportedly

singled out by bin Laden and al-Zawahiri to

spearhead the next great attack on America. One

plan was for a nuclear attack that would take

place simultaneously in seven U.S. cities,

leaving millions dead and the richest and most

powerful nation on earth in ashes.

"Muslims should leave America," said Dawood. "We

cannot stop our attack just because of the

American Muslims; they must realize that American

forces are killing innocent Muslims in

Afghanistan and Iraq; we have the right to

respond back, in the same manner, in the enemy's

homeland. The American Muslims are like a human

shield for our enemy; they must leave New York and Washington."

<http://www.wnd. com/news/ article.asp? ARTICLE_ID= 50341>Mir,

the journalist, has reported previously that

al-Qaida has smuggled nuclear weapons and uranium into the U.S.

"I am saying that Muslims must leave America, but

we can attack America anytime," he said. "Our

cycle of warnings has been completed, now we have

fresh edicts from some prominent Muslim scholars

to destroy our enemy, this is our defending of

Jihad; the enemy has entered in our homes and we

have the right to enter in their homes, they are

killing us, we will kill them."

As if the NRO, NSA, DIA, CIA. ... don't know where every nuke and most likely every hair on my ball sack is, christ, you assholes are arrogant and stupid to fly this flag.

Too many people know about the treason at the top who gave us your last big terror spectacle. It is funny you know everything about these specters of doom. Like maybe you are part of the operation.

You want insurrection? Martial law? We know you're ready for it with all your news toys and mercenary armies but you are wrong.

The truth is a weapon you can not deal with,