{"id":122275,"date":"2014-06-02T19:42:00","date_gmt":"2014-06-02T19:42:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/?guid=fa6c17bb7a907dffd733c389ec221423"},"modified":"2014-06-02T19:42:00","modified_gmt":"2014-06-02T19:42:00","slug":"kiev-cluster-bombs-lugansk","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/editorials\/kiev-cluster-bombs-lugansk\/","title":{"rendered":"Kiev Cluster Bombs Lugansk"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px;\"><b>Kiev Cluster Bombs Lugansk<\/b><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px;\">by Stephen Lendman<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px;\">On June 2, Itar Tass <a href=\"http:\/\/en.itar-tass.com\/world\/734380\"><span style=\"color: #1255cc;\">headlined<\/span><\/a> &#8220;Administration building in Luhansk caught by fire after air strike, five dead, ten injured,&#8221; saying:<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px;\">&#8220;The fourth floor of the Luhansk regional administration building was caught by fire after an air strike carried out by a Ukrainian fighter jet.&#8221;&nbsp;<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px;\">&#8220;A huge number of ambulances and fire crews have arrived at the scene to extinguish the fire and evacuate the injured.&#8221;<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px;\">&#8220;According to reports, five people were killed and at least 10 were injured in the attack.&#8221;<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px;\">&#8220;The administration building is surrounded by people in military uniforms who are asking the crowd to disperse.&#8221;<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px;\">&#8220;The fighter jet used cluster bombs to deliver a pinpoint strike.&#8221;&nbsp;<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px;\">&#8220;The regional administration building is partly destroyed. There are dead and injured. Doctors and rescuers working at the scene are clarifying the number of casualties.&#8221;<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px;\">Death toll numbers may rise. Victims are civilians. They include three women and two men. One was Lugansk&#8217;s health minister Natalia Arkhipova.<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px;\">She was in the wrong place at the wrong time. She was speaking with another woman on the administration building&#8217;s steps.<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px;\">Live video showed large blood stains, broken glass and stones. Many windows were shattered. Shell fragments covered the area. So did dark smoke plumes.<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px;\">Unexploded shells were found outside the building. Self-defense forces warned residents to leave the area.<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px;\">One witness said &#8220;fire has engulfed the third and fourth floors of the building, and the windows have been blown out.&#8221;&nbsp;<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px;\">&#8220;There are shards of glass everywhere. I saw paramedics carrying people out of the entrance&#8221;<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px;\">Fierce fighting continues. Heavy machine-gun fire targeted Lagansk&#8217;s city center.&nbsp;<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px;\">Another air strike struck a militia checkpoint. Unknown numbers of casualties were reported.<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px;\">More on Kiev&#8217;s war without mercy below.<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px;\">Cluster bombs are illegal. The December 2008 signed\/August 2010 entered into force Convention on Cluster Munitions (CCM) prohibits their use, transfer and stockpiling.<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px;\">They&#8217;re terror weapons. They scatter submunition bomblets over a wide area.<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px;\">As of September 2013, 108 nations became CCM signatories. Eighty-four ratified it.<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px;\">Those doing so pledge &#8220;never under any circumstances to:<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; margin: 0px;\">&#8220;Use cluster munitions;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; min-height: 22px;\"><\/div>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; margin: 0px;\">Develop, produce, otherwise acquire, stockpile, retain or transfer to anyone, directly or indirectly, cluster munitions; (and)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; margin: 0px;\">Assist, encourage or induce anyone to engage in any activity prohibited to a State Party under this Convention.&#8221;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px;\">CCM provisions permit certain types of submunitions use. Provided they don&#8217;t indiscriminately scatter unexploded ordnance the way cluster bombs do.<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px;\">They remain dangerous longterm. They&#8217;re brightly colored. Children mistake them for toys or Easter eggs.<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px;\">They pick them up for play. They&#8217;re killed or injured doing so.<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px;\">Israel&#8217;s 2006 Lebanon war provided momentum for banning their use. UN officials estimated up to 40% of its cluster bomblets failed to explode on impact.<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px;\">Norway organized the independent Oslo process. It did so after Geneva disarmament discussions failed.<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px;\">An Oslo Declaration followed. Forty-six nations committed to:<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px;\">&#8220;Conclude by 2008 a legally binding international instrument that prohibits the use and stockpiling of cluster munitions that cause unacceptable harm to civilians and secure adequate provision of care and rehabilitation to survivors and clearance of contaminated areas.&#8221;<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px;\">America, Israel, China, Russia, India, Pakistan, and Brazil among other nations oppose cluster bomb banning.<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px;\">Pentagon commanders ludicrously call them humane weapons.<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px;\">&#8220;Because future adversaries will likely use civilian shields for military targets &#8211; for example by locating a military target on the roof of an occupied building &#8211; use of unitary weapons could result in more civilian casualties and damage than cluster munitions,&#8221; they say.<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px;\">&#8220;Blanket elimination of cluster munitions is therefore unacceptable due not only to negative military consequences but also due to potential negative consequences for civilians,&#8221; they claim.<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px;\">An International Committee of the Red Cross representative called these weapons &#8220;a relic of the Cold War.&#8221;<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px;\">&#8220;They are a legacy that has to be eliminated because they increasingly won&#8217;t work.&#8221;<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px;\">Nobel peace prize winner Jody Williams called CCM &#8220;the most important disarmament and humanitarian convention in over a decade.&#8221;<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px;\">Washington, Israel and other rogue states use them frequently. With impunity.&nbsp;<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px;\">Claiming less harm to civilians. Lying saying so. It bears repeating. Cluster bombs are terror weapons.<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px;\">On Monday, Moscow condemned Kiev. Its Foreign Ministry said:<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px;\">&#8220;On June 2, the Kiev authorities committed another crime against their own people.&#8221;&nbsp;<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px;\">&#8220;As a result of a bombardment by the Ukrainian Armed Forces aviation of the building of the Lugansk Region State Administration, Ukrainian civilians were killed.&#8221;<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px;\">&#8220;What happened shows the Kiev authorities&#8217; blatant unwillingness to follow the path of seeking nationwide accord in the country.&#8221;<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px;\">&#8220;Once again, Kiev has grossly violated the deals agreed in the Geneva statement of April 17 and developed in the roadmap of the OSCE Swiss presidency.&#8221;<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px;\">Ukrinform.ua Ukrainian propaganda <a href=\"http:\/\/www.ukrinform.ua\/eng\/news\/no_air_strike_on_luhansk_administration_building_militants_themselves_to_blame_for_blast_322295\"><span style=\"color: #1255cc;\">headlined<\/span><\/a> &#8220;No air strike on Luhansk administration building, militants themselves to blame for blast.&#8221;<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px;\">It blamed victims for Kiev crimes. It did so numerous times before.<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px;\">It said &#8220;Kremlin propaganda has distributed another fake report to discredit the Ukrainian troops in the area of the anti-terrorist operation (ATO): a warplane allegedly fired Luhansk Regional State Administration building.&#8221;<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px;\">&#8220;ATO spokesman Vladyslav Selezniov told Ukrinform there has been no air strike on the administration building.&#8221;<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px;\">&#8220;Our aircraft have not flown over Luhansk Regional State Administration.&#8221;&nbsp;<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px;\">&#8220;(W)hat has happened to the administration is due to the militants themselves.&#8221;&nbsp;<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px;\">&#8220;The incident is likely either the careless handling of weapons or the militants who were trying to somehow work on our aircraft and hit the administration building.&#8221;&nbsp;<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px;\">From &#8220;images posted on the Internet, it is clear that it was not an air strike. If it was the aircraft, there would be little left.&#8221;&nbsp;<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px;\">&#8220;(T)his is why the military do(es) not resort to the use of aircraft for strikes against militants in the city.&#8221;<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px;\">Fact: Eastern Ukrainian attacks feature helicopter gunships, warplanes, heavy artillery, howitzers, tanks, APCs and mortars.<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px;\">Fact: Civilians are vulnerable.&nbsp;<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px;\">Fact: They&#8217;re considered fair game.&nbsp;<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px;\">Fact: Ukrainian forces target anything that moves.&nbsp;<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px;\">Fact: Noncombatant men, women and children are attacked like freedom fighters.<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px;\">Fact: Claiming otherwise is false.<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px;\">Fact: Big Lies infest official Ukrainian claims.<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px;\">Fact: They have no credibility whatever.<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px;\">Fact: Alternative media alone report what viewers and readers most need to know.<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px;\">Fact: Hard truths are featured.<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px;\">Fact: Kiev&#8217;s war without mercy is revealed.<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px;\">Fact: It continues ruthlessly without end.<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px;\">Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago. He can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net.&nbsp;<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px;\">His new book as editor and contributor is titled &#8220;Flashpoint in Ukraine: US Drive for Hegemony Risks WW III.&#8221;<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"color: #1255cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px;\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.claritypress.com\/LendmanIII.html\">http:\/\/www.claritypress.com\/LendmanIII.html<\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px;\">Visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com.&nbsp;<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px;\">Listen to cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests on the Progressive Radio News Hour on the Progressive Radio Network.<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px;\">It airs three times weekly: live on Sundays at 1PM Central time plus two prerecorded archived programs.&nbsp;<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<p><\/p>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px;\">http:\/\/www.progressiveradionetwork.com\/the-progressive-news-hour&nbsp;<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Kiev Cluster Bombs Luganskby Stephen LendmanOn June 2, Itar Tass headlined &#8220;Administration building in Luhansk caught by fire after air strike, five dead, ten injured,&#8221; saying:&#8221;The fourth floor of the Luhansk regional administration building was caught&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1217,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[461],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-122275","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-editorials"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/122275","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1217"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=122275"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/122275\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=122275"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=122275"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=122275"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}