NATO doesn t want to create a precedent for cleaning up in post-conflict situations. They first made this clear in the Gulf war. Kosovo, by contrast, is poor and much more heavily populated than the Kuwaiti desert. My personal opinion is that if they re going to use these kinds of weapons, they have to recognise there is a postwar environmental effect, he adds. Traditional landmines are mainly used to defend fixed sites, and armies usually keep records of where they are laid so that they can be lifted later.
Cluster bombs are attack weapons and inaccurate.
In the worst cluster-bomb accident, four children died near Gnjilane and one was seriously hurt when they threw a stone at the yellow canister lying in a field. This year, however, mine casualties are expected to rise in spite of efforts to make people aware of the dangers lurking in their fields. The U.S. government and other NATO partners are paying for some of the NGO work, but every contract requires time-consuming lobbying and pleading for funds. It would be easier to use the Pentagon s trained weapons disposal teams, but cowardice among politicians and the consequences of casualties even in a volunteer army appear to preclude it.