End the pain of cluster bombs

The pain, havoc and the lack of utter remorse exhibited by those who have used cluster bombs in the course of combat - or sometimes even out of it - should possibly be soothed when 107 nations congregate to sign the Convention of Cluster Munitions (CCM) in Oslo on Wednesday.

Of all those responsible so far, Israel has been one of the biggest perpetrators with their uncontrolled dumping of cluster bombs in south Lebanon in the summer war of 2006. It was the catalyst that prompted a handful of countries to call for a negotiation on a new protocol for the use of this weapon. The human toll that cluster bombs and landmines have been exacting through the decades should serve as an illustration to countries that are constantly making political capital out of it. It is time they showed more understanding and compassion.