It appears Russia has used cluster bombs in their war with Georgia. Cluster bombs are every bit as deadly toward civilians as land-mines and chemical warfare. The reason that international action has been slower cluster bombs than chemical weapons is that, while chemical weapons are accessible to many countries, cluster bombs are generally a weapon of the powerful. Still, there has been some progress on a treaty to ban these weapons.

ISTANBUL, Turkey; and DUBLIN, Ireland - Diplomats from 111 countries will unveil a treaty on Friday to ban cluster bombs that have left war zones around the world littered with lethal weapons long after hostilities ended.

The pact, to be signed in Oslo in December, requires a signatory to “never under any circumstances … use cluster munitions,” though loopholes don’t prohibit possible future designs with self-destruct mechanisms and other restrictions.

Absent from the 10 days of talks in Dublin were some of the top producers and users of cluster bombs: the US, Israel, Russia, China, India, and Pakistan. But experts who worked with diplomats to draft the text say that is less important than codifying the ban in international law.

I wish the best of luck to those attempting to ban these terrible weapons. What is most distressing (the not at all surprising) is how strongly our own government opposes these measures.