{"id":29391,"date":"2017-11-30T20:37:41","date_gmt":"2017-11-30T20:37:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/uncategorized\/2017\/11\/30\/pentagon-decides-against-ban-on-use-of-certain-cluster-bombs\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T02:38:15","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T02:38:15","slug":"pentagon-decides-against-ban-on-use-of-certain-cluster-bombs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2017\/11\/30\/pentagon-decides-against-ban-on-use-of-certain-cluster-bombs\/","title":{"rendered":"Pentagon decides against ban on use of certain cluster bombs"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

WASHINGTON \u2014 The Pentagon has put off indefinitely a planned ban on using certain cluster bombs, which release explosive submunitions, or bomblets. The U.S. military considers them a legitimate and important weapon, although critics say they kill indiscriminately and pose hazards to civilians.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A 2010 international treaty outlaws the use of cluster bombs, but the U.S. is not a signatory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The George W. Bush administration declared in 2008 that after Jan. 1, 2019, the United States would continue its use of cluster bombs only if they met a performance standard of failing to detonate 1 percent or less of the time. That standard is important because armed and unexploded cluster munitions left on the battlefield pose a long-term hazard to civilians.<\/p>\n\n\n\t