Arms control advocates are decrying a new U.S. Department of Defence 
announcement that it will be building and selling 1,300 cluster bombs to
 Saudi Arabia, worth some 641 million dollars.
The munitions at the heart of the sale are technically legal under 
recently strengthened U.S. regulations aimed at reducing impact on 
civilian safety, but activists contend that battlefield evidence 
suggests the weapons actually exceed those regulations.
These
 weapons have not been used by the U.S. in over a decade, so it’s hard 
to see why it’s in our interest to sell these to Saudi Arabia.” -- Daryl
 Kimball of the Arms Control Association
Opponents say the move runs counter to a strengthening push to outlaw
 the use of cluster bombs around the world while also contradicting 
recent votes by both the U.S. and Saudi governments critical of the use 
of these munitions.
“Both the U.S. and Saudi Arabia have recently condemned the use of 
cluster munitions by the government of Syria – that’s ironic given this 
new sale, because a cluster munition is a cluster munition, no matter 
what kind it is,” Daryl Kimball, executive director of the Arms Control 
Association, a watchdog group here in Washington, told IPS. Link
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