War, huh, good God, what it is good for.... $1,000 billion annually apparently

"More than 100 nations have reached an agreement on a treaty which would ban current designs of cluster bombs.

Diplomats meeting in Dublin agreed to back an international ban on the use of the controversial weapons following 10 days of talks.

But some of the world's main producers and stockpilers - including the US, Russia and China - oppose the move"

So reported the BBC

When I was a kid, during the Cold War, there was always talk about a new type of bomb that was designed in such a way to kill humans but leave buildings intact. It was the epitome of efficiency. Why develop a bomb that will blow everything around it to smithereens, because when you've won the war you'll only need to spend your hard earned cash rebuilding the place you tried, and succeeded, to blow to bits. In a strange way there was a sort of logic to it. It made a certain amount of sense.

In the oddest of reversals this desire for efficiency was born in an era of wasteful consumerism. These days, when all of us are conscious of our carbon footprints and consequently are wiping for a solid minute or more on the ecological door mat before we come in, the 21st century warmongers have a casual attitude to their military ordinance. 

The first Gulf War in 1991 hailed the pinpoint accurate laser guided bomb as the future of warfare. Cluster bombs, on the other hand, are designed to be wasteful. They spread their deadly cargo over a wide area, hoping to hit a number of targets, but not that bothered if they don't. And then they just lie there. A gleaming, shiny little time bomb, waiting until someone innocently stumbles across it, or some toddler picks it up. Once they do, the cluster bomblet ceases to be wasteful.

There are currently estimated to be some 3 billion cluster munitions held in stockpiles throughout the world (these cluster bombs come in 210 different varieties). The US, Russia, and China are the three countries that are most resistant to ending the production of these weapons. I wonder why?!? There's nothing that eases the sting from a credit crunch more effectively than a few more millions made from the sale of cluster ordinance. With the credit crunch you may lose your home. With cluster bombs you may lose your home and your life.

It seems strange that America, which houses the highest concentration of Christians (in all the various hues and shades) is also the keenest to continue the manufacture and sale of these truly dreadful weapons. Whatever happened to "love your enemies"?! They certainly love them - love them to pieces! 

Part of being a Christian, in my humble opinion, is trying to harmonise all the different aspects of your life, rather than compartmentalising the spiritual/religious into one box, and having work, family, social, etc in other boxes. Christianity should not simply be concerned with what I believe on a Sunday - beliefs are a cheap form of currency and prone to drastic inflation. Rather, Christianity should seep through every aspect of my life, including things like how I spend my money.

With George Dubbya Bush not afraid to vocalise his religious convictions, it would be nice to see those convictions influencing the arms trade and American foreign policy.