Reuters: Imagine the effects of a cluster bomb dropped on Covent Garden…

…If a cluster bomblet was dropped on Covent Garden… The red area shows an area of guaranteed fatalities The orange area shows an area of likely injuries.

Being a geek and a regular peruser of Hansard for some years now, this exchange fron June 2003 has stayed with me. I remember commenting on it back in my Bar Room Philosophy (my old blog) days:

Paul Flynn (Newport West, Lab): To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many cluster bombs were used by British forces during the recent campaign in Iraq; and what assessment he has made of the number of unexploded cluster bombs in Iraq.

Adam Ingram (Minister of State (Armed Forces), Ministry of Defence): United Kingdom forces used some 66 RBL755 air-delivered cluster bombs, each containing 147 bomblets, for which recent statistics show an overall failure rate of 6 per cent. and some 2,098 artillery-delivered L20 extended range bomblet shells, each containing 49 bomblets, which have a proven maximum bomblet failure rate of 2 per cent. Further evaluation of the latter will be required to establish the exact rate on the ground. We do not have comparable assessments for the rates of unexploded cluster munitions not delivered by UK forces.

Some quick maths following those failure rates tells us that UK forces left 2250 unexploded bomblets littering Iraq.

Cleanup operations to disarm unexploded ordnance are apparently being conducted but as to how many civilians may have met their fate by disturbing the bomblets, well, you’re probably way ahead of me:

Adam Ingram (Minister of State (Armed Forces), Ministry of Defence): No research has been commissioned by the Ministry of Defence on casualties caused to civilians by cluster munitions.