Mennonite Weekly Review

AKRON, Pa. — Mennonite Central Committee U.S. is using a postcard campaign to support the Cluster Munitions Civilian Protection Act, which would restrict the use of cluster bombs by the United States.

Ta Douangchom — Photo by Stanislas Fradelizi

In December, 94 countries signed a treaty banning the production, transfer, stockpiling and use of cluster bombs, but the United States did not agree to the ban. However, in March, Congress passed a law prohibiting the export of cluster bombs from the United States, except under very restricted circumstances.

The new bill prohibits the indiscriminate use of these bombs by the United States. To support its passage, MCC U.S. has printed free postcards that individuals can send to their senators. The postcard features Ta Douangchom, a cluster bomb survivor.

According to Titus Peachey, director of peace education for MCC U.S., the United States has been the principal producer and user of cluster bombs for nearly five decades.

Peachey began raising awareness about the use of these bombs in the early 1980s while he was an MCC worker in Laos. In 1994 MCC worked together with the Lao government and the Mines Advisory Group to begin a bomb removal project.

Cluster bombs are aerial weapons that release up to several hundred bomblets, or “bombies,” over a wide area. In many cases they fail to explode on impact and are accidentally detonated by civilians years later. Douangchom, a farmer from central Laos, survived one of these accidental explosions, but he lost both arms and his right eye.

Douangchom, part of a group called Ban Advocates, attended and spoke at the treaty convention in December. Peachey met Douangchom at the convention.

Douangchom’s picture has been used for advocacy in many publications. When MCC U.S. decided to use a postcard campaign, Peachey contacted him through Handicap International for permission to use the picture. Douangchom said he was happy to have it used in this campaign.

Postcards are available at the MCC Store. There is a charge for shipping, but the postcards are free. Senators’ addresses are also available online.