The deadly legacy of cluster bombs
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0:01 - 0:03I once had this nightmare:
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0:03 - 0:07I'm standing in the middle
of a deserted field full of land mines. -
0:08 - 0:10In real life, I love to hike,
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0:10 - 0:14but every time I want to go on a hike,
it makes me nervous. -
0:14 - 0:17I have this thought in the back of my mind
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0:17 - 0:18that I might lose a limb.
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0:19 - 0:22This underlying fear started 10 years ago,
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0:22 - 0:25after I met Mohammed,
a cluster bomb survivor -
0:25 - 0:29of the summer 2006
Israel-Hezbollah War in Lebanon. -
0:30 - 0:34Mohammed, like so many
other survivors all around the world, -
0:34 - 0:39had to live through the horrifying
repercussions of cluster munitions -
0:39 - 0:40on a daily basis.
-
0:41 - 0:44When the one-month conflict
started in Lebanon, -
0:44 - 0:47I was still working
at Agence France-Presse in Paris. -
0:48 - 0:50I remember how I was glued to the screens,
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0:50 - 0:53anxiously following the news.
-
0:53 - 0:55I wanted to reassure myself
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0:55 - 0:58that the falling bombs
missed my parents' home. -
0:59 - 1:02When I arrived in Beirut
on assignment to cover that war, -
1:02 - 1:05I was relieved to be united
with my family, -
1:05 - 1:08after they had finally managed
to escape southern Lebanon. -
1:09 - 1:11The day the war was over,
-
1:11 - 1:13I remember seeing this image --
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1:13 - 1:14one of blocked roads,
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1:14 - 1:18of displaced people eagerly rushing
south, back to their homes, -
1:18 - 1:20regardless of what they would find.
-
1:21 - 1:24An estimated four million
cluster submunitions -
1:24 - 1:28were spread in Lebanon during
the 34-day conflict. -
1:30 - 1:34Mohammed lost both legs
during the last week of the conflict. -
1:35 - 1:38The fact that he lives a five-minute
drive from my parents' home -
1:38 - 1:41made it easier to follow
him through the years. -
1:41 - 1:44It was now almost 10 years
since we first met. -
1:44 - 1:46I saw the young boy
-
1:46 - 1:50who had to endure
physical and emotional trauma. -
1:50 - 1:54I saw the teenager who tried
to offer his friends tattoos, -
1:54 - 1:56in return for a set fee of five dollars.
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1:57 - 2:01And I know the young, jobless man
who spends hours surfing the Internet -
2:01 - 2:04trying to meet a girl who might
become his girlfriend. -
2:05 - 2:09His fate and the effects
of losing his legs -
2:09 - 2:11are now his daily reality.
-
2:12 - 2:14Survivors of bomb trauma like Mohammed
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2:14 - 2:17have to deal with so many details
that never occur to us. -
2:18 - 2:19Who would have imagined
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2:19 - 2:22that so many daily tasks we do
or take for granted, -
2:22 - 2:26such as going to the beach or even
picking up something from the floor, -
2:26 - 2:29would become sources
of stress and anxiety? -
2:30 - 2:32Well, that's what eventually
became of Mohammed, -
2:32 - 2:35due to his inflexible prosthetic legs.
-
2:36 - 2:40Ten years ago, I had no clue
what a cluster bomb was, -
2:40 - 2:42nor its horrifying implications.
-
2:43 - 2:45I learned that this indiscriminate
weapon was used -
2:45 - 2:47in so many parts of the world
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2:47 - 2:49and continues to kill on a regular basis,
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2:49 - 2:52without distinguishing
between a military target -
2:52 - 2:53or a child.
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2:54 - 2:56I naively asked myself,
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2:56 - 2:59"But seriously, who made those weapons?
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3:00 - 3:01And what for?"
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3:02 - 3:04Let me explain to you
what a cluster bomb is. -
3:04 - 3:07It's a large canister
filled with bomblets. -
3:07 - 3:09When it's dropped from the air,
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3:09 - 3:13it opens up in midair to release
hundreds of bomblets. -
3:14 - 3:16They scatter around wide areas
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3:16 - 3:17and on impact,
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3:17 - 3:19many fail to explode.
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3:19 - 3:23Those unexploded ones end up
just like landmines -- -
3:23 - 3:24sitting on the ground,
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3:24 - 3:26waiting for their next target.
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3:27 - 3:29If someone steps on them by accident
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3:29 - 3:30or picks them up,
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3:30 - 3:32they can explode.
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3:32 - 3:35These weapons are extremely unpredictable,
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3:35 - 3:37which makes the threat even bigger.
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3:37 - 3:40One day, a farmer can work
his land without a problem. -
3:40 - 3:44The next day, he can make fire
and burn some branches, -
3:44 - 3:48and the submunitions close by
could be set off because of the heat. -
3:49 - 3:52The problem is children mistake
those bomblets for toys, -
3:52 - 3:56because they can look like
bouncy balls or soda cans. -
3:57 - 3:59Being a documentary photographer,
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3:59 - 4:03I decided to go back to Lebanon
a few months after the conflict ended -
4:03 - 4:05to meet cluster bomb survivors.
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4:05 - 4:06And I met a few --
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4:06 - 4:08Hussein and Rasha,
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4:08 - 4:10who both lost a leg to submunitions.
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4:10 - 4:14Their stories are similar to so many
other kids' stories across the world -
4:14 - 4:17and are a testimony
to the horrifying implications -
4:17 - 4:20of the continuous use of such weapons.
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4:21 - 4:25That's when I met Mohammed,
in January 2007. -
4:25 - 4:27He was 11 years old,
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4:27 - 4:30and I met him exactly four months
after his accident. -
4:31 - 4:32When I first saw him,
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4:32 - 4:34he was going through painful physiotherapy
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4:34 - 4:36to recover from his fresh wounds.
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4:37 - 4:39Still in shock at such a young age,
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4:39 - 4:42Mohammed was struggling
to get used to his new body. -
4:43 - 4:47He would even wake up sometimes
at night wanting to scratch his lost feet. -
4:48 - 4:52What drew me closer to his story
was my instant realization -
4:52 - 4:55of the difficulties Mohammed
was likely to face in the future -- -
4:56 - 4:59that what he has been suffering
while adjusting to his injury -
4:59 - 5:01at the age of 11,
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5:01 - 5:03would increase manyfold.
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5:04 - 5:05Even before his disability,
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5:05 - 5:08Mohammed's life wasn't easy.
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5:08 - 5:11He was born in the Rashidieh Camp
for Palestinian refugees, -
5:11 - 5:13and this is where he still lives.
-
5:13 - 5:17Lebanon holds some 400,000
Palestinian refugees, -
5:17 - 5:19and they suffer from discriminatory laws.
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5:20 - 5:22They're not allowed to work
in the public sector -
5:22 - 5:24or practice certain professions
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5:24 - 5:27and are denied the right to own property.
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5:27 - 5:29This is one of the reasons
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5:29 - 5:31why Mohammed doesn't really
regret dropping out of school -
5:31 - 5:33right after his injury.
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5:33 - 5:37He said, "What's the point
of a university degree -
5:37 - 5:39when I can't find a job to start with?"
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5:41 - 5:45Cluster bomb use creates a vicious circle
of impact on communities, -
5:45 - 5:48and not only the lives of their victims.
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5:48 - 5:52Many who get injured by this weapon
drop out of school, -
5:52 - 5:54can't find jobs or even lose their jobs,
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5:54 - 5:57therefore losing the ability
to provide for their families. -
5:58 - 6:01This is not to mention
the continuous physical pain -
6:01 - 6:04and the experience of feeling isolated.
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6:06 - 6:09These weapons affect
the poorest of the poor. -
6:09 - 6:12The high medical cost
is a burden to the families. -
6:12 - 6:15They end up relying
on humanitarian agencies, -
6:15 - 6:17which is insufficient and unsustainable,
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6:18 - 6:21especially when injuries require
lifelong support to the injured. -
6:22 - 6:24Ten years after Mohammed's injury,
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6:24 - 6:27he is still unable to afford
proper prosthetic legs. -
6:28 - 6:30He's very cautious with his steps,
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6:30 - 6:32as a couple of falls over the years
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6:32 - 6:34brought him embarrassment
among his friends. -
6:35 - 6:37He joked that since he doesn't have legs,
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6:37 - 6:40some days he tries to walk on his hands.
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6:41 - 6:44One of the worst yet invisible
impacts of the weapon -
6:44 - 6:47is the psychological scars it leaves.
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6:47 - 6:50In one of Mohammed's
early medical reports, -
6:50 - 6:53he was diagnosed with signs of PTSD.
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6:53 - 6:58He suffered from anxiety,
poor appetite, sleep disturbance -
6:58 - 7:00and showed signs of anger.
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7:01 - 7:06The reality is Mohammed never received
proper help to fully recover. -
7:06 - 7:10His current obsession
is to leave Lebanon at any cost -- -
7:11 - 7:13even if it meant embarking
on a hazardous journey -
7:13 - 7:18along with refugees drifting towards
Europe today through the Mediterranean. -
7:19 - 7:21Knowing how risky such a journey would be,
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7:21 - 7:24he said, "If I were to die on the way,
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7:24 - 7:26it doesn't matter."
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7:26 - 7:29To Mohammed, he is dead here, anyway.
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7:30 - 7:33Cluster bombs are a world problem,
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7:33 - 7:38as this munition keeps destroying
and hurting whole communities -
7:38 - 7:40for generations to come.
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7:41 - 7:44In an online interview with the director
of the Mines Advisory Group, -
7:44 - 7:45Jamie Franklin,
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7:45 - 7:46he said,
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7:47 - 7:51"The US forces dropped over two million
tons of munitions over Laos. -
7:52 - 7:54If they couldn't find
their targets in Vietnam, -
7:54 - 7:59there were free-drop areas in Laos
where planes would drop their loads -
7:59 - 8:01before going back to base,
-
8:01 - 8:04because it's dangerous to land
with loaded planes." -
8:05 - 8:07According to the International
Committee of the Red Cross, -
8:07 - 8:11in Laos alone -- one of the poorest
countries in the world -- -
8:11 - 8:16nine to 27 million unexploded
submunitions remain. -
8:16 - 8:21Some 11,000 people have been killed
or injured since 1973. -
8:23 - 8:28This lethal weapon has been used
by over 20 states during armed conflicts -
8:28 - 8:30in over 35 countries,
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8:30 - 8:33such as Ukraine, Iraq and Sudan.
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8:34 - 8:39So far, 119 states have joined
an international treaty -
8:39 - 8:40banning cluster bombs,
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8:40 - 8:43which is officially called
the Convention on Cluster Munitions. -
8:44 - 8:48But some of the biggest producers
of cluster munitions -- -
8:48 - 8:51namely, the United States,
Russia and China -- -
8:51 - 8:54remain outside of this lifesaving treaty
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8:54 - 8:56and continue to produce them,
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8:56 - 8:59reserve the right to produce
them in the future, -
8:59 - 9:01keep those harmful weapons
in their stockpiles -
9:01 - 9:04and even possibly use them in the future.
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9:06 - 9:10Cluster bombs have reportedly
been used most recently -
9:10 - 9:13in the ongoing conflicts
in Yemen and Syria. -
9:14 - 9:17According to research
on the worldwide investments -
9:17 - 9:19in cluster munitions producers
-
9:19 - 9:21by Pax, a Dutch-based NGO,
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9:21 - 9:25financial institutions invested
billions of US dollars -
9:25 - 9:28into companies that make
cluster munitions. -
9:29 - 9:33The majority of these institutions
are based in countries -
9:33 - 9:36that have not yet signed
the Convention on Cluster Munitions. -
9:37 - 9:39Getting back to Mohammed,
-
9:39 - 9:43one of the few jobs he was able
to find was picking lemons. -
9:44 - 9:47When I ask him if it's safe
to work in the field he said, -
9:47 - 9:48"I'm not sure."
-
9:49 - 9:54Research shows that cluster munitions
often contaminate areas -
9:54 - 9:57where agriculture is the main
source of income. -
9:58 - 10:01According to Handicap
International's research, -
10:01 - 10:0798 percent of those killed or injured
by cluster munitions are civilians. -
10:07 - 10:11Eighty-four percent
of casualties are males. -
10:11 - 10:14In countries where
these people have no choice -
10:14 - 10:16but to work in those fields,
-
10:16 - 10:18they simply do it
-
10:18 - 10:19and risk it.
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10:20 - 10:23Mohammed is the only male
to three sisters. -
10:23 - 10:26Culturally, he's expected
to provide for his family, -
10:26 - 10:28but he simply can't.
-
10:28 - 10:30He tried to have so many different jobs,
-
10:30 - 10:34but he couldn't keep any
due to his physical disability -
10:34 - 10:37and the less-than-friendly environment
to people with disabilities, -
10:37 - 10:39to say the least.
-
10:40 - 10:43It hurts him a lot when he goes
out looking for a job, -
10:43 - 10:44and he's turned away
-
10:44 - 10:47with a small amount of money
paid to him out of pity. -
10:48 - 10:50He said, "I'm not here to beg for money,
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10:50 - 10:52I just want to earn it."
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10:54 - 10:56Mohammed today is 21 years old.
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10:56 - 10:57He's illiterate,
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10:57 - 11:00and he communicates with voice messages.
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11:01 - 11:02Here is one of his messages.
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11:03 - 11:08(Audio) Mohammed: (Speaking in Arabic)
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11:11 - 11:14Laura Boushnak:
He said, "My dream is to run, -
11:14 - 11:16and I'm pretty sure once I start running,
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11:16 - 11:18I would never stop."
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11:18 - 11:19Thank you.
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11:19 - 11:24(Applause)
- Title:
- The deadly legacy of cluster bombs
- Speaker:
- Laura Boushnak
- Description:
-
The destruction of war doesn't stop when the fighting is over. During the 34-day Israel-Hezbollah War in 2006, an estimated four million cluster submunitions were dropped on Lebanon, killing indiscriminately. The danger remains, as many bomblets failed to explode and lay dormant, waiting to maim or kill anyone who encounters them. In this talk, photographer and TED Fellow Laura Boushnak shares haunting photos of cluster bomb survivors and asks those who still produce and condone the use of these weapons, including the United States, to abandon them.
- Video Language:
- English
- Team:
- closed TED
- Project:
- TEDTalks
- Duration:
- 11:36
Brian Greene edited English subtitles for The deadly legacy of cluster bombs | ||
Brian Greene edited English subtitles for The deadly legacy of cluster bombs | ||
Brian Greene edited English subtitles for The deadly legacy of cluster bombs | ||
Brian Greene edited English subtitles for The deadly legacy of cluster bombs | ||
Brian Greene approved English subtitles for The deadly legacy of cluster bombs | ||
Brian Greene edited English subtitles for The deadly legacy of cluster bombs | ||
Brian Greene edited English subtitles for The deadly legacy of cluster bombs | ||
Camille Martínez accepted English subtitles for The deadly legacy of cluster bombs |