Illegal?

This is coolbert:

"Flechette Shells: An illegal weapon"

Here from an Israeli web site, a discussion of the IDF [Israel Defense Forces] use of flechette rounds.

Used during the 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah. And used most recently during the incursion into Gaza.

Described in the headline as AN ILLEGAL WEAPON!

"The flechette shell is an anti-personnel weapon that is generally fired from a tank. The shell explodes in the air and releases thousands of metal darts 3.75 mm in length, which disperse in a conical arch three hundred meters long and about ninety meters wide.

Flechette most useful when:

"The primary military advantage of the flechette over other munitions is its ability to penetrate dense vegetation very rapidly and to strike a relatively large number of enemy soldiers."

Areas of dense vegetation harboring significant numbers of enemy military personnel not found in either Lebanon or Gaza. 

This article concedes that the flechette round of itself is NOT an illegal weapon of war. What is the contention here is the manner with which the Israeli forces use the flechette round. Used in a built up area, lots of civilians present, and FEW enemy fighters. Usage most  indiscriminate the problem rather.

Normally the USA military in Vietnam as far as I understand used flechette rounds only in the most desperate of circumstances

coolbert.