Cluster munitions have historically been used to great effect against massed enemy troops and armor or vehicle formations. They provide a certain economy of force: one munition can incapacitate or kill many targets in its impact area, which is generally larger than that of unguided unitary munitions. Most modern cluster munitions are multi-purpose and may contain a mix of anti-armor, anti-personnel, and anti-materiel submunitions that offer an unparalleled opportunity to debilitate both enemy tanks and the men who attempt to repair the tank.

Their use in Libya, however, provides an important reminder of why cluster munitions are so problematic, especially in urbanized warfare where the enemy may not wear a uniform. These weapons are infamous for the harm they cause to civilians, which happens for two reasons: the indiscriminate, unguided nature of most models of cluster munitions and the high failure rate of submunitions currently in use. In the initial attack, individual submunitions strike at random. While this can be desirable when striking military positions, when used in urban areas, civilians are inevitably killed or maimed and non-military infrastructure is damaged, regardless of the intentions of the attacking force. During the invasion of Iraq, U.S. troops fired hundred of cluster munitions into Iraqi cities; in just one neighborhood, at least forty civilians were killed, even as the military tried to minimize civilian casualties.

The days, months, and years after an initial strike, however, are where the real danger to civilians lies. Submunitions frequently fail to explode on impact, especially as they age and component parts degrade. However, they can still explode if jostled, and no public education campaign has been able to convince children not to pick up colorful objects or prevent pedestrians from accidentally stepping on an unexploded bomblet. Even now, doctors in Misrata are reporting an uptick in amputations, a common result of unexploded ordnance. De-mining is expensive, slow, and underfunded; in 2011, U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon noted that the U.N. had secured "only about one-quarter of the needed resources [for the 2011 mine removal project portfolio], leaving a funding gap of $367 million."

In 2007, recognizing the threat that cluster munitions pose to civilians, Norway led an international effort to ban these weapons. The Convention on Cluster Munitions (CCM), an international treaty that prohibits the use, transfer, or stockpiling of cluster munitions, became binding on signatories on August 1, 2010. Notably missing from the list of signatories are the United States, Russia, China, and Israel, all of which maintain substantial stockpiles of cluster munitions.

The CCM is only as useful as its signatories allow it to be, however. Spain's willingness to sell cluster bombs to Libya, a dictatorial regime known for human rights abuses, indicates how even the best-intentioned arms treaty cannot prevent these weapons from moving into the wrong hands. Qaddafi bought the MAT-120s found in Misrata in 2007 from Spain, a year before Spain became one of the first states to sign the CCM. There was nothing illegal about the transaction; the arms embargo against Libya was lifted in 2004 as a reward for the Libyan regime's willingness to accept civil responsibility and make payouts for two airliner bombings in the late 1980s. Spain did not sign the Convention on Cluster Munition until 2008, making the 2007 sales ethically questionable but legally acceptable.