Land Mine Treaty Won't Be Signed By Obama Administration - Polidicks

[QUOTE] WASHINGTON — The Obama administration has decided not to sign an international convention banning land mines. State Department spokesman Ian Kelly said Tuesday that the administration recently completed a review and decided not to change the Bush-era policy. "We decided that our land mine policy remains in effect," he said. More than 150 countries have agreed to the Mine Ban Treaty's provisions to end the production, use, stockpiling and trade in mines. Besides the United States, holdouts include: China, India, Pakistan, Myanmar and Russia. Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., criticized the State Department's review of the land mine policy as "cursory and halfhearted." The senator described the decision to stand fast on the current policy as "a lost opportunity .... The United States took some of the earliest and most effective steps to restrict the use of land mines. We should be leading this effort, not sitting on the sidelines." Human rights groups had expressed hopes that the Obama administration would sign the treaty. Stephen Goose, the director of Human Rights Watch's arms division, said he was surprised by the announcement and called it disappointing. He said that his group had been pushing the administration to conduct a review of its policy but that the administration had given no indication that one was under way. "If one was already completed, it was not very extensive," he said. Kelly said that the United States would send an observer group of mine experts to a review conference on the treaty in Cartegena, Colombia, next week. A report this month by the International Campaign to Ban Landmines found that mines remain planted in the earth in more than 70 countries and killed at least 1,266 people and wounded 3,891 last year. More than 2.2 million anti-personnel mines, 250,000 anti-vehicle mines and 17 million other explosives left over from wars have been removed since 1999, the report said. [/QUOTE] Source: [url]http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/11/24/land-mine-treaty-wont-be_n_369658.html[/url] Watch your step

fucking united states

Although useful in war, why the hell not? No country has succesfully kept track of and removed land mines they have deployed.

Why ban Land Mines? Wait, why bring Human Rights into this? A grenade can destroy your face or leave you filled with fucking shrapnel.

[QUOTE=shill le 2nd;18556960]fucking united states[/QUOTE] And Chinese, Indians, Pakistanis, Russians, and Myanmar... People Seriously, what do you call someone from Myanmar?

[QUOTE=TAU!;18556990]Why ban Land Mines? Wait, why bring Human Rights into this? A grenade can destroy your face or leave you filled with fucking shrapnel.[/QUOTE] Grenades aren't designed to sit around for a few decades armed.

Who fucking cares, if the other superpowers wouldn't agree to the conditions, why would we.

[QUOTE=TAU!;18556990]Why ban Land Mines? Wait, why bring Human Rights into this? A grenade can destroy your face or leave you filled with fucking shrapnel.[/QUOTE] Because a grenade has to be thrown at someone. A land mine left behind can cause problems once the war is done or just to civilians in general.

It's not like the people who actually use landmines as part of guerrilla warfare tactics are gonna stop using them and it doesn't get rid of the millions that are already there. Fuck it, I wouldn't sign either.

[QUOTE=Carbon Knight;18556962]Although useful in war, why the hell not? No country has succesfully kept track of and removed land mines they have deployed.[/QUOTE] Nice avatar you got there.

Somebody should just design deteriorating landmines. Maybe with a 2 year expiry date or something. granted I guess the enemy would come up with ways to exploit that.

[QUOTE=hamberglar;18556991]And Chinese, Indians, Pakistanis, Russians, and Myanmar... People Seriously, what do you call someone from Myanmar?[/QUOTE] Myanmarians Sounds like an alien culture from the planet myanmaria

Are we actively deploying land mines? I haven't heard anything about the US actually using them in Iraq, it seems like they would be pretty useless in a counterinsurgency role. Still, we have to protect the contractors who build them, and if Russia has something we're not going to go without it. At least Britain is the only country to build nuclear land mines.

[QUOTE=power-mad;18557053]Because a grenade has to be thrown at someone. A land mine left behind can cause problems once the war is done or just to civilians in general.[/QUOTE] Then why not find them and get rid of them?

USA: Always at the head of the pack. Right along with Myanmar. What we need is electronic landmines that can all be deactivated when a war is over.

BRB, Gonna go play Minesweeper. :v:

[QUOTE=hamberglar;18556991]And Chinese, Indians, Pakistanis, Russians, and Myanmar... People Seriously, what do you call someone from Myanmar?[/QUOTE] myanmarite.

[QUOTE=Used Car Salesman;18557141]At least Britain is the only country to build nuclear land mines.[/QUOTE] some part of me finds that slightly awesome, if redundant

[QUOTE=TAU!;18557146]Then why not find them and get rid of them?[/QUOTE] I just laid a minefield outside your house, go find and disarm every single one.

[QUOTE=JohnnyMo1;18557159]USA: Always at the head of the pack. Right along with Myanmar. What we need is electronic landmines that can all be deactivated when a war is over.[/QUOTE] But, as hypno-toad's idea, those could be exploited.

[QUOTE=Used Car Salesman;18557141]Are we actively deploying land mines? I haven't heard anything about the US actually using them in Iraq, it seems like they would be pretty useless in a counterinsurgency role. [/QUOTE] Landmines are a defensive weapon. We wouldn't use them in Iraq, given that we are the invaders.

Of course, I'm sure we build and sell them to countries that have no problem with seeding vast areas of land with mines and then forgetting about them.

[QUOTE=hamberglar;18556991]And Chinese, Indians, Pakistanis, Russians, and Myanmar... People Seriously, what do you call someone from Myanmar?[/QUOTE] They're still called Burmese, apparently.

[QUOTE=Carnotite;18557196]I just laid a minefield outside your house, go find and disarm every single one.[/QUOTE] Mine clearing vehicles. [img]http://www.gbnews.ch/portraits/fsd/Dok-Ing-MV4s.JPG[/img]

[QUOTE=Mr. Someguy;18557440]Mine clearing vehicles.[/QUOTE] Those things tear up the land, though. More so than the mines themselves would. Goddamn it, what if there are [B]flowers[/B]?

[QUOTE=Watevaman;18557475]Those things tear up the land, though. More so than the mines themselves would. Goddamn it, what if there are [B]flowers[/B]?[/QUOTE] They'll regrow next year? Those things don't salt the land, the just pummel the ground with Heavy Chains or Dig up the Dirt (farming equipment does that anyway). [editline]11:39PM[/editline] What they should do is keep track of designated minefields. Then after the war send in Mine Clearing Vehicles to drive over the Minefields in the same way a Lawn Mower goes over the Lawn.

[img]http://img81.imageshack.us/img81/2386/dadl.jpg[/img]

[QUOTE=hamberglar;18556991]And Chinese, Indians, Pakistanis, Russians, and Myanmar... People Seriously, what do you call someone from Myanmar?[/QUOTE] Burmese.

[QUOTE=shill le 2nd;18557275]They're still called Burmese, apparently.[/QUOTE] I like Burmese better than Myanmarite.

[QUOTE=TH89;18557561][img]http://img81.imageshack.us/img81/2386/dadl.jpg[/img][/QUOTE] come on dad lets play soccer