Smirk to use "smart landmines" puke

[donsu]

http://channels.netscape.com/ns/pf/story.jsp?floc=FF-APO-1700&idq=/ff/story/0001%2F20040404%2F2027372752.htm&sc=1700

The Bush administration's argument for shunning a global treaty on land mines rests largely on the U.S. military's use of ``smart,'' self-destructing mines that don't linger after wars end to kill and maim civilians. But it has a quiet subtext: the expectation that future generations of mines will be so smart that soldiers can activate and deactivate entire mine fields by remote control.

Smart mines that are programmed to self-destruct, sometimes within hours, have been used by the U.S. military for about two decades. They accomplish the feat in a pretty low-tech manner - with an internal clock or a battery that has to run out eventually.

-snip-

``If you were trying to protect an area, you can actually place a mine field, then only turn it on when you need to,'' said Randall Steeb, a senior systems analyst at Rand Corp. He said such mines would cost ``a few dollars to about $10, probably single digits.''

-snip-

Smart mines don't impress human rights groups, which say the world would be better served if the United States joined the 150 nations that have signed the 1997 Ottawa treaty banning mines altogether.
-snip-
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150 countries ban landmines but not our country. we are so vicious. shame on us.

[buddy22600]

1. I have a question

Are Claymores regarded as land mines?

[mrfrapp]

5. Yes.

Despite the fact that they aren't buried in the ground.

What the US military seems to be misunderstanding is that landmines lying dormant for years or decades is only part of the objection. How they kill, or maim more often than not, is also a major detriment in most people's mind.

[Muddleoftheroad]

2. What would you suggest for Korea?

[donsu]

3. diplomacy

nt

[wuushew]

6. The North Korean military is weak and antiquated

land mines are just a way of defending strips of land on the cheap. Seems to me the expense of a few extra tanks and helicopter gunships would be well worth the expense of not killing civilians in other countries. Especically if this finally puts enough pressure on China to abandon its landmine production.

[swinney]

4. Clinton was anti the anti personnel land mines. Not anti-tank mines

He was willing to sign all but anti-tank because of N. Korea on border of S.Korea.