Originally posted by Atobe:
The Convention to ban the manufacture and use of landmines was
specifically targetted at the variety of Anti-Personnel Mines that
do not kill but [b]maim.
The situation is made worse by the indiscriminate laying of such
Anti-Personnel Mines that are left in unmarked and unrecorded
minefields.
Worst still is the fact that these Anti-Personnel Mines are made of
plastic (some made in tempting and innocent looking features -
circa Russian made during Afghan War), making these mine
undetectable, and remaining lethal for many years after the war is
long over.
Long after the wars are over, civilian casualties are still
occuring in Afghanistan, Cambodia, and other battle zones of
Africa, Latin American, and East Europe.
I believe that Singapore is a signatory to this Convention (will
have to check into the Straits Times archive).
The USA is prepared to accept this convention, with exceptions to
allow for the continued use of Anti-Tank Mines especially for the
defense of the South Korean Peninsula against an invasion from
North Korea.
[/b]
USA signed but never ractified... typical US trick in
potentially messy sitiuations...
besides, developments are already in place to skim the restrictions
of the proposed convention... the argument is against unmanned
mines... so what happens if u put an operator in control of a mine
cluster? 
same shit... deadlier, more effective weapons...
and why is it more humane to kill rather than to maime? sure, the
eternal military rationale that a wounded soldier saps more morale
and the resources of the enemy... but if u ask me, whether u kill
me or blow off my legs, its equally bad...
or if u places a self destruct mechanism, or programmed a limited
shelf life into them to render them inert after a certain period of
time?
its essentially the same thing... better by a thin margin, but not
much...
besides, mines do have a legitimate defensive use... as u
mentioned, look at the DMZ at the korean peninsula... nobody gets
hurt there other than the occassional rabbit or squirrel...
hence, in the hands of responsible military leaders with legitimate
defensive needs, landmines do nothing more than keep the
peace.
its third world dictators, oppressive cold war regimes and two
pence guerilla fighters that make a mess out of deploying
them.
