Will The U.S. Join The Land Mine Ban?

White House Is Being Pressed to Reverse Course And Join Land Mine Ban -- New York Times

WASHINGTON — The Obama administration, under intense political pressure from Capitol Hill and elsewhere, is engaged in a vigorous debate over whether to reverse course and join an international treaty banning land mines, administration officials said this week.

In re-examining the issue, the administration is stepping back into the glare of a perennial cause that has captured the attention of world leaders, royalty and celebrities. It is also inviting another internal debate that pits the Pentagon against other parts of the administration.

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My Comment: The probability of the U.S. signing this treaty is equal to the probability of the Taliban deciding to sign this treaty also. In short .... none.

The fact is that for the U.S. landmines play an important role in deterring conflict and war in places like the DMZ on the Korean peninsula .... removing them would only make it tempting for countries like North Korea to initiate hostilities in a small and/or covert manner .... or even larger.

There will probably be a comprehensive ban against the use of landmines one day .... but not today.