U.S. Plans To Reduce Its Land Mine Stockpile And To Join A Global Ban On The Weapon

U.S. To Phase Out Landmines That Target People -- CNN

(CNN) -- The United States will phase out its stockpiles of landmines designed to target people, moving closer to joining a global ban on a weapon that kills more than 15,000 people a year -- most of them civilians.

U.S. officials made the declaration at an anti-mine conference in Maputo, Mozambique, according to a statement issued by National Security Council spokeswoman Caitlin Hayden.

Activists have long pressured the United States to join the international treaty banning the production, stockpiling and use of anti-personnel landmines -- the kind meant to kill or maim when someone steps on them.

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More News On U.S. Plans To Reduce Its Land Mine Stockpile And To Join A Global Ban On The Weapon

U.S. Plans to Reduce Its Land Mine Stockpile -- New York Times
U.S. declares it will not produce any more antipersonnel land mines -- Washington Post
US Plans to Curb Land Mines, Join Global Treaty -- AP
Landmines: US tells Mozambique summit of ban plans -- BBC
Obama to Halt Production of Land Mines, Move to Stop Use -- Bloomberg
U.S. to no longer produce anti-personnel landmines -- Reuters
US says it will stop producing land mines -- McClacthy News
US to stop producing or buying landmines -- Al Jazeera

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.