[1530] in peace2
Re: Mines, Like Death, Are Just Another Part of Life...
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Nida Rizwan Farid)
Mon Mar 4 19:32:25 2002
Message-Id: <5.0.2.1.2.20020304192042.0232b2c8@hesiod>
Date: Mon, 04 Mar 2002 19:31:38 -0500
To: "Prez H. Cannady" <revprez@mit.edu>, Sanjay Basu <sanjayb@mit.edu>,
peace-announce@mit.edu, bexley-minus-fascists@mit.edu,
random-hall-talk@mit.edu, next-forum@mit.edu, macgregor@mit.edu,
social@baker.MIT.EDU, nh-post@mit.edu, bc-talk@mit.edu,
mccormick-announce@mit.edu
From: Nida Rizwan Farid <farida@MIT.EDU>
In-Reply-To: <5.0.2.1.2.20020304185240.01e65ec0@po14.mit.edu>
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Here are just some of the facts that I dug up that relate to US use or
landmines. Maybe this will let you see that the reason the US population
needs to get involved in clearing up the mess. Maybe because the US PLANTED
A LARGE FRACTION OF THEM!!!
* The Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production
and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Landmines and on Their Destruction - The
Mine Ban Treaty - entered into force on March 1, 1999. Over 137 countries
have signed the Treaty including all of the European Nato allies. The
United States, Russia, and China have not signed.
* The United States has the fourth largest anti-personnel landmine
arsenal in the world, with a stockpiled of approximately 11.2 million AP
mines.
* Scatterables were first introduced by the United States during the
Vietnam War. However, they had severe consequences for U.S. troops, who
often found themselves retreating through their own, unmarked minefields.
Nearly one-third of all U.S. casualties during the war were due to land
mines deployed by U.S. troops themselves.
* The Clinton Administration acknowledged that many mines remained
deadly for decades, but it said they were a necessary part of US strategy
on the Korean peninsula, where mines are sown along the border that
separates the communist North from the democratic South.
Bush backs away from international ban on land mines
The Bush Administration has backed away from a promise made by the Clinton
White House that the United States would eventually comply with an
international treaty banning land mines. US forces may need to use them, it
says.
In a letter to a leading congressional critic of land mines, Mr James
McGovern, a Democrat, the State Department's chief lobbyist said the
Administration was reviewing "the need for land mines on the modern
battlefields of the future".
Mr Paul Kelly, the head of the State Department's legislative affairs
bureau, added that the department believed that land-mine policy should be
left "to our colleagues in the Department of Defense for their
determination and judgment".
The Administration's reluctance to embrace a treaty that has been signed by
140 countries and ratified by 117 of them is the latest example of what
critics call an increasing US tendency to go it alone in international
affairs. In a foreign-policy address on Thursday, the House Democratic
leader, Mr Richard Gephardt, said: "The Administration has ratcheted up the
unilateral rhetoric in just the last few months."
The Secretary of State, Mr Colin Powell, insisted in a CNN interview that
the Administration was not turning its back on international cooperation,
although it had serious objections to some treaties.
"Just because they are multilateral doesn't mean they are good," Mr Powell
said.
Mr McGovern said he was disturbed by the Kelly letter because it did not
acknowledge Mr Clinton's promise that the US would comply with the treaty
by 2006 after giving the Pentagon time to develop a substitute for mines,
which kill and maim thousands of civilians every year.
In 1997, when much of the world endorsed the anti-mine treaty, the US balked.
The Clinton Administration acknowledged that many mines remained deadly for
decades, but it said they were a necessary part of US strategy on the
Korean peninsula, where mines are sown along the border that separates the
communist North from the democratic South.
Mr Clinton, while refusing to join the treaty, signed an executive order in
1998 promising to obey the ban everywhere but on the Korean peninsula by
2003, and in all countries by 2006.
Mr McGovern said he was disappointed by Mr Clinton's cautious approach,
"but I thought that the question was not if we would sign the treaty but
when we would sign it. After reading the letter from Kelly, I have doubts
about whether we ever will sign the treaty.''
Mr McGovern said Washington's refusal to sign the treaty made it impossible
for the US to press Russia, China and a handful of other countries to stop
using land mines.
"Because we won't sign, we aren't in a position to pressure or embarrass
anybody else into not using mines."
Source: By Norman Kempster, Los Angeles Times
www.smh.com.au/news/0108/04/world/world8.html
At 06:55 PM 3/4/2002 -0500, Prez H. Cannady wrote:
>Why should Americans have to waste their time cleaning up
>somebody else's mess, especially in the middle of a war
>zone. What's next? MIT students are going to shadow
>specwar forces and disarm Claymores in their wake?
>
>There are a lot more pressing issues than landmines, like
>motivating states to value Western free markets and
>education. Once they drag themselves out of the 19th
>century, then they can clear their own goddamned mines.
>
>Rev Prez
>* * *
>
><REMIX and Platinum Playaz>---------------------------------------->
><Rev Prez aka Scriptchya the Seventh Disciple aka Deez Nutz>------->
><"...they come heavier from nigga to whore - Kool G Rap>
>< Be a predator, dead in the morgue, a spread in the log... " >
>
><Personal>-----------------------<"It's The Militia" - Freddie Foxx>
><revprez@mit.edu>--------<http://web.mit.edu/revprez/www/resume.pdf>
><"I mobb deep, in cherry Cherokees I forever be - Shyheim>
> > on some thug shit, runnin wild through New York City" >
><410 Memorial Drive, Cambridge, MA 02139>-----------<(617) 225 8420>
>
><ThE fLoW>---------------------------------------------------------->
>Platinum Playa Productions-------------------<Site Comin Soon, dunnz>
>"TGR v.3"-----<http://web.mit.edu/revprez/www/mp3/revprez-trg-v3.mp3>
>"TGR v.4"-----<http://web.mit.edu/revprez/www/mp3/revprez-trg-v4.mp3>
>"Tight"--------<http://web.mit.edu/revprez/www/mp3/revprez-tight.mp3>
><-----------REMIX and the Central Region Freestylin Alliance-------->
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<html>
Here are just some of the facts that I dug up that relate to US use or
landmines. Maybe this will let you see that the reason the US population
needs to get involved in clearing up the mess. Maybe because the US
PLANTED A LARGE FRACTION OF THEM!!!<br>
<br>
<ul>
<li>The Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production
and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Landmines and on Their Destruction - The
Mine Ban Treaty - entered into force on March 1, 1999. Over 137 countries
have signed the Treaty including all of the European Nato allies. The
United States, Russia, and China have not signed. <br>
<br>
<li>The United States has the fourth largest anti-personnel landmine
arsenal in the world, with a stockpiled of approximately 11.2 million AP
mines.
<li>Scatterables were first introduced by the United States during the
Vietnam War. However, they had severe consequences for U.S. troops, who
often found themselves retreating through their own, unmarked minefields.
Nearly one-third of all U.S. casualties during the war were due to land
mines deployed by U.S. troops themselves. <br>
<br>
<li>The Clinton Administration acknowledged that many mines remained
deadly for decades, but it said they were a necessary part of US strategy
on the Korean peninsula, where mines are sown along the border that
separates the communist North from the democratic South.
</ul><br>
<br>
<br>
<b>Bush backs away from international ban on land mines<br>
<br>
</b>The Bush Administration has backed away from a promise made by the
Clinton White House that the United States would eventually comply with
an international treaty banning land mines. US forces may need to use
them, it says. <br>
In a letter to a leading congressional critic of land mines, Mr James
McGovern, a Democrat, the State Department's chief lobbyist said the
Administration was reviewing "the need for land mines on the modern
battlefields of the future".<br>
Mr Paul Kelly, the head of the State Department's legislative affairs
bureau, added that the department believed that land-mine policy should
be left "to our colleagues in the Department of Defense for their
determination and judgment".<br>
The Administration's reluctance to embrace a treaty that has been signed
by 140 countries and ratified by 117 of them is the latest example of
what critics call an increasing US tendency to go it alone in
international affairs. In a foreign-policy address on Thursday, the House
Democratic leader, Mr Richard Gephardt, said: "The Administration
has ratcheted up the unilateral rhetoric in just the last few
months."<br>
The Secretary of State, Mr Colin Powell, insisted in a CNN interview that
the Administration was not turning its back on international cooperation,
although it had serious objections to some treaties.<br>
"Just because they are multilateral doesn't mean they are
good," Mr Powell said.<br>
Mr McGovern said he was disturbed by the Kelly letter because it did not
acknowledge Mr Clinton's promise that the US would comply with the treaty
by 2006 after giving the Pentagon time to develop a substitute for mines,
which kill and maim thousands of civilians every year.<br>
In 1997, when much of the world endorsed the anti-mine treaty, the US
balked.<br>
The Clinton Administration acknowledged that many mines remained deadly
for decades, but it said they were a necessary part of US strategy on the
Korean peninsula, where mines are sown along the border that separates
the communist North from the democratic South.<br>
Mr Clinton, while refusing to join the treaty, signed an executive order
in 1998 promising to obey the ban everywhere but on the Korean peninsula
by 2003, and in all countries by 2006.<br>
Mr McGovern said he was disappointed by Mr Clinton's cautious approach,
"but I thought that the question was not if we would sign the treaty
but when we would sign it. After reading the letter from Kelly, I have
doubts about whether we ever will sign the treaty.''<br>
Mr McGovern said Washington's refusal to sign the treaty made it
impossible for the US to press Russia, China and a handful of other
countries to stop using land mines.<br>
"Because we won't sign, we aren't in a position to pressure or
embarrass anybody else into not using mines."<br>
Source: By Norman Kempster, <i>Los Angeles Times</i>
<a href="http://www.smh.com.au/news/0108/04/world/world8.html" eudora="autourl"><font color="#0000FF"><u>www.smh.com.au/news/0108/04/world/world8.</a><a href="http://www.smh.com.au/news/0108/04/world/world8.html" eudora="autourl">html</a></u></font>
<br>
<br>
<br>
At 06:55 PM 3/4/2002 -0500, Prez H. Cannady wrote:<br>
<blockquote type=cite class=cite cite>Why should Americans have to waste their time cleaning up<br>
somebody else's mess, especially in the middle of a war<br>
zone. What's next? MIT students are going to shadow<br>
specwar forces and disarm Claymores in their wake?<br>
<br>
There are a lot more pressing issues than landmines, like<br>
motivating states to value Western free markets and<br>
education. Once they drag themselves out of the 19th<br>
century, then they can clear their own goddamned mines.<br>
<br>
Rev Prez<br>
* * *<br>
<br>
<REMIX and Platinum Playaz>----------------------------------------><br>
<Rev Prez aka Scriptchya the Seventh Disciple aka Deez Nutz>-------><br>
<"...they come heavier from nigga to whore - Kool G Rap><br>
< Be a predator, dead in the morgue, a spread in the log... " ><br>
<br>
<Personal>-----------------------<"It's The Militia" - Freddie Foxx><br>
<revprez@mit.edu>--------<<a href="http://web.mit.edu/revprez/www/resume.pdf" eudora="autourl">http://web.mit.edu/revprez/www/resume.pdf</a>><br>
<"I mobb deep, in cherry Cherokees I forever be - Shyheim><br>
> on some thug shit, runnin wild through New York City" ><br>
<410 Memorial Drive, Cambridge, MA 02139>-----------<(617) 225 8420><br>
<br>
<ThE fLoW>----------------------------------------------------------><br>
Platinum Playa Productions-------------------<Site Comin Soon, dunnz><br>
"TGR v.3"-----<<a href="http://web.mit.edu/revprez/www/mp3/revprez-trg-v3.mp3" eudora="autourl">http://web.mit.edu/revprez/www/mp3/revprez-trg-v3.mp3</a>><br>
"TGR v.4"-----<<a href="http://web.mit.edu/revprez/www/mp3/revprez-trg-v4.mp3" eudora="autourl">http://web.mit.edu/revprez/www/mp3/revprez-trg-v4.mp3</a>><br>
"Tight"--------<<a href="http://web.mit.edu/revprez/www/mp3/revprez-tight.mp3" eudora="autourl">http://web.mit.edu/revprez/www/mp3/revprez-tight.mp3</a>><br>
<-----------REMIX and the Central Region Freestylin Alliance--------><br>
</blockquote></html>
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