After 10-Year Hiatus, Pentagon Eyes New Landmine

[lady lib]

Published on Wednesday, August 3, 2005 by Inter Press Service
After 10-Year Hiatus, Pentagon Eyes New Landmine
by Isaac Baker

UNITED NATIONS- <snip> In December of this year, the Pentagon will decide whether or not to begin producing a new type of antipersonnel land mine called a ”Spider”. The first of these mines would then be scheduled to roll out in early 2007.

According to Human Rights Watch (HRW), the funds for Spider's production are already earmarked, as the Pentagon has requested 1.3 billion dollars for the mine system, as well as for another mine called the Intelligent Munitions System, which is expected to be fully running by 2008.

A new report by the HRW issued Wednesday notes these weapons that kill and maim an estimated 500 people, mostly civilians, each week. The group called on the Bush administration to halt all research and development on all types of these widely-banned weapons.

”With very few exceptions, nearly every nation has endorsed the goal of a global ban on all antipersonnel mines at some point in the future,” the HRW report says. ”Such acts (by the U.S.) would clearly be against the trend of the emerging international consensus against any possession or use of antipersonnel mines.”

MORE

LINK
http://www.commondreams.org/cgi-bin/print.cgi?file=/headlines05/0803-06.htm

This is disgusting and unconscionable. Our tax dollars at work. Grrr.

[true_notes]

1. Yay more death and destruction

for the murder machine. This is by far one of the most gruesome weapons(the landmine) in the history of man. If it doesn't kill you, it kills your ability to be productive.

[lady lib]

4. Yes, and landmines are sinister because they're indiscriminate.

They lie in wait for years...long after whatever war is over, and then someone's child steps in the wrong place. There's no excuse for this. Mr. Family Values once again shows us what he's really made of.

[shraby]

2. The group that fights this should tie

their protests to Princess Diana, because she was in the forefront of fighting against them.

[athlon]

3. It looks like a bag of trash

and will sit by the side of the road, and be large enough to seriously damage a vehicle driving by.

"We hope to be able to set it off by cell phone" a Pentagon salesman said

[lady lib]

5. Welcome to DU, athlon.

I'm sure the world community would be interested in knowing whether those remote controlled "Matrix" devices are being used in Iraq.

[athlon]

7. Too bad the a-holes that run this place banned my old name

after 1000 posts, ---can't have a little discussion without a deletion---starting to become a little freeperish

[lady lib]

9. Uhhhh...athlon......

So you're aware of the level of monitoring at this board, apparently feel resentful about it, and yet you're still here. Seems to me that presents you with a choice, doesn't it?

(I'm just sayin :))

[Sven77]

6. anti tank land mines, burn the victims inside the armored vehicle

Thermate and phosphorus cause some of the worst and most painful burn injuries because they combust so quickly and at such a high temperature. A single lit particle can burn through skin, nerves, muscles and even bones. In addition, white phosphorus is very poisonous: a dose of 50-100 milligrams is lethal to the average human.

http://www.nationmaster.com/encyclopedia/Hand_grenade

[OneBlueSky]

8. NO! . . . NO! . . . a thousand times NO!!! . . .

people of good will have been working for years to abolish land mines and to clean up the thousands upon thousands still deployed in conflict zones around the globe . . . to resurrect this most hideous of weapons is disgraceful and unnecessary . . .

someone should smack these people upside the head and knock some sense into them . . . either that or try them, convict them, and send them away for a l-o-o-o-o-n-g time for all the damage they've done (and continue to do) . . .