Land Mines

the_13th_redneck said:
That's why the ban thing isn't going to work. The bad guys will ignore it. It's the crucial part of the equasion that hippies seem completely oblivious to.

Ditto.
 
My position is the same as Bill Clinton's

Clinton said land mines were an integral part of Washington's defense strategy in that part of the world, and did not pose any threats to civilians since the land mines were in a clearly marked zone.

The United States had also asked for an exemption for its "smart" anti-personnel mines that self-destruct over a set period of time and a provision that would allow countries to withdraw from the treaty if they come under attack.
CNN

I spent 3 years in the reserves as a combat engineer so I know a thing or 2 about land mines. My instructors at AIT told my class a bunch of facts on land mine use. I was interested to know that Italy seems to be a leader in the development of nasty land mines. It seems that Italy has developed a mine that will explode if you try to find it with a mine detector. In some places in the world, the enemies of the US have been planting their mines blue to mess with the US soldiers. All training mines the US has are painted blue.

We also have artillery mine fields. The 155mm ARTY round can contain a number of RAMMS (remote anti armour mine system) and ADAM (areal denial artillery mines(anti personell)). These rounds are launched into an area, the mines are released before the round hits the ground, and the mines arm themselves on they stop moving. All mines will self destruct within a given time period. SD (short destruct) has a life of 24 hours while LD (long destruct) has a life of 72 hours (I think, it's been a while since I went over this stuff). So none of these mines are going to be blowing the legs off civilians 20 years from now.

The importance of land mines comes into play when the OH :cen: factor comes into play. Down at JRTC, the Army's playground for war, showed just how effective mines can be. During the "Defence Stage," one of the COLT teams was assigned to observe an avenue of approach. A COLT team is a 3 man team of Forward Observes who have a laser and can guide laser guided weapons onto any given target. The main effort of the OPFOR (opposition force) make its push right in the view of the COLT team. The team called in RAMMS and fell back. The 30 tank element hit the mine field, but still pushed forward. The COLT team continued to lay down mines all around the tanks until everyone of the tanks were KIA. The COLT team got the "hero of the battle" award for their actions.

I have no problem with the US wanting to continue the use of land mines as long as they are the self destruct type.
 
It's been awhile for me too, Doody, but if memory serves, the SD is 4 hours and the LD is 48 hours. Of course that may be what it _used_ to be and has been changed now. Redleg, you have the data?
 
Clinton got that right.
The mines that maime and stuff are mostly those planted by idiots who would never obey the ban anyways. Warlords etc. Professional armies mark where they planted their mines and have those areas cordoned off in most cases. During a war, they'd still mark where they planted them on maps for collection afterwards.
The problem tends to be the air dropped mines. Those you cannot make an accurate map of.
 
"During a war, they'd still mark where they planted them on maps for collection afterwards."

Every single landmine will be marked on the map and minefields will be clearly signed for own troops but commies think western countries would use mines like in 3rd countries or in Russia/SU. Of course their opinion is the right one because they think they are so "modern" and "intelligent".

"The problem tends to be the air dropped mines. Those you cannot make an accurate map of.""

That problem commies and other three huggers are not thought about because they know nothing about any arms or military devices and whole landmine ban is not so easy as they think. TNT and detonators are still allowed and if mines not available for troops, it will cause only use of selfmade landmines wich are far more inhumane.

How many antimine communists, world savers and other treehuggers have been in military? I guess the right answer is zero.
 
I have to agree with the ones who like to keep landmines. Here in Sweden we have banned them and I have no idea how to protect my company now. But the politicians here have decided that there will be no war so it might not be any problem at all, or?
 
Here's a good law on doing whatever: make sure there are as few laws as possible. That way if you have a bad moral feeling about it, you can avoid doing it, but if the need arises you can do it again.
 
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